I thank the Minister of State very much for coming in today. I very much welcome the announcement yesterday from both her and the Minister, Deputy Foley, on the €40 million funding and the review of the programme. Many children with whom we speak are excited about summer provision. It is a key part of their year. We have two sets of people, namely, the students and the teachers. We must resolve those two issues. I know that is what the Minister of State is committed to doing. Early payment is one of the issues that…

I move: That Seanad Éireann: recognises that: - according to the Irish Maternity Indicator Report 2021, Ireland’s breastfeeding rates are among the lowest in the world. Only 62.3% of babies are breastfed at birth compared to 90% in Australia, 81% in the UK and 79% in the USA, with only 37% of babies discharged from hospital being breastfed exclusively. By the time babies are three months old that number has dropped to 31.2%, one of the lowest in Europe; - the 5 year National Action Plan for breastfeeding in Ireland…

I thank all of our guests in the Visitors Gallery. I will list the organisations because it is important to show the breadth of the voluntary organisations that do such amazing work when it comes to supporting women and breastfeeding. We have Friends of Breastfeeding Ireland, Baby Feeding Law Group Ireland, Bainne Beatha, Cuidiú, the Association of Lactation Consultants in Ireland, Pavee Point and La Leche League, which also does huge work in the area of voluntary support. That brings me to my first point. We are h…

I thank the Senators and the Minister of State for engaging on this important topic. It is true that much work has been done but we are not seeing the cultural shift. That is just a reality. The numbers reflect an increase but include those who are doing both breastfeeding and using formula milk. It is important to point out that the rates do not refer to breastfeeding exclusively. It is also important to point out that while Ireland has signed up to the WHO's international code of marketing of breast milk substitu…

I am delighted with the opportunity to speak on this important issue. My colleagues in the Dáil introduced amendments and I am hopeful that the Minister will accept amendments in the Seanad as well on some of the issues raised. As he outlined, this is important legislation that goes much further than ever before, but there is always room for improvement. I will speak first about BusConnects, which I know the Minister is very passionate about. We have an exciting opportunity in Galway to have BusConnects and to have…

I thank the cross-party joint committee on cancer for the excellent presentation today. I thank the Irish Cancer Association. It was informative. It was great that we were all together on a cross-party basis. This is breast cancer awareness month. One in seven women in this country will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives. It is a serious issue and it is important that we as a Government take it seriously. The Irish Cancer Association had a request about maternity leave. It is important tha…

I thank the Minister of State for joining us. I attended the meeting in Clifden on Sunday and it was heartbreaking to hear the stories of people, especially family members of older people or those close to the end of their lives, who were phoned on Friday and asked to remove their loved ones from Clifden District Hospital. We also heard from doctors who said they were given no notice. One doctor said he was asked not to make any more referrals for palliative care. There seems to be a real problem around communicati…

We appreciate the Minister of State coming here. It is an urgent issue. While we have heard this response before, there is a lack of clarity, otherwise we would not have had a two-hour-long meeting with the HSE and still not have got any further on Monday. It needs to be addressed. As the Minister of State said, the nearest facility is 80 km away. It is not acceptable for the people of Connemara to not have their district hospital operational.

I am delighted to be here on budget day. The marks of the three parties in Government are on this budget. It shows that collaboration across parties is fundamentally a good thing.

There are areas of this budget where I wish more had been provided, specifically stay-at-home parents. This is an area I feel very passionately about and it one the Minister of State mentioned. I am astounded by the 25% cut in fees provided in the childcare package for people who avail of a crèche. This was one of the Green Party's core commitments when we went into Government. We thought the initiative might take another few years to introduce but it has been accelerated, with funding of €1 billion provided for ch…

I agree with Senator Malcolm Byrne. I have been a member of the údarás of the National University of Ireland Galway, which is now the University of Galway, and I think that the voice of students is essential. PhD students, by virtue of their other roles are often members of these boards, which is effectively what they are. The voice of the students' union is also really important. I am anxious to hear what the Minister will say and reiterate that we must make sure that this voice is retained.

The Minister is very welcome to the House. The antiquated Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871 remains a reality in the lives of 3,000 adults in Ireland so we need to get this Bill over the line. I have heard very strongly from those stakeholder groups that have been looking forward to this day and to the day when it is signed into law. That is to do with those who are wards of court at the moment but the Bill goes beyond that because it also puts in place measures to support all of those with disabilities who have…

The Minister is welcome. I thank the Fianna Fáil Senators for tabling this important motion. When it comes to energy, we need to do three things. One of the most important of those in some ways, and the most immediately important for the people of Ireland, is to deal with the issue of cost. We must be very clear with people that the cost of energy is not related to energy security. Those two issues have to be decoupled when we discuss the motion and the matters raised by Senator McDowell, which I will come back to.…

I move: “That Seanad Éireann: recalls that: - Ireland has signed and ratified the European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes (‘the Convention’); - the European Union has been promoting animal welfare for over forty years, gradually improving the welfare standards in respect of animals kept for farming purposes; - the Government has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting the welfare of all animals in the Animal Welfare Strategy for Ireland 2021-2025 (‘the Strategy’); agrees: - that a…

I appreciate the comments from Senator Murphy. I will go back over and comment on the various points raised by Senators. I am sure the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, recognises it is important for the Green Party members to use every means we can to make sure the issue of fur farming is progressed because it was critical to us entering this Government. The Minister said he was not going to enter negotiations on the floor of the Seanad because he wanted the Bill to pass. That means the Bill needs to be commenced. Oth…

With all due respect, the Acting Chairperson is meant to be neutral. I disagree on that point.

I thank the Senator for his amendment. I spoke at length on Second Stage of the Bill on all the resources that have been put in place. I do not suggest that everybody is satisfied with all of the wrap-around services, but there have been 300 extra classes in the last year, there will be more than 315 in the next academic year, and a quarter of the entire education budget will go towards special needs education, which a lot of people probably do not realise. The reason I have an issue with the amendment is not becau…

I welcome all our guests. I thank everyone who came before the committee to share their insights. As I often say, when it comes to committees, we are not the experts. We are there to hear witnesses' expert testimony and to make recommendations on the basis of what really matters for their communities. I will say to everyone who came before us, and everyone who opened their homes on the halting sites we visited throughout the country, including in the constituency of Galway West where I live, that we could not have …

I welcome the Minister of State. As a member of the Oireachtas joint committee I can say there was cross-party support from the Government and the Opposition sides to waive the pre-legislative scrutiny. There was no disagreement on it. I thank the Department for the helpful briefing for party spokespersons on education. Every effort has been made to bring people on board. Notwithstanding that a quarter of the entire education budget goes to the education of children with special needs, that 300 new special classes …

I thank the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, and her staff for engaging with me on this issue. As the Minister knows, I am very passionate about this issue. A number of years ago, my Green Party colleagues in Galway and I tried to get the local council's budget to set aside funding for advertisements on local radio to promote breastfeeding because in the media, breastfeeding cannot compete with formula milk as the State does not have the funding to allow it compete with companies that make money. I am glad the Mi…