Cuirim fáilte roimh mo chomhghleacaithe, Francie agus Mickey, fosta. On behalf of the Sinn Féin group in the Seanad, I want to convey our deepest sympathies to Private Rooney's family. We send our solidarity and support to them and to all the families of the soldiers who were injured alongside him. As colleagues have said, we often discuss issues affecting the Defence Forces and we often talk about them at a macropolitical level. This is the most tragic reminder that behind that, there are men and women serving wit…

Hear, hear.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Chambers. He will know from previous engagement that I tend not to read out a whole lot of stuff at Commencement matters, but because of the complexity of this issue, there are some things I want to put on the record and I will, no doubt, use all my time. For most of the people of this country, the Good Friday Agreement changed their lives for the better, but there is a group of people who have yet to fully benefit from the agreement in letter and spirit, even though, i…

Gabhaim buíochas arís leis an Aire Stáit. Tuigim go huile is go hiomlán go bhfuil sé díograiseach maidir leis an ábhar seo. I welcome the fact that the Minister of State has reasserted his support for resolving this issue. That is really important. If Irish sport teaches us anything, it is that Ireland works best when we work together and the country works as one whether that is in terms of our boxers, Gaelic football teams, Olympians and sportspeople right across the board. What we need to continue to do, particul…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I thank her for being here. I asked on the Order of Business yesterday that we would have statements on this issue and I am glad the Deputy Leader and the Minister of State were able to facilitate that because it is an important issue. The Minister has laid out the reasons it is an important issue quite comprehensively. l acknowledge that we all accept this is a multilayered, multifaceted and multi-agency issue with responsibility across a range of Departments, State and non-State…

The Cathaoirleach should not mention cake during a health debate.

That is a different story. As other colleagues have noted, the Minister of State is very welcome to the House. I also appreciate her regular engagement with this Chamber. Before coming to speak to the Bill before us tonight, I am sure she and other colleagues will join me in sending our solidarity and support to the nurses in the North of Ireland and in Britain, who are on strike at the moment. They will go out onto the picket again tomorrow. It is an absolute disgrace that they have to do that, not least in sub-ze…

Was the Senator not watching the match?

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Táim sásta go bhfuil sí anseo chun an Bille seo a phlé. Gabhaim comhghairdeas le mo chomhghleacaí, an Seanadóir Boylan, as an mBille a chur os comhair an tSeanaid. It is great to hear unanimity across the House in support of Senator Boylan's Bill. As Sinn Féin group leader, I want to recognise the dedication, passion and commitment of Senator Boylan to animal welfare. She was determined to ensure that we, as a group, used our Private Member's time to initiate this Bill and get the…

A Chathaoirligh, ba mhaith liom mo chomhghairdeas agus mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl maidir leis an suí speisialta a bhí againn inné. I acknowledge our special ceremonial sitting yesterday. It was a thoughtful occasion and it was good to be among so many friends. I did not get the chance to say it yesterday, but it was great to have musical accompaniment to the day's events. I wonder whether we could get an uilleann piper for every sitting. Would that not be nice?

Do not tempt me. One never knows what a new Cathaoirleach might bring to the table.

It is the season, I suppose. In recent days, we have once again seen fairly chaotic scenes at Dublin Airport. It seems that we are discussing more regularly situations at the airport that are having an adverse impact on staff and travellers. We are an island nation and we rely heavily on our airports and aviation infrastructure daily. At this time of the year, many journeys are made in and out of the country, particularly as people return home for Christmas. No one is suggesting that we cannot be met with unique or…

Hear, hear.

Fair play.

A dhaoine uaisle agus a chairde Gael, I begin by recognising and commending the contribution of the Seanad and Seanadóirí who, over the past century, have made a valuable contribution to the development of the society and democracy in this State, a democracy with many flaws, which matured with the passage of time to the point where it is now the bedrock upon which, when it arrives, a truly national democracy will be based. I do not have much time and do not intend to analyse the detail of the past 100 years beyond …

Hear, hear.

I join colleagues in their expressions of sympathy to Terry's clan who are with us today. I am relative newcomer to the Seanad and came here in 2016, so unfortunately I did not have the pleasure to meet Terry and know his work in this institution. Regardless of your political party, all of us can say that once you have served in the Seanad, there is a great element of kinship and these statements are always important because they give Members like ourselves, who are relatively new to the institution, an awareness, …

Ba mhaith liom tús a chur le mo ráiteas le fáiltiú roimh an Aire. I welcome the Minister. Like Senator Currie, I wish to indicate that I will not be here for her response as I have another event to attend but I will read back the transcript of what she says. I welcome the Bill in the first instance. There are a number of positive elements in this legislation. Of course, I welcome increases to payments for some of the most hard-pressed families. There are a few issues I would like to raise on Second Stage with the M…

I agree with Senators Clonan and Dooley. It is important that we have that debate with the Minister for Justice because, as has been said by both Members, people are dying on our streets and communities are being left behind. We need to have that debate with the Minister as early in the new year as possible. I also want to welcome the announcement from the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, under the shared island initiative, of a €7.6 million investment in tou…

That is true of a part of Ireland. It is true of some of Ireland but not all of Ireland.