I welcome the Minister of State to the House and wish to pay tribute to her publicly for the great work she is doing in her portfolio. I knew when she was appointed that she would grasp it by the scruff of the neck and she is doing so. I commend her on her good work and wish her good health to keep it all going. I wish to pay tribute to the many communities throughout the length and breadth of the country who have been fundraising for defibrillators, that is, automated external defibrillators, AEDs, and installing …

I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response on behalf of the Minister for Health. I am delighted that there are moves afoot to roll this out at a national level. As the Minister of State said, the most important thing is to roll it out with pace. That is vitally important. We have great community volunteers who volunteer in cardiac arrest situations with defibrillators but for one reason or another the logistics of getting them out to a remote location might prove difficult. The Garda is on the sce…

I raise the plight of the leaving certificate class of 2022. It is an issue on which the Leader herself and many others in the Chamber have spoken as well. We all know the leaving certificate period is an extremely stressful time for both the pupils themselves and their parents and indeed the entire household of a pupil going through the process. That stress is now compounded by what the leaving certificate class of 2022 has gone through with the additional stresses Covid has brought along. I have received many tel…

Many sheep farmers across the country have had the horrendous experience of finding their animals, be they cattle or sheep, savaged by stray dogs. Figures recorded from 2020 show that there were 241 such instances, but farmers are of the firm belief that the true figures are much greater and that there is an awful lot of non-reporting because farmers are not convinced that the authorities are taking this seriously. Farmers provide full traceability for 7 million cattle and 3 million breeding sheep, whereby every si…

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber this morning. Dental services in Ireland are exempt from VAT in accordance with EU legislation. This is vitally important, because dental treatment should be cost-effective and it should be provided at a cost that does not prohibit public or private patients from availing of it. A new interpretation by the Revenue Commissioners, however, concerning fees paid by associate dentists to principal dentists, threatens to undermine Ireland’s dental scheme entirely and to caus…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. As I said earlier, this could have serious implications for dental practices along the Border areas in particular and for all of the citizens who live in those areas. From my information, the European Court of Justice has made deliberations on this particular subject. As I said in my earlier contribution, a recent survey showed that 19 EU countries do not charge VAT for dental practices, and the UK also does not charge VAT. It puts Ireland in an awkward position and m…

I thank the Minister of State for his time.

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber. The cross-border healthcare directive, as it was once known, was introduced in 2014. It has proved to be a major success. Interestingly, only seven people availed of the scheme in 2014, but up-to-date figures indicate almost 15,000 people have availed of healthcare across the Border. For many people who are languishing on waiting lists, whether it is for a cataract operation or some other eye procedure, or perhaps a hip or knee replacement, the cross-border heal…

I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response and for the clarity she has brought to the issue for many people who may have been concerned that the scheme would terminate at the end of this year. For individuals who find themselves languishing on waiting lists, many for long periods where their quality of life is severely affected, this is good news.

Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach agus gabhaim buíochas leis as a bheith anseo mar tá a fhios agam go bhfuil sé faoi bhrú mar go bhfuil a lán oibre le déanamh aige. The Minister is very welcome to the House this morning. The Minister knows, and he does not need me to tell him, that every farmer in the country is speaking about the price of fertiliser. It has gone through the roof. Recent figures I have seen show the price of urea has risen almost 80% in the past year. The average p…

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response. He has been on the ball on this matter, which he demonstrated when he outlined his contacts with the EU. I am sure that he understands and accepts that this is a serious matter. This is a particularly worrying time for the farming community as the price of fertiliser is rocketing. Ultimately, what is bad news for the farmer will end up being bad news for us all. The long-term strategy is to reduce the use of fertiliser and nitrates, which is important, and I unde…

Now.

I welcome the Minister of State. I would like to put on the record that I have found the Minister of State to be very approachable. He and I have had many discussions about this issue, through Commencement matters or whatever else. I have always found the Minister of State amenable. I have listened to the debate. We all have one thing in common in this House, which is the love for our climate. Everyone has a responsibility to do all that we can to ensure that we reduce the carbon footprint, regardless of what eleme…

Hear, hear.

I move: "That Seanad Éireann resolves that the period of operation of sections 1 to 7 and 9 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021 (No. 14 of 2021) be extended for a period of 6 months, beginning on the 1st day of December, 2021 and ending on the 31st day of May, 2022."

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit ar ais go dtí an Teach. The Minister of State is welcome back to the House. I remember when the difficulty arose with this legislation six months ago when premises were extended to facilitate outdoor dining. It created a difficulty for the Garda and the business owners because there was a bit of a grey area as to whether the piece they added onto their premises, grounds or whatever was licensed. That caused some difficulty. I raised the matter in the Seanad at the time and I was de…

The Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, is very welcome to the House this morning and I thank him for taking time out of his busy schedule to be here. This morning I want to raise the need for electric vehicle, EV, charging points throughout counties Monaghan, Cavan and Meath. EcoXpress, which is the first all-electric courier company operating in the Republic of Ireland, is based in Monaghan. It has four electric vans servicing County Monaghan, three electric vans servicing County Cavan and five electric vans servi…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. He stated there are plans to expand the rolling out of charging points in the region. That is very much welcome. I would be grateful if he could get me more detail specifically on the plans for County Monaghan. County Cavan will see an increase, as will counties Louth and Meath. The Minister of State mentioned Monaghan in a certain context, but I am here to give voice to the courier company in question and many others who are calling for more charging points to be ins…

Hear, hear.

Like my colleague Senator O’Loughlin, I would like refer to Adult Safeguarding Day, which takes place tomorrow, Friday, 19 November. This is Ireland’s first Adult Safeguarding Day and is an event to raise public awareness of a very sad activity. Safeguarding Ireland has come together in partnership with organisations across the sectors of health, justice and finance, as well as other sectors, to raise awareness of elder abuse, particularly in this country. Adult abuse happens when a person’s rights, independence or…