I know, yes.

Go raibh maith ag an Aire Stáit. Tá áthas orm é sin a chloisteáil. Just to confirm, it is not being taken away and it will not be taken away.

Okay. That is great to hear because there is worry and it is amazing the number of people------

Okay, we can take it as a given that it will not happen in the future either.

That is all right, go raibh maith agat.

I am happy with that. That is great.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. As I said on the last Stage, I would go so far as to say this is reckless. I would actually call it dystopian. I think we are walking into a situation that will be irreversible. I know the Minister of State comes from a legal background. It is great to be a Member of a House where there are so many legal minds. However, I do not understand why the Government is supporting this. I do not see any justification for it. Both Ireland and Canada have mature legal systems, with both deri…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. We all want infrastructure delivered quickly but we as the Labour Party think that the Government has misdiagnosed the problem. This Bill seeks to blame environmental law for the Government's own failings by suspending section 15 of the climate action Act for particular projects. The Government is now abandoning any pretence that our biodiversity, environment or climate should play any role in deciding what we see to be critical infrastructure in this country and whether particular proj…

I am sharing time with Senator Noonan.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I am very proud to put my name to this motion as well. I thank Senator Boyhan for including me in it. When I was looking into what I was going to say, I was thinking back to the opening comments from Senator Daly. My grandmother was also a farmer, and she loved farming and spending time on the farm, but she also was burdened by a lot of children. I should not be saying "burdened", but she ended up having to do both. She did not drive, so she spent a lot of time at home, whereas my grand…

It is all right. I do not need extra time. What I was saying was what everyone here had said, namely, that only 13% of total farm owners in Ireland are female. I know the Government has committed in the programme for Government to implement this report and is saying that the three multistructural changes would be policy overhauls, cultural validation and targeted innovation funding. This is where education comes in. For many years, I was a youth liaison worker in rural and urban schools. Agricultural science was al…

Hear, hear.

I also offer my condolences to the family and friends of Yves Sakila on his tragic and horrific death on Friday. I also wish to raise the global flotilla. Twelve Irish citizens have been detained by the Israeli forces. One of the women kidnapped is the Sligo-based GP, Dr. Margaret Connolly, a sister of President Catherine Connolly and wife of my former colleague, Councillor Declan Bree. My thoughts are with his family and their friends. The flotilla was bringing humanitarian aid, baby food and much-needed medical s…

I will speak about the ambulance dispute, which has stopped for the moment. I will go back to the start of it. When we ring for an ambulance, we do not care what qualifications the people have. We just want to know they will do the job we trust them to do. We rely on them so much. It does not make sense to me that the HSE is talking about having conditions before going into negotiations. We cannot end a dispute if there are predetermined conditions before negotiations even start. I have spoken to ambulance personne…

I welcome our visitors in the Gallery. Today I want to commemorate a significant anniversary in our nation's history. On this date 110 years ago the final two signatories of the Proclamation who had been sentenced to death were executed. They were James Connolly, founder of the Labour Party, my party, and an inspiration for many left-wing, inclusive ideas around the world, and Seán Mac Diarmada, who was a native of a small farmstead in Kiltyclogher in County Leitrim. These two men represent two very different faces…

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this motion and commend Fianna Fáil Senators on bringing it forward. I am sharing time.

That we are still discussing this issue and having a motion on it is depressing. That 32,144 women contacted Women's Aid last year is horrendous. I welcome that the motion recognises that violence is a scourge on society and that, collectively, we have to tackle it. It is good to see words like that in the motion. I also recognise the steps that have been taken, such as the progression of the sex for rent legislation and the introduction last month of the violence travel supplement. I commend Senator Patricia Steph…

No matter what way this is presented or dressed up, it could be the most damaging and dangerous Bill to pass through the Oireachtas, with far-reaching and long-lasting consequences. Of course the Labour Party supports trade and we know that trade between Ireland and Canada has gone up. We do not support investor courts, which we believe are completely unnecessary. These secret corporate courts allow corporations to sue Governments over laws that could impact profit, for example raising the minimum wage and protecti…

Labhróidh mise ar dtús. Tá trí nóiméad agam. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. It is no exaggeration to say that the global economy we have built around extractor consumerism is totally dependent on the availability of cheap and reliable fossil fuels, and that the reliance on oil and gas has led the world into countless conflicts in modern times. We do not need to tell anyone that. It is not called black gold for nothing. Control of their own fossil fuel resources has genuinely brought independence and sovereignty to ma…

I welcome Deputy Joe Neville and his guests to the Gallery. He is very welcome. Tá fáilte roimhe.