Cuirim fáilte mhór roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Teach seo ar maidin. I thank the Minister of State for his presence. Earlier this week, as he knows, a case of avian influenza was confirmed on a commercial turkey farm in Clontibret, County Monaghan. This case comes after two last week, one in County Meath and one in County Carlow. There was also one in Northern Ireland. As the Minister of State may be aware, around three quarters of poultry produced in Ireland comes from the Cavan-Monaghan area. This is therefore a …

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I have a number of questions, the answers to which the Minister of State may not have but I would appreciate if he could get them for me as quickly as possible. Have the turkeys at the Clontibret site been culled yet? If not, when will that take place? What assurance can the Minister of State give regarding adequate and secure supply of CO2 gas to support humane culling operations, particularly if further outbreaks occur? Will the Minister of State share the evaluatio…

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach inniu. The newborn bloodspot screening, NBS, programme, commonly known as the heel prick test, is carried out on babies in their first 70-120 hours of life and currently screens for nine rare but serious conditions. Approximately 120 babies with these conditions are identified per year through this test. However, parents are still calling for the urgent roll-out of the potentially life-changing heel prick test for spinal muscular atrophy, SMA, nearly …

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I welcome the fact that progress has been made on the recruitment of recruitment of staff and the necessary equipment. It does seem to take an awfully long time, which he outlined in his response, not just in this country but in different jurisdictions as well. As he rightly outlined, this is a terrible, stressful situation for parents who find themselves in such in such a position, and it is vital that we move to get this up and running as soon as we can. I would lik…

Yesterday marked the 18th anniversary of the murder of 21-year-old Paul Quinn near Oram in County Monaghan. This young man from Cullyhanna in County Armagh was murdered after being lured to a shed by a number of men. He suffered a horrible, violent death and the perpetrators showed no mercy. Up to ten individuals were involved in beating him with iron and nail-studded bars for upwards of 30 minutes. He was a 21-year-old lad and they broke every single bone in his body. His mother Breege, father Stephen and the exte…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Teach. Before I outline my case, I thank the Minister of State for taking time out of her very busy schedule recently to visit County Monaghan and the Errigal Truagh Special Needs Parents and Friends CLG. We look forward to that project and many others in the region progressing. I raise once again the issue of the much-needed replacement facility for day services at Clogher House in Cavan. Last year the area's disability services, supported by HSE estates' north east depar…

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I am delighted that a preferred end user has been identified and that the HSE will now progress to finalising matters with that preferred provider. Has the Minister of State any idea of the timelines involved in that or when that process will conclude? Can she give us any idea as to when approximately - I do not expect her to give the exact date - the people can expect this facility to be up and running? It is very much needed and in many instances long overdue.

Maybe not after this.

At 2.30 p.m. next Tuesday.

Cuirim fáilte mhór go dtí an Teach roimh an Aire Stáit. Gabhaim buíochas léi as an obair an-mhaith atá á déanamh aici. The Minister of State is welcome to the House to discuss the urgent need for additional accommodation at St. Aidan's Comprehensive School in Cootehill, County Cavan. The school has been a huge success and has grown exponentially. It now suffers from a serious lack of space which is affecting its ability to operate safely and effectively on behalf of its staff and students. There are 654 students on…

I am happy to share. I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response on behalf of the Minister, Deputy McEntee. Clearly, there is urgency attached to this. The last thing we want to do is turn 37 local people away from the secondary school in Cootehill come September next year. As I see it, there are two strands to this. There is the new build, which, as the Minister of State knows well, will take a considerable length of time. In the meantime, additional accommodation is required by way of modular or …

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is very welcome to the House. This is the first opportunity I have had to debate him in his new role. I congratulate him on his appointment and wish him every success with it. The subject I am going to discuss, driving test waiting times, is nothing new to the Minister of State. The average waiting time for counties Monaghan and Cavan is approximately 28 weeks, with the national average having stood at approximately 18.4 weeks. Granted, the fi…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response. I will take this opportunity to compliment him.. Since he came into office, he has grabbed this issue by the scruff of the neck and it is clear that progress is being made. I am disappointed, however, in the times for Monaghan. It just seems to be a bit of an outlier in that regard. I ask that the Minister of State would give particular focus to Monaghan to bring it to a level similar to the national average and to that of the neighbouring county of Cava…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. It is estimated that there are 137,000 people in this country living with heart failure. Last week, a cross-party delegation of Senators and Deputies met a group from the Irish Heart Foundation to hear about this condition. The group is calling for greater access to cardiac rehabilitation, psychological support and help to ease the financial hardship caused by this condition. I thank the two patient champions, as they are known, who spoke at the meeting, namely, Teresa O'Hanlon, w…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response to my question. I acknowledge the great strides being made on heart care in the State. I note the developments regarding this area as well. Unfortunately, as I said earlier, this condition is rapidly on the increase. It affects almost 150,000 people in the country. We need to be aware of it. Those affected have to endure physical constraints daily, and the psychological effects of having to live with that are immeasurable. There are also financial hardshi…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire ar ais go dtí an Teach seo tráthnóna. The Minister is very welcome back to the House this afternoon. I thank him for his comprehensive outline of the background of the Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024. As he said, freedom of speech is important and is something that we must protect at all costs. I know journalists are powerful individuals but it is important that they be held to account at the same time. It is imperative that people have a right to respond. I think a balance has been str…

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 take part in the adoption and application of the following proposed measure: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 as regards the establishment …

Fearaim fáilte mhór roimh an Aire ar ais go dtí an Teach seo inniu. The Minister is very welcome back to the House this afternoon. I compliment him again on his attendance in this House. He is a regular visitor here and it is very much appreciated. I know he has a lot on his desk at the moment but the respect he clearly shows towards this House is noted and appreciated by us all so gabhaim buíochas leis as sin. I am happy on behalf of the Fianna Fáil group here to take on board the recommendations that the Minister…

We can all agree on one thing, namely, that housing is a major issue for this country and the Government. Unfortunately, there are no silver bullets when it comes to finding a solution to the problem, but there are small steps that can help to increase the supply. One initiative introduced in this regard was the vacant property grant, which has been a great success. Up to March this year, there have been over 12,000 applications, of which over 8,500 have been approved to a value of €112.5 million. It is not just ab…

I welcome the Minister of State back to the House. Like Senator Noonan, I pay tribute to our former colleague, Vincent P. Martin, who initiated this legislation in the last term. I commend him on that. I commend Senator Ryan on her contribution. I am sorry she had to go through what she went through. I can only imagine the pain and suffering she endured. Her sharing of that this afternoon is one of the most powerful contributions I have heard in the Seanad, and it is my third term here. I commend her on her bravery…