At the outset I thank the Minister of State most sincerely for her recent visit to Monaghan, which was very well received. The feedback has been extremely positive. I wish to take this opportunity to thank her for her ongoing work within her portfolio. This morning, I am urging the Minister of State to get the HSE to reconsider the transport charge that is being levelled at several juniors who are attending HSE day services in the community healthcare organisation, CHO, 1 area, which includes the counties of Monagh…

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I join the Minister of State in complimenting all those involved in the Local Link service. It is a fantastic service and there is serious potential to expand that even further, as the Minister of State outlined, and I look forward to that. I am heartened by the Minister of State's comments on her input into having a look at the charge being applied in CHO 1 only. It is unfair to the service users involved, and I would welcome it if on their behalf the Minister of Sta…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. The Minister is very welcome to the House for this very important debate. As the Cathaoirleach said, today, 17 May, marks the 48th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. As he said, I attended a wreath laying ceremony earlier today on Talbot Street, along with the Taoiseach, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alison Gilliland, and the cathaoirleach of Monaghan County Council, Councillor Aidan Campbell, along with many others. It was a very poignant event. Every year, we gather here to …

I thank the Minister for her comprehensive response. One line that struck me and stuck with me when I heard it was that to be forgotten is to die twice. That is why I feel it is imperative that there be a resolution of the blockage the Minister referred to and the problem An Garda Síochána now finds itself dealing with in the context of awaiting clarification from the Office of the Attorney General. The Minister said she hopes this will be ironed out and resolved by the end of the summer. I ask her to do all that i…

Next Tuesday will be the 48th anniversary of the Monaghan and Dublin bombings. Every year for the past 48 years the families of the victims have been searching for answers as to who was behind the awful atrocity that occurred in 1974. An investigation is currently under way. It is headed by Mr. Jon Boucher, a former chief constable in the UK. His team is seeking documentation from both the British and Irish authorities. We have been pleading with the British Government for years to hand over documents, but that has…

I had the pleasure this morning of attending a pre-budget submission on behalf of the Irish Men's Sheds Association. As many will know, there are something like 450 men's sheds throughout the country and each week, approximately 10,000 men pass through their doors. The sheds have an open-door policy to men of all ages. It does not matter whether someone is 25 or 95, there will be a smile there to greet that person and the kettle will be on the boil. It does not matter if someone is married, widowed, separated or re…

The Minister of State is welcome back to the House. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil group, I am delighted to support these three motions which have been clearly outlined by the Minister of State and Senator Ward. It is essential we have the highest possible level of co-operation with our nearest neighbour and with our EU colleagues when it comes to crime prevention, investigation and, perhaps most important as Senator Ward said, prosecution. We are delighted to support these motions and look forward to their being inc…

I move: That Seanad Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to accept the following measure: Council Decision (EU) 2021/430 of 5 March 2021 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union on the Kyoto Declaration on Advancing Crime Prevention, Crimi…

I move: That Seanad Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to accept the following measure: Regulation (EU) 2021/2260 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2021 amending Regulation (EU) 2015/848 on insolvency proceedings to replace its A…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The Construction Instruction Federation has highlighted the considerable impact hyperinflation is having across the building industry. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland has shown that the annual rate of construction inflation was 13.4% during 2021. Increasing materials and energy prices have been the driving forces behind the increasing costs since early 2021. When there appeared to be a brief decrease in inflation at the end of last year, the war in Ukraine sw…

I also extend a céad míle fáilte to our visitors. I hope they enjoy their day. I thank the Minister of State very much for the response. He outlined a number of the public projects that are being affected, which include housing projects. We all know that there is a chronic need for housing. As I said earlier, many contractors entered into contracts two to three years ago not knowing what was ahead of them as regards inflation in construction costs. I welcome the fact that the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, is lo…

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for taking time out of his schedule to be here. Recently published reports I have seen indicate we need approximately 50,000 homes to be built every year for the next 30 years. That information was published before we welcomed thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country to our shores. Trying to find homes for our young people is clearly the number one social crisis we face. Thankfully, we are beginning to make progress on this issue, despite the obstacles p…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am hugely disappointed with it. Most of the reference here seems to apply to developers. I am not talking about developers, but about young people who are trying to build a one-off house, many of whom reside in the Minister of State's constituency as well. A pandemic the like of which we have never seen, inflationary issues we have not seen in decades, and difficulty getting materials, builders and tradespeople, have meant they have been unable to commence building …

Along with colleagues who have paid tribute to a number of former Members of this House who have passed away in recent times, I offer condolences to the families of Michael O'Kennedy and, closer to home for myself, Jimmy Leonard. Jimmy was a Member of this House for a period and a Member of the Lower House for many years. He served the people of Monaghan and the Cavan-Monaghan constituency and was totally dedicated to their cause. He entered politics as a member of Monaghan County Council, a position he held for ma…

The Minister is very welcome to the House. She outlined very clearly in her contribution the reasons we should support this proposal. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil grouping, I will certainly do so. Senator Ward mentioned a high-profile case that was in the media recently. If one were looking for an example of a high-profile case where co-operation among police forces throughout the world is vitally important, that is not a bad place to start. The Minister mentioned, and it is hugely important, that where citizens' i…

Before I start, I wish to compliment the Cathaoirleach on his contribution to the joint sitting of the Houses yesterday. I also compliment the others who contributed. It was a moving day and our hearts go out to the poor people of Ukraine. Bualadh bos duit. The serious issue of the continuous underfunding of roads over the past decade has been raised on an almost monthly basis by councillors in Monaghan, Cavan and many other parts of rural Ireland. In Monaghan, Councillors P.J. O'Hanlon and Seamus Coyle in particul…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. By all means, I welcome any funding that is provided to a local authority, as it is needed. I have made the case for many counties in rural Ireland, but particularly counties Monaghan and Cavan. In many ways, it is a false economy not to keep roads at a certain standard. If adequate funding is not allocated to local authorities, the road network will get worse and it will ultimately take more money to repair it. The Minister of State can appreciate that there is a cas…

Now.

Yesterday, others and I met a group of farm contractors who arrived in Leinster House to outline in stark detail the serious concerns they have about the future of their businesses. They have a number of issues, one of which the price of fuel. Again, to give a stark example to illustrate the very significant increase that has taken place in diesel prices in the past couple of years, back in 2020, a litre of diesel cost 54 cent. In the past year, the price of that litre of diesel increased to 75 cent. As of yesterda…

I am sharing time with my colleagues. The Minister is welcome to the House to discuss this very important issue. Several months ago, I highlighted the rising cost of fertiliser. Unfortunately, in the intervening period, not only has the cost of fertiliser rocketed and its availability become such a challenge but energy costs have also soared across the board, so much so that we have a crisis on our hands in the farming sector. Farmers, as the Minister will well know, are used to difficult times, but their current c…