The Minister is welcome to the House once more. It seems that we have him in this House frequently to discuss agricultural issues. He correctly said that bluetongue has caused much stress and strain for the farming community, which is correct. Bluetongue is spread by the infection of a biting midge. Thankfully, Ireland, as he rightly said, was one of the last countries in the EU to lose its disease-free status, last year. I pay tribute to his Department for keeping it off the island because everybody knows the pric…

Today I rise to address a deeply worrying matter. We have all heard of the Covid pandemic but unfortunately, in the last number of years, we hear of sepsis being diagnosed in hospitals all over Ireland and all over the world. It is not just an Irish problem but a world issue. To give some figures, 20 million people died of sepsis worldwide last year. For anyone who does not understand sepsis, it is failure of all the organs at the one time. We have seen that the pharmaceutical industry has not put resources into fi…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I agree with the sentiments of everybody who has spoken tonight. The last time we spoke about this, we spoke about tractor users and a provisional licence being given to somebody at 18 or even younger. When contractors come and a workforce is needed at silage or slurry time, they are allowed to drive up to 250 HP tractors and in some cases even more. With weight-bearing trailers, the slurry tank or trailer will be eight to 12 tonnes and the load behind that will be anot…

A couple of issues have arisen in the county town of Longford over recent weeks. A person in their 30s and a person in their 20s have been stabbed, which is shocking. One of them was stabbed and dumped outside our local Garda station. Everybody locally knows that it is feuding among families and it is drug related. In fairness, County Longford had two Garda superintendents at one time. We had one in Granard, our second largest town, and one in Longford town. Unfortunately, we have one superintendent there now and, …

I rise today to discuss the fox hunting Bill that will be before the Lower House tomorrow. As everyone knows, I have spoken on this in the past. I have received numerous emails from people claiming I misinformed this House when I spoke on the matter in the past. I said that, with an explosion in fox numbers, we might see a child or even an adult being attacked some day. Unfortunately, last week, a woman in County Cavan was attacked by a fox and received five stitches or staples to the back of her head. There was an…

On a point of clarity, the former Minister, Mr. Hogan, was not a Minister in 2008 and 2009, as Senator Andrews alluded to. I would like the record to be corrected. I remind Senator Andrews that he himself was a Fianna Fáil TD in government at that time.

I was a member of the AILG when I was a councillor, and one of the concerns that came up was that a lot of councillors did not have health insurance. With more than 900 members, there should be some health insurance policy available. There is no mechanism to deal with the situation when councillors are sick and not fit to do their duties due to treatments or whatever it may be. That is one of the key issues.

Today, I rise to remember the late, great Paddy Cooney. He was a Member of this House and a member of Government for a number of years. I grew up with my grandmother and father who had great time for and empathy with the late Paddy Cooney. He was a fierce worker, and so it was when he put his name on the ballot paper. He always seemed to get elected in the Longford-Westmeath area. He was a man with a fierce integrity and dignity and I suppose that shone through in his ministerial roles. He held a number of roles in…

I wish to raise an issue regarding dog attacks on livestock. This week, we saw dog attacks on livestock have surged to a six-year high. We are now coming into lambing season once more. We have seen that half the dogs that are impounded have no microchips. The system that is there at this moment in time is actually broken. There are fines from €100 to €300 for anybody caught by a dog warden who has a dog off a leash or one that is worrying sheep. Two thirds of these fines were not paid in 2024. It is alarming to see…

I welcome home our peacekeepers. Members of the 126th Infantry Battalion returned following a six-month deployment with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL. They were greeted, in emotional scenes, at the airport. It is wonderful to be able to say all our troops returned home safe and sound after a traumatic time for the past six months. As everybody knows, UNIFIL is to wind down at the end of 2026. The Lebanon area has had a huge connection with Irish troops over the past 40 years. I hope that when …

It would be remiss of me not to wish Senator Wilson a happy 80th birthday. He is looking very well for the times. Today, I rise in response to an article that appeared in the Irish Farmers' Journal this week. To be quite clear, I am not against trade deals. Journalists from the Irish Farmers' Journal went to Brazil, undercover, and visited a lot of towns and villages. They uncovered widespread illegal access to across-the-counter antibiotics. For anyone who does not understand, antibiotics have to be on prescriptio…

The Minister is once again welcome to the House for this debate on funding for horse and greyhound racing. As he rightly stated, both sectors are an important part of the economies, culture and heritage of our rural communities. We have all seen what horse racing has done for rural Ireland. In the town of Roscommon, for example, when a race meeting takes place, the activity it brings has an economic effect not only locally but through the wider county. People get dressed up, schools have reunions, there are hen and…

And none tomorrow.

Can we get the name?

I, too, would like to be associated with all the good remarks said about the Irish soccer team. I grew up in the Jack Charlton era and recall early mornings and late night socialising and celebrations. I recall the buzz that was around the Irish team and especially how their efforts brought together communities, a country and a nation. The Irish team also brought our diaspora across the water together because everywhere we went everybody loved the Irish. We grew, as a nation, through sport. I wish the Irish teams -…

The Minister of State is very welcome. Today I would like to raise a couple of issues regarding farm safety. I also welcome the extension to the new PTO shaft cover scheme of two weeks. The two weeks are very welcome. As everybody knows, a lot of farm accidents have occurred with uncovered shafts in the last number of years. Farmers have bought into it. I see the worth in extending that. I urge farmers out there to have a look at the shafts regarding PTO driven machinery. If it is in a state of disrepair, please us…

I, too, declare that I am a member of the NARGC and have been for a number of years. I was nominated by it to stand for election to this House. Members of the House will be aware the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the National Regional Game Councils of Ireland agreed a memorandum of understanding, MOU, providing a clear and positive framework for collaboration, communication and shared objectives in the protection and management of Ireland's natural heritage. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sulliva…

I wish to set the record straight regarding rural pursuits and fox hunting. I have watched a number of debates over the last number of weeks and I have listened to media reports of foxes in fields being torn apart. We have listened to all this negativity in the media regarding fox hunting, which is described as a sport. It is not a sport and it is not done as a sport. The media has portrayed it as a sport. It is not just for the gentry. I hunt. I shoot. I am not gentry. I am a farmer. Foxes can get out of control a…

Today I raise an issue once again that, unfortunately, affects the farming community. This week, four of our major supermarkets have decided to have a price war regarding the price of milk. This sector, where farmers produce liquid milk, has seen 43% of liquid milk producers leaving in the last ten years, which is highly worrying. We have seen costs increase. We have seen outputs decrease. I urge these four retailers to move away from the Irish farming sector. If they want a price war, move it into the coffee indus…

I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to be here today. I, too, would like to address some of the issues regarding the Sligo to Dublin rail line. As the Minister of State knows, we have two train stops in the county of Longford, one in Longford town and one in Edgeworthstown. The one in Edgeworthstown catered for the whole of the Cavan-north Longford region where we have seen a huge influx of people. Where this can have a huge effect is that house prices in Longford are approximately €320,000-odd. We ha…