I will indeed. I welcome the Minister to the House and thank Senators Doherty and Currie. I want to support this Bill. As all Members of the House have said, it is far from the preferred way of reopening indoor hospitality. It is far from the ideal way of doing so. I compliment the Government which is doing an exceptional job. Vaccinations for another section of the youth, those aged 25 to 29, opened today which is very welcome. We need to reopen without restrictions and something is needed until we can complete th…

I thank the Minister of State for his continued support and for his briefing on the legislation. I welcome this legislation, which is much needed and will play an important role in giving smaller companies an opportunity to survive as we emerge from this pandemic. We must ensure businesses have an opportunity to recover from the pandemic and that their long-term viability is not impacted by short-term issues caused by a crisis not of their making. There is so much focus on larger companies and foreign direct invest…

My thanks to the Minister of State, Deputy English, for his detailed briefing. Like most Members I welcome the legislation. It will ensure proceedings and investigations before adjudication officers of the Workplace Relations Commission comply with constitutional requirements associated with the administration of justice and that hearings before the adjudication officers can resume in full. The Workplace Relations Commission is a vital resource for workers and we must ensure it remains so. From my experience in Gal…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for coming before Seanad Éireann this morning. As we are all aware, the hospitality sector has been hammered since March 2020. Having worked in the sector for over 20 years, I retain many close friends and colleagues within the sector. Many have contacted me since the Government's decision not to allow reopening on 5 July and most said that this was the lowest point of the pandemic for them so far. I am not sure whether those who do not have the experience of the hosp…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for her detailed and excellent response. I wish to make a few points, and the Minister of State will know where I am coming from with regard to the frustration. The notion of the hospitality sector having to police who is coming into a premises to ensure that only vaccinated people do so is just not going to work. I do not see it working, to be honest. I understand that representative bodies such as the Vintners' Federation of Ireland, VFI, the Licensed Vintners Assoc…

Following a weekend which featured three significant championship hurling games exclusively on Sky Sports, namely, Galway versus Dublin, which, unfortunately, was not successful for us, Kilkenny versus Wexford and Limerick versus Cork, I want to raise the issue of coverage of our games not being on free-to-air television.

As I have noted previously in the House, the GAA belongs to the Irish people, including the minority who have no interest in it, given the amounts of taxpayer funds which have always gone to the GAA, far exceeding any other sport. To be clear, I fully support the funding, believe in the good work the GAA does and have been involved in the GAA all my life. The GAA was founded with the stated goal of promoting Irish culture but I fail to see how it is doing that by depriving millions of people across the country of w…

If the Leader is writing to the Minister I ask that all sporting organisations be written to as it is not fair the GAA would be singled out. The IRFU and the FAI also have commercial deals with Sky.

I agree with the Leader. The GAA is getting a raw deal. It is being singled out and held to standards that the IRFU and the FAI are not held to.

I thank the Minister of State for his detailed briefing to the House. I welcome the Bill and am delighted to see its progression like everyone else in Seanad Éireann. Everybody finds ticket touting massively frustrating, particularly when there are so many genuine supporters of a team or artist who are unable to attend an event, and that is especially the case as we begin to see crowds returning to live sport and concerts. It is important to ensure fairness for people. I have been fortunate enough to attend a numbe…

Galway won the hurling in 2017, as I am sure the Senator is aware.

We will not mention Kildare. On a serious note, it has been frustrating and galling to see the resale websites becoming more common and charging extraordinary prices for tickets over the past decade, as the Minister of State alluded to. I will be delighted to see an end to the practice. The numbers of tickets available on those resale sites has increased and is growing consistently. These websites were owned by promotional companies which sold the tickets originally. It was, effectively, legalised touting. Undercov…

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I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on being a year in the job. It has been my first year as an Oireachtas Member and he has been a great support. I found him to be fair and approachable at all times. Moving on, the hospitality sector is again in crisis this morning. Regarding the proposals being considered by Cabinet, having been involved in the hospitality sector throughout my life, it certainly seems those of us in the sector are being scapegoated. We have been hammered since March 2020. It was proposed there would…

I want to raise the issue of the western rail corridor, in particular extending it from Athenry in County Galway to Claremorris in County Mayo. There is a myth that would be expensive and the rail journey would be slower than the journey by bus or car. A report carried out by consultants and published by the Department of Transport last December concluded the case for the reopening of the disused line was weak and would be extremely expensive. However, West-on-Track, a community group that has been engaging and cam…

I thank the Cathaoirleach for giving me the opportunity to raise this very relevant matter. This morning, I am asking the Minister for Defence whether on completion of a military ceremony at the funeral of a member of the Army the Irish flag could be presented to the family of the deceased as a tribute to the service given by the deceased. I believe this would be a suitable acknowledgement of the service given to the State's Defence Forces. Having spoken to many families in Galway and throughout the country who hav…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I accept his response and I am aware of what he outlined in terms of the national flag being presented automatically if the deceased is a serving member. I ask for the Department to reconsider this matter and give certainty. I ask that if members have a full service and meet the qualifying criteria, their family is presented with a national flag at the funeral. There has to be certainty in this. If the deceased had an unblemished record, a full service, and served at …