Well said.

The Minister of State is welcome. The images coming from Ukraine that we see on our television screens are heartbreaking, especially the distressing scenes of women, children and elderly people fleeing Ukraine. We can only imagine the many emotions Ukrainian people are going through right now. As I said earlier today, it is surreal to be witnessing what is day six of a war in Europe. All of us who value freedom, sovereignty and the right of self-determination of free peoples can only look on in horror at the action…

Well said.

I welcome our three colleagues from the European Parliament. Mr. Kelleher and Mr. Kelly will forgive me if give a particularly warm welcome to our former colleague, Ms Grace O'Sullivan, because she was such an exceptional Member of the Seanad. I am sure I would have said the same about Mr. Kelleher if I had been here at the same time as he was, or perhaps not. He is right. Ms O'Sullivan was an exceptional Member. She fought valiantly on a range of issues, and she was superb at building alliances. I have no doubt sh…

Well said. Hear, hear.

I welcome the families. It is important they are here this evening to witness the Bill. I commend my colleague, Senator Lynn Boylan, not just on this evening but on her tireless work over many years on this issue in support of the families. I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news about the Stardust. I was getting up for school at home in Westmeath. I was 15 years of age. My father told me something awful had happened in Dublin. I remember the look of horror on his face as he listened to the radio that …

I passed by The Ivy restaurant on my way to the House today in order to have a look at its quite extensive menu, which mentions a 12.5% service charge. It did not mention the price of being a member of a trade union but, thanks to the Labour Court, we now know that price in light of the fact that two very brave young women lost their jobs as a direct result of joining a trade union and of trade union activism. The 32-page judgment is well worth reading. It outlines how the case against these two workers was complet…

It is nice to see the Minister of State. She is very welcome. I raise the very serious issue of the lack of progress in regard to both public and road transport infrastructure for Limerick. It is causing major concern to people across the city and county. I will cite a few of the key areas on which I would like to get a response from the Minister of State. The first is the northern distributor road. This is a key element of infrastructure for Limerick city. Right now we have serious traffic congestion at the Mackey…

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I am disappointed, though. The elephant in the room is the fact that we do not have a republished Limerick-Shannon metropolitan area transport strategy. The first draft was so poor that councillors from all parties said it was not fit for purpose. It was due to be published last October. We are now heading towards the end of February and it is still not published. We do not know what is in it. There is a lack of commitment to targeted deliverables that will make a dif…

I have to raise the issue of University Hospital Limerick once again. What I will share with you this morning is truly shocking. The Acting Leader may be aware that the Minister for Health is on a visit to University Hospital Limerick today. I had people reach out to me from the hospital yesterday to tell me what was happening ahead of his visit. Trolleys have been moved out to other wards in the hospital, as well as to step-down hospitals. One person told me that there were more private ambulances there yesterday …

True.

Well said.

The words we just heard were, "I compliment Gript media". Need I say any more?

There we are.

I will let the Cathaoirleach deal with it.

I will not rise to the bait of that nonsense. What I will say is-----

I always tell the truth.

Seriously.

He is defending himself. He is defending the Gript media group that deals with spite, hatred and lies-----

-----and all of us have been-----