I am sharing time with my colleague, Senator Kennelly. He will join us later. I thank the Minister for his presence here today. Two weeks on from the devastation that was caused by Storm Chandra in the south and east of the country, our thoughts and concern must remain with the people of affected towns like the Minister's own town of Enniscorthy, and indeed many other parts of the country and also Dublin.

Yes, five minutes for me and Senator Kennelly has three minutes.

Today and for weeks to come they will be living with the mess and smell caused by floodwaters coming into their homes and businesses. I come from the west. On this occasion my area was not affected, but in south Galway we are no strangers to the devastating effects of flooding on family homes, farms and businesses, and day-to-day life in our area when the roads and railway line remained closed due to floodwater for days and weeks on end. This has happened on a number of occasions in our area over the last 30 years.…

Tomorrow morning, at 10.30 a.m.

I wish to bring to attention this morning the requirement that is put upon school bus drivers to cease their work or retire at the age of 70, despite whatever ability they may have to continue to do the job perfectly well. In fact, the same school bus drivers who are forced to stop driving the school buses once they reach their 70th birthday are, in many cases, deemed perfectly fine to drive the same schoolkids from the school to a hurling or camogie match during the school day and bring them back to school but, th…

It is with very great concern indeed that I stand here today to draw attention to the shocking increases in drug-related crime, drug use and drug-related intimidation in my area, south Galway. More and more, we see decent local families go into debt to pay off the drug-related debts accrued by their sons and daughters, with great fear of repercussions for them and their children if they do not do so. In recent weeks, we have heard of threats to burn houses, the burning of cars and vehicles, extreme vandalism, burni…

I raise the issue of dereliction in our rural towns, particularly the rural town of Portumna in my area and the continued shameful state of the town’s only hotel, the Shannon Oaks Hotel. Despite years of calls to reopen the Shannon Oaks Hotel by local activists, such as local councillor, Jimmy McClearn, and many others, the investors who own this derelict property have made a decision to leave it in a shameful state of dereliction and disrepair. It is very unsightly on the edge of the town, which is now left withou…

I wholeheartedly agree with Senator Ruane's contribution. As someone who was an early school leaver, not because of my dislike of school but because of my vehement dislike of doing homework, it is past time that we have that debate on the future of homework within our educational system. The reason I stand here is to address a deal the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, entered into with turf cutters from right across Ireland in 2011. I particularly want to focus on the turf cutters on three bogs - Cloonmoy…

I thank the Minister and his officials for their presence. We are looking at the approval of a number of positive amendments to a Bill that was intended to relieve a large number of unfortunate homeowners, predominantly in the north west, from the financial burden of rectifying the disastrous consequences of defective concrete blocks used in the construction of their homes. From the outset, this well-intended Bill has been controversial, to say the least. A large number of people whom the Bill was intended to assis…

Next Tuesday.

Next Tuesday at 1 p.m.

For the third time this year, I rise to bring attention to the continued closure of Dunguaire Castle in Kinvara. For those who are not familiar with Dunguaire, it is a tower house located by the roadside on the edge of Kinvara Bay, which is on the Wild Atlantic Way. It is the most photographed castle in Ireland. For the past three tourist seasons, Dunguaire Castle has remained closed. This has had knock-on consequences for the local tourism sector and businesses. Until now, Dunguaire Castle was under the ownership …

I thank the Minister of State for his presence here. I compliment my colleagues, Senators Rabbitte and Daly, on what is very good and much-needed amending legislation. For sure, it is not a silver bullet to solve all flood problems around the Shannon basin, but it is a very definite step in the right direction. We all understand that, for reasons of navigation, summer water levels need to be maintained on the Shannon. There is a massive tourism industry built around that, with cruises, etc. Again and again, we have…

I thank the Minister of State very much for his presence here today for this discussion on the very important topic of water quality and Uisce Éireann. It is critically important to point out that all national water quality sampling and publications in the past three years, particularly in 2025, have shown that we are moving in the right direction and that water quality is on the up nationally. However, these improvements are largely attributable to improvements in the efficiency of the use of agricultural nitrates…

I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I compliment him on the passion he shows for his role, which is clear for all to see. As Fine Gael’s spokesperson on biodiversity and heritage in the Seanad and as a lover of the natural world, I truly believe that the importance of national parks is not to be underestimated. Approximately 1.4% of Ireland’s total land mass falls within our seven current functioning national parks. That is a total area of 98,436 ha. By European standards, this is a relatively small propor…

Now.

Now.

I thank the Minister of State for the detailed and concise way he has laid out the Bill to us. As Fine Gael spokesperson on housing in the Seanad, I must say I am fully supportive of the Bill. Currently, a cap of €12 billion on borrowing is applicable to the Housing Finance Agency. What we have here is a proposal to increase this by €1.5 billion to €13.5 billion. If we do not make this increase imminently, it is envisaged that the agency's statutory borrowing limit will be reached by the first week of November. Thi…

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.