Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus le Comhaltaí an tSeanaid as an deis cúpla focal a rá ar an ábhar seo um thráthnóna. I thank the Cathaoirleach and the Members for the invitation to say a few words on the national broadband plan, NBP. The plan is the Government's initiative to deliver high-speed broadband to every household, business and farm in Ireland, ensuring all premises in the country will be covered by a gigabit network no later than 2028. It is the largest infrastructure project in rural Ireland …

I thank the Cathaoirleach and Members for their contributions. For the benefit of the House and given the geography of some Members present, I will put on the record that in County Cavan the total investment under the plan is €65 million, the intervention area is 16,780 premises, the number available to preorder at the moment is 15,087 and the number of premises being passed is 14,826. I advise Senator O'Reilly the work will be finished in September. People often think of Dublin as an urban area, but the investment…

I am sure his colleague, the Senator from Limerick, would not agree with him on his position to levy the landowners in County Limerick with the responsibility of taking down trees.

I put on the record of the House that I am totally and absolutely opposed to that because many elderly people living on their own, including on my road, have ash trees and everything else that are half dead. If the Sinn Féin position is that people have to pay for the cost of cutting them down, that is news to me. In general, I welcome the responses from Senators with regard to the progress that has been made. When I came into the Oireachtas 15 years ago, the first word out of everybody's mouth was "broadband" and …

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after ”That" and substitute the following: "Dáil Éireann declines to give the Online Safety (Recommender Algorithms) Bill 2026 a second reading, on the grounds that the issues the Bill seeks to address are already being addressed by Coimisiún na Meán , Ireland's independent online safety and media regulator, through its implementation of Ireland's Online Safety Framework, together with the European Commission.". Gabhaim buíochas leis na Teachtaí éagsúla as an ábhar tábhac…

That is the clearest the Deputy's party has been in a long time. Now I know where it stands. It is very helpful. He is not going to ban it. He will not support the Government. Thanks very much. He clarified something Deputy Byrne would not do last night.

I welcome Deputy Gould's point of view. It has been very enlightening.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an ócáid seo ina bhfuilimid in ann cúpla rud a rá maidir le cúrsaí in oifigí poist agus an líonra poist inár saol le chéile. Tá ról sóisialta tábhachtach acu ag soláthar tacaíochtaí luachmhara do chuid de na daoine is leochailí inár sochaí trí íocaíochtaí leasa shóisialaigh, postas saor in aisce chuig tithe altranais agus go leor seirbhísí luachmhara eile a sholáthar. Tá ról eacnamaíoch ríthábhachtach acu maidir le gnó idir gnólachtaí agus custaiméirí a éascú. Tá ról acu anois sa gheilleagar le …

You closed a few of them yourselves.

You closed the one in Adare when you shot a garda.

You forgot that one, of course.

You had no problem closing the one in Adare, did you? You had no problem closing that one, you hypocrite.

The Government's position on the issue of restricting access to social media platforms for children under 16 years of age is set out in the Government's recently published national digital and AI strategy. The Government is committed to working closely with like-minded European Union member states on proposals to restrict social media access for children and young people. In addition, the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, announced an expert panel to examine the issue and any decision will take a…

There has been no ambiguity regarding what I have previously said in the House. This is the first time Deputy Byrne has raised this issue in the House with me on oral questions. There has been no ambiguity regarding this issue from my point of view. I do not care what people read in the paper. The reality is I have consistently said and am on the record as saying that I thought it was regrettable the European Commission and the European Union had not acted as one with regard to this up to now, and that individual m…

I am still no clearer as to whether the Deputy's party is going to support legislation that is going to be brought before the House in respect of a digital wallet. This is the public health issue of our generation. I have three small children and I am speaking as a parent. Previous generations had issues with smoking and alcohol from a public health point of view. We know that social media causes huge issues around mental health, addiction and physical health. Deputy Byrne is talking about a self-regulated system. …

I thank Deputy O'Donoghue. Threats and harassment of any individual are not acceptable. The safeguarding of athletes at all levels of sport is a shared responsibility. It is imperative that we demonstrate that there is simply no place for abuse of any kind in sport and there should be zero tolerance for any actions that endanger welfare, whether of participants, staff or those who work for and support sports or, indeed, any discipline in the country. Everyone involved in sport, or in any discipline or capacity, reg…

I agree with the Deputy. To be honest, unfortunately, it is not isolated to one cohort in society. People in this House get their fair share of it as well and it is totally unwarranted. Whether a person is in Opposition or Government, there is a common thread that unites all of us who put our name on a ballot paper and get in here. The abuse some people get, particularly women Members of this House and the other House, is absolutely unbelievable. These nameless and faceless trolls hide behind makey-uppy names and i…

With regard to the situation in County Louth that the Deputy raised, it is important to state that the national governing bodies here, the FAI and the League of Ireland, accepted their responsibilities, in fairness to them, because ultimately they are the governing authorities for this sport. I was not going to single out one. I had to single out the governing authority. When I met the governing authorities last week, they did not in any way push back with regard to the proposed sanction I had. In fairness to them,…

I thank the Deputy. I believe he is taking this for Deputy Gibney.

As Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, I am committed to the support and development of the live music industry. The Department, both through its own schemes as well as its funding of the Arts Council, provides support to a range of organisations that play essential roles in the development of music in Ireland. Last year, I launched the grassroots music venue support scheme, a night-time economy initiative to support independent music venues that promote themselves and are known in the community for pro…