I thank the Tánaiste for his time before the House. Like other colleagues, I welcome this legislation. Every worker deserves the right to be paid sick leave. Workers have that facility already in the vast majority of countries across Europe and it is time that Ireland joins that list. Covid-19 made clear the very precarious position of many workers, particularly in lower paid roles and in the private sector. As I am sure the Tánaiste and all Members of the House have done, I have spoken to many people who must go t…

I thank Senators Sherlock and Wall for bringing the Bill before the House. As the Minister of State outlined, the Government will not be opposing it. Having said that, there are a number of matters which need to be examined. This Bill seeks to ensure that those performing work as interns are paid for their work and if they do more than 30 hours of work within any period of four weeks for another person they would be an employee for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000. The Bill will need to be examine…

Tomorrow morning at 10.30 a.m.

I rise today to discuss the criteria for qualifying for the long-term illness card. A number of families across Galway city and county have raised this issue with me. As we are aware, the diseases and disabilities covered by the scheme include epilepsy, diabetes, spina bifida and a number of others. I wish to raise the fact that Crohn's disease is not covered by the long-term illness scheme. That is a huge issue, about which a number of families have made representations to me. As most Members will be aware, it is …

I raise the issue of the summer programme in special schools. I have been contacted by families across Galway city and county who want to and need to avail of this programme but are not sure they will be able to. This is because only 28% of the schools operated the programme last summer, and that figure is not expected to change significantly this summer. A number of parents have advised me of this. To provide some data and facts, of the 8,018 children who have been enrolled in special schools in 2021, just 1,641, …

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber again. Fianna Fáil will not be opposing this Bill, the purpose of which is to ban the advertising of gambling, except where such advertising is in connection with the promotion of a gambling event for charitable status or purposes, subject to limited expectations. The Bill also specifically distinguishes between advertising on television and radio and all other forms of advertising. Last October the Government approved the draft of the gambling regulation Bill and the …

Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, for his contribution and welcome him to the House. I have spoken in the Chamber a number of times and my contributions are well known. All anybody is looking for is fairness - across the House. The reality is there is not fairness and the issues have been raised by my colleagues. I thank the Minister of State with regard to the redundancy issue but I ask for more clarification. I fail to understand the compensation because there are highs and lows in businesses. Compens…

I raise the issue of Garda numbers in Galway city and county. Limerick, Waterford, Cork and Dublin have one Garda member per 300 people. In Galway, it is in excess of one per 430 people. As has been well documented, there have been a lot of burglaries, rural break-ins and break-ins in the city. I also raise the lack of crime prevention officers throughout the country. In my region of Connacht, there is a significant lack of crime prevention officers. We need to get out into the communities, get the crime prevention…

I welcome the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. I thank him again for his help on this issue, both now and previously. From my own point of view, this is a controversial topic. The Government is taking a rather extraordinary step to enforce the end of the sector. That is fine and probably many people welcome it. As been outlined by other Senators, however, at the end of the day, we are shutting down the sector. It is essential this is done in a manner that leaves those who have made this sector their work for all their…

I thank the Minister. The only request I would make is for face-to-face meetings with the families and the officials. I welcome the fact that the Minister wants to meet the families on a second occasion. The Minister has shown leadership across the State, visiting every mart in every county. The Minister knows the issues on the ground. My point is that there is a human side to the impact and that the officials should have face-to-face meetings with the families to understand the issues that I have heard about. That…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I want to raise a number of issues. First, I have been contacted by many local independent bookmakers in Galway and across the country and by the representative organisation. Overall, looking at the statistics, there are 800 betting shops across the county with more than 7,000 employees. They are advising that this legislation represents a significant risk to them, as sales of lottery products make up 4% to 5% of their turnover. As Senator Davitt said, it is hard to see…

I want to raise the decision made by Tesco on Tuesday last to outsource 100 security jobs in Galway and across the country. To put this into perspective, in the UK and Ireland last year, Tesco forecast its profits to be more than €3 billion. Savings made by this decision will not even amount to a drop in the bucket of that enormous figure, yet it will have an extremely negative impact on those 100 employees and their families. Having spoken to some of the employees, including some who have worked in their positions…

I join my colleague, Senator Kyne, in raising Defence Forces issues. Last Sunday I had the privilege of attending the centenary celebration in Renmore Barracks to honour the 100-year anniversary of the barracks being taken over from the British and the green, white and orange flag being raised. The barracks has always played a huge part in the life of Galway city and in our communities and families. The vast majority of families in Galway city have a close connection to it and have immediate family members or close…

I am waiting to speak on a particular section, but there was an overlap, so it is fine. I would like to make a few brief points. Like other Senators, I have been contacted by the owners and I met with them for over an hour. As the Senators alluded to, it was fairly distressing and emotional. I would like to add a bit of fairness and a bit of context. Regardless of what views people on these farms may hold, it would seem, given the step being taken, that it is essential the farmers involved are treated fairly and re…

I wish to discuss the judicial reviews taken against the Galway city outer ring road. This road has been promised to Galway for decades. In that time, every other major Irish city and even smaller cities have developed their road network, while Galway has not. These judicial reviews will now further delay what has already been a ridiculously long process to get to this stage. It is essential that these reviews are carried out with urgency. It is extremely disappointing to see Green Party representatives support the…

I thank Senator Mullen for his work on the Bill. The Government is not opposing it. I share the Senator's determination to get reform in this area and I have raised it with the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, and other colleagues on a number of occasions. I am aware that Senator Mullen has also met the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, to discuss the issue, and that the Minister of State has advised him that the Government is open to reform along the lines of this Bill. The Minister of State has been developing legis…

There is sadness across Galway today, which has been mentioned by a couple of Members. I ask the Leader to arrange an expression of sympathy for the late Noel Treacy. I will provide some context and background. Noel was a political giant in Galway and was successful in every general election. He ran in eight in total, which is a reflection of his appetite for hard work and the esteem in which he was held by his constituents. He first won a by-election to Dáil Éireann in 1982, one of only two in the past 40 years th…