I am sure the Tánaiste, as Minister for Defence, and all Members of the House welcome the increase in the age threshold from 60 to 62 in respect of mandatory-----

What is the timeline in that regard? I am dealing with a specific issue relating to John Molloy, a former member of the Defence Forces and the fire station officer in Dunleer. The station is operating with the minimum crew number of five, of which he is one, and there is no one to replace him. He will turn 60 on 24 May. The sooner the change to which I referred is made, the better, but there will be a need for a short-term fix in the case of people such as John if the changes are not in place in time. There would b…

There has been much commentary regarding Sinn Féin and the nature restoration law. I welcome the comments of all those who remarked on how we voted, but then continued with their speeches attacking the nature restoration law. In fairness, Deputies Kerrane, Carthy and O'Rourke outlined clearly why Chris MacManus voted the way he did and the decisions made by Sinn Féin in that regard. No one should have a difficulty with parliamentarians at European or domestic levels or any other level trying to improve a particular…

I am dealing with the case of John Molloy, retained fire station officer in Dunleer fire station. The station has a crew of five. That is the minimum for a crew. I do not necessarily have to go into the great and necessary work that is carried out by the fire brigade. We know that at times they have to deal with dreadful circumstances as a result of fires, road traffic accidents and all the rest of it. There are two things here. There is the particular situation of Mr. Molloy but, beyond that, we need to make sure …

I will respond to what the Minister of State said in reverse. He said "it is essential that the retirement age reflects the requirement that firefighters should be capable of satisfactorily meeting the physically demanding nature of the role". Mr. Molloy made the point to me that he has no issue with regard to that or any of the fitness tests, so that is out of the equation. Unfortunately, some of what is in the answer is as I thought it would be. The reply states that it is the Minister's intention to engage with …

I appreciate that. If a final solution was put in place, we would all be better off.

I will add my voice to what has been said, in the sense that a spectacular piece of work has been done by the Oireachtas committee. I thank Senator Carrigy, Deputy Tully and everybody who worked on the committee, of which I was not a member but I sort of inveigled myself in. I have a tendency to do that. The Minister of State will not be shocked, exactly. We dealt with a huge number of people, officials, organisations, advocates and beyond that, families and individuals. That is the bit that was absolutely vital. A…

I have a tendency to go over my time.

I have just come from the Carrickdale hotel, where a very successful cross-Border conference is ongoing. It was organised by Newry and Dundalk chambers of commerce and is backed by the local authorities on either side of the Border. The Minister, Conor Murphy MLA, and the Minister of State, Deputy Neale Richmond, are speaking at it and it is all very positive. We all know the positives that exist in the M1 Border corridor but the problem is that in the southern part of it, where I live, we are constantly hearing no…

----estate management is an area where we are failing communities. We need the interventions for families and individuals with complex needs, but we are allowing communities to be detrimentally impacted by those who are chaotic. We need further supports and the council needs those supports.

Táim an-sásta labhairt inniu maidir le Seachtain na Gaeilge agus táim chun an rud a deirim gach bliain a rá, is é sin nach gcleachtaim í minic go leor ach go mbeidh níos mó cleachtadh á dhéanamh agam as seo amach. Táim lándáiríre faoi an uair seo. Táim ag caint liom féin faoi sin. Caithfidh mé é a dhéanamh mar déanaim é seo an t-am ar fad. Bíonn sé ar intinn agam cleachtadh a dhéanamh. Bíonn agallamh agam. Bím measartha in amanna agus in amanna ní bhíonn sé chomh maith is ba chóir dó a bheith, ach ní dhéanaim faic …

I want to bring up the issue of John Molloy, whom I met with Councillor Pearse McGeough earlier today. John Molloy is the retained station officer in Dunleer fire station and, on 24 May, he turns 60 and will be forced to retire. The crew at Dunleer is at its minimum of five. There is no one who can replace him as fire station officer, so we are in a real predicament. Obviously, it has an impact on him. We know there is an ongoing interdepartmental review on this issue but we need some sort of stopgap solution to th…

Three weeks ago many of us stood before the House and spoke of the truly historic events taking place in the North following the restoration of political institutions after an agonising delay. A nationalist has been named as First Minister in the Stormont Executive. This represents a watershed moment which presents unprecedented opportunities for progress on our island. This is no more pronounced than in relation to dealing with climate change. Action on climate change provides a clear and urgent platform for ambit…

I brought up an issue that was brought to me by Alison McCabe and was also raised on "Liveline", that of post-mastectomy products for women who have been through breast cancer and mastectomy. There was a plan involving reducing the funding for the scheme. I brought the decision in that regard to the attention of the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and it was reversed, which is very welcome. However, Alison McCabe has since been back on to me. There are a number of issues which still need to be …

I am really delighted to speak today in recognition of International Women's Day. At the minute, Lieutenant General Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestinian Football Association, is meeting with the sports committee. We should recognise the Bohemians Football Club women's team who are going to play the Palestinian women's team. That is very important given the really brutal circumstances of the Israeli slaughter that is ongoing on the people of Gaza at this point. I want to congratulate soccer trailblazer and Du…

It would be wrong if I did not mention at this stage my long-suffering wife, Annemarie, and my mother, Marian. I owe them many apologies and thank them very much. Go raibh maith agaibh.

It goes without saying that there is not a group in the community and voluntary sector that will not speak of the need for multi-annual funding. I welcome the Minister of State's point that the group is cross-departmental. That is necessary. I am thinking of the likes of the Family Addiction Support Network, which is falling between stools and which, unfortunately, could face closure within the next year. I have another question related to community centres. I have spoken to the Minister of State previously about M…

There generally are.

Could we look at the-----

I engaged previously with the Minister on issues relating to a very small number of dog owners. A few irresponsible owners can cause a significant number of problems. There are issues concerning the commonage on the Cooley Mountains. In fairness to Louth County Council, its dog wardens have carried out media campaigns, which I welcome. The ability to fine people has been mentioned, but it must be ensured there is enforcement. I am very interested to hear what timeline the Minister envisages for the recommendations …