I thank Deputy Farrell for raising this very important matter. As the Deputy is aware, the difficulties faced by students trying to secure affordable student accommodation is an issue the Minister, Deputy Harris, is actively pursuing. The student accommodation provider referred to by Deputy Farrell in the supplementary information is privately owned and operated and, therefore, it is not within the remit of the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to directly intervene. Howeve…

As the House will be aware, the Minister, Deputy Harris, secured Government support for his Department's long-term student accommodation policy in January. The policy sets out a number of measures to increase the supply of accommodation through all forms of tenure, recognising the differing regional needs. The aim of the policy is to increase the supply of student accommodation and to examine alternative solutions which will remove accommodation as a barrier to higher education. This will be accomplished through a …

I would like to thank the House for inviting me to participate in today’s timely debate marking the second anniversary of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For more than 700 days, Ukraine has been exercising its inherent right to self-defence against Russian aggression in accordance with international law, including the UN Charter. The people of Ukraine have endured unimaginable violence and suffering, and the destruction of their homes, livelihoods, and critical infrastructure at the …

I thank the Acting Chair for the additional time.

I thank all those who have contributed to this very important debate to mark the two-year anniversary. I acknowledge both ambassadors who are in attendance. I know that Lithuania is a great advocate for Kyiv and the Ukrainian people. During my time as Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, we have had a very close relationship with Lithuania as well. We have been working together in partnership. It was great to see the previous Lithuanian Minister for European affairs, Jovita Neliupšien, take u…

I thank Senator Byrne. Irish support for Ukraine remains unwavering. Many Members of the House have referred to the circumvention of sanctions. I understand we are now on the brink of agreeing our 13th package of sanctions against Russia, which will be exceptionally important. I acknowledge the great work of the EU sanctions envoy, David O'Sullivan. He is currently working with third countries on the circumvention of sanctions. It requires a huge amount of work and is very challenging because of the various mechani…

On behalf of my constituents in Longford-Westmeath, a neighbouring constituency of the former Taoiseach's, I extend my sympathies to his family: his wife Finola; his children, Matthew, Juliana, Emily and Mary-Elizabeth; obviously our colleague here, Richard, who is so dear to us; and Mary, his sister. I have great memories of the former Taoiseach in my constituency. I was very privileged back in 2011 to have John Bruton come down to canvass with me and launch my campaign in my bid to get elected to Dáil Éireann on …

I thank all the Senators across the House for their contributions, all of which I identify with. It is important to hear everyone's views, with which I concur. I welcome the members of the brave and courageous Women of Honour to the Public Gallery and support them in what they have had to endure at a very stressful and emotional time in their lives, when the State has let them down. That is horrific to have gone through. As Senators said, we all remember where we were when we heard those contributions on Katie Hann…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. First, I thank all of the Deputies who participated in the debate for their interest and contributions on this very important topic. It is vital that all of us in this House work together to get the message out to our exporters and businesses. There are many people in each of our constituencies who will be impacted by these new UK measures. We need to ensure they are aware of the new rules and, critically, are getting ready for them. We in Government have been working…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is also an issue in my constituency. The Government fully recognises there was exceptional flooding in the Shannon Callows during late summer last year which prevented some farmers from completing their normal traditional harvesting of silage and hay. This has left affected farmers in a serious situation and required that they purchase fodder to maintain animal health and welfare during the winter months. It is in that context that the Minister, Deputy McConal…

I thank the Deputy for taking the time to raise this important issue. As already stated, approximately €736,000 of the €800,000 has been paid out. That shows how seriously the Government has taken this issue. Farmers were paid promptly under the scheme. I will raise the issues about the SAC that the Deputy put forward to the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. The Deputy also raised an issue of one authority. It is an area with which I am familiar. It can be easy to ask for another authority to be set up in the hope it w…

I thank the Deputy for his intervention and his summation of this very important issue in his constituency. In October 2023, the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donovan, initiated a working group to progress the reuniting of the historic demesne and access issues to Castletown House and estate. This group includes representatives of the community and all of the political representatives in the area, including Deputy Durkan as a TD for the area. This working group has held three meetings to date to agree the terms of re…

I again thank Deputy Durkan for his outline of this serious situation for an important State amenity. I was struck by the figures, the visitations, the traffic and the number of people who use the amenity and see great value in it. I know it is close to the Deputy's heart, and I have heard him raise it a number of times in this House and with Ministers in the current Government. We absolutely have to find a solution to this issue. I understand the Deputy was in discussions with the chairperson of the OPW as well on…

I thank the Deputy for his important Topical Issue. I will first address the water supply issues in west Waterford. As the Deputy will understand, the supply of public water and the provision of water services in general are matters for Uisce Éireann in the first instance. However, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has made inquiries with Uisce Éireann on the issues mentioned, and I have been informed as follows. Uisce Éireann is aware of the water outages that the communities of west Waterfo…

I commend the Deputy on raising this issue. I agree that Dáil Éireann is the forum to raise infrastructural issues and indeed issues that really impact on people in the Deputy's locality like the elderly gentleman that he referenced in his opening contribution and the effects on his life of having no power and water for a protracted period of time. It is important that Uisce Éireann gets on with its investment programme. From the reply, I note it is assessing the upgrade and the capacity at that location. That is i…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. He is absolutely right about the fear that people feel when they see horrific events like very serious flooding coming towards their property. I know that as I come from a constituency which has suffered extreme levels of flooding in the past. The catchment flood risk assessment and management programme provided the Government with the evidence to launch a national and proactive programme of 120 additional and new flood relief schemes in 2018. While Midleton was …

I again thank Deputy Buckley for raising this very important matter on behalf of his community. I outline that the steering group is due to meet again in the next week or so and local elected representatives will be part of that. I assure the Deputy that the funding is in place for the relief scheme. It will be taken from the €1.3 billion that is available for flood risk management measures right throughout the country. It is important that funding is in place and that a very significant amount of data and evidence…

I thank all Members for their work on this Bill to date and their contributions in the House this evening. I reiterate the sincere thanks of the Minister for Health to the advocates who have been highlighting the issues raised in this Bill over the past number of years. On behalf of the Minister for Health and the Government, I recognise the importance of the issues raised in this Bill and the need to amend the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015, as well as to provide comprehensive regulation of assisted hu…

The interventions made this morning have been reflective of the depth of feeling throughout the House and throughout Ireland on this issue. It is impossible for most of us to imagine the scale of the suffering of the Palestinian people, given the catastrophe inflicted by the IDF on the Gaza Strip. It is important that we remember the suffering of people in the West Bank, where there has been a surge of violence by the Israeli military and by settlers against Palestinians. We should also recall the suffering of all …

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and all the Members for their time, for their questions and for the statements made earlier by those who contributed. On the general point about the Middle East, Israel and Gaza, I strongly challenge the contention that the Government is standing idly by and doing nothing on the issue. If one looks at the record of what we have done, one will see that we were the first parliament and government to advocate for a ceasefire. We really called out in strong terms internationally what is happ…