Our thoughts are with his family. I hope Members join me in offering him our best wishes for a speedy recovery.

That would be very appropriate. I thank everybody for raising that this morning. Senator Kyne looked for a debate on standards in public office and the ability, or lack of ability, of people to adhere to them. We will try to arrange that. Senator Burke looked for a debate on the cost-of-living package but more importantly, on future proofing the 9% VAT rate for our hospitality sector, which I will certainly organise. There is evidence, not just in Ireland but across the European Union, of varying rates of VAT charg…

I move: "That Seanad Éireann: - condemns without reservation the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation which commenced on 24th February, 2022; - expresses its unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders; - is appalled at the actions of the armed forces of the Russian Federation which have resulted in the wide-scale destruction and damage to infrastructure, critical to the survival of the civilian population of Ukraine, …

I move: "That, pursuant to subsection 2° of section 2 of Article 25 of the Constitution, Seanad Éireann concurs with the Government in a request to the President to sign the Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuel Functions Bill 2023 on a date which is earlier than the fifth day after the date on which the Bill shall have been presented to him."

I will be brief because I only want to raise one issue with the Minister. At the beginning of last year, the NTA published the greater Dublin area transport strategy. It followed a public consultation that it had run for a number of months beforehand. There were 886 submissions received off the back of the Fairer Fares campaign, a campaign that was started by my party colleague, Councillor Sharon Tolan. The reason she is looking for it is that as the Minister is aware, the short hop zone extends to the north of my …

I move: "That Seanad Éireann: approves the establishment of a Citizens’ Assembly, to be known as the ‘Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use’, to consider the legislative, policy and operational changes the State could make to significantly reduce the harmful impacts of illicit drugs on individuals, families, communities and wider society, and to bring forward recommendations in this regard; the Assembly shall consider, inter alia : - the drivers, prevalence, attitudes and trends in relation to drugs use in Irish society;…

Next Tuesday at 12.30 p.m.

The Order of Business is No. 1, Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill 2022 - Committee Stage, to be taken at 11.45 a.m.

I looked for a debate on Irish Water. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to come to the House at his earliest convenience. Senator Dolan spoke about the importance, as we all appreciate, of family businesses throughout the country. Apart from the products or services they produce, they are the backbone of industry in Ireland. Senator Seery Kearney spoke about leaflets, which are an example of the factory of disinformation and the organisations behind its production. It is an issue we need to be carefu…

Senator Ward asked for a debate with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science on expanding the criteria used for the HEAR programme. We could probably use a debate on the HEAR and DARE programmes. Both are valuable but they have not been reviewed for a long time. They probably need to be updated, so I will try to organise that. Senator Keogan spoke at length about the worrying information that has come to light in the past couple of weeks, not just with regard to the cameras t…

The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding referral to the joint committee of an application for a private Bill to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business in accordance with Standing Order 11 of the Standing Orders relative to private businesses, without debate; No. 2, statement on moving towards zero tolerance of violence against women, to be taken at 12.15 p.m. and to conclude at 1.45 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten …

I have made such a request a number of times and I obviously did not get a response. Maybe it is because the Minister of State is out with the diaspora, which is probably a good thing, but I will certainly request a statement. I congratulate the community that cherishes the Irish who emigrated to Canada. I did not know about this until I visited Montreal a couple of years ago. The community really does care. It is lovely to see, even from afar, that continued commitment. I know Senator Boylan has campaigned on gree…

Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about the campaign to save the Corpus Christi Hall in Drumcondra. I wish her well. I will follow up with the Department of Education and see if I can get some response from the Minister on the ongoing negotiations. I am disappointed to hear the situation raised by Senator Gavan is not resolved. I will contact the chair of Rehab today to see what is going on.

Both the Minister responsible for charities and the Minister for Health need to intervene. No State-sponsored or State-supported agency in this country should be allowed to ignore the Workplace Relations Commission. I will come back to the Senator later and give him a call on that. Senator Keogan echoed others' calls for the extension of the 9% VAT rate for hospitality and cited all the concerns that have been raised by people in the industry with regard to the 240,000 jobs that may be put in jeopardy. Senator Kyne…

Next Tuesday.

The Order of Business today is No. 1, motion regarding the arrangements for the sitting of the House on Wednesday, 8 February, 2023, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business without debate; No. 2, motion regarding the Nineteenth Report of the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight on the amendment of Standing Orders 19 and 65 and the temporary amendment of Standing Order 22, to be taken on conclusion of No. 1 without debate; No. 3, motion regarding the establishment of the special committee o…

I thank colleagues for all of the topics they have raised this morning. Senator Horkan is right. I will arrange and request a debate because it very much does feel, not just this year but in recent years, that we are going backwards from some of the huge successes we have had in the reduction of the number of fatalities over the years. We all know the good work the Road Safety Authority does, particularly in the promotion of road safety. It is very sad to see the number of people who have lost their lives increasin…

I will arrange the debate in the next couple of weeks and I hope we will do that. Senator Murphy raised an issue that was raised at our parliamentary party meeting last night. Maybe the momentum has not grown because people are suffering from the cost-of-living crisis on top of their mortgage costs or maybe it is due to the fact that fixed-rate mortgages or interest rates generally in Ireland have not been impacted upon quite the same as other European countries, but by all means it will. One of my colleagues menti…

Absolutely-----

-----but then we go to the argument of how we treat them, not just on international standards but on our own Irish standards. We do not have to look too far to see how we malign them, and that needs to be addressed as well. As for the other issue Senator Clonan raised, I will not stand up here and be duplicitous with him. I do not have enough information yet. What has been released so far would allow me to be absolutely outraged yet I am told there is other information to come, so I will reserve saying how I feel a…