I thank Senator Ruane. Not a word written, straight from the heart. I do not see Senator McGahon here so I will move on to Senator Malcolm Byrne.

Senators Murphy and O'Loughlin are sharing time. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I thank the Minister for speaking so strongly about this. In the past, Irish Governments has not been so clear and supportive so I appreciate the Minister coming out strongly on this and using the Irish voice on the UN Security Council. I listened to the Israeli ambassador and I just do not believe him. I think he told lies to the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. With all the money, power and modern technology Israel has, it could easily avoid civilian deaths. It is doing it so flippantly. Israel doe…

I welcome the Minister to the house. He faces a daunting task. We could spend all our time giving out about what previous Governments should and should not have done. Here we are, however, so let us move forward. This Bill is the first ever to focus solely on affordable housing, which cannot be a bad thing. People like to focus their energy on poking holes in things but we must focus on solutions. I want to focus on cost rental, a new phenomenon in Ireland based on the Vienna model, to which the Bill gives legal st…

The approved housing bodies have done much good work in the past. Maybe not everyone will have to own a house if people know they are not going to be kicked out of their home for 30 or 40 years. I would like to see tenancies to be ad infinitum but a 30 or 40-year tenancy is vastly more secure than what we have now. I praise that aspect of the Bill. The Bill also provides that rents in AHB built housing will be capped. Rent increases are another big fear. The rent for the house I lived in increased from €450 to €800…

You said he had an issue with strong women.

That is a political charge.

I wish to talk about local enterprise offices and the Intreo offices. I seek the support of the House to call on the Tánaiste and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to give both these important offices extra supports at this time when we are opening up the country. According to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office, we have 248,000 small businesses that employ between one and ten workers. I do not know about businesses in other places but I know that in Clare one cannot rely on the big businesses and t…

Is é sin mo chéad seans labhairt leis an Aire go hoifigiúil sa Teach seo. Is deas é a fheiceáil agus gabhaim buíochas leis. I thank the Minister for his time. I can only imagine what his job is like. I will keep it brief. This year has marked a dramatic change in the banking landscape in Ireland. With the exit of Ulster Bank and KBC Bank from Ireland, as well as the decision of Bank of Ireland to close 88 branches, which has seriously affected my county and, I am sure, many others, the need for a new force in banki…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Is deas é a fheiceáil sa Teach seo don chéad uair ó toghadh don Seanad mé. I welcome the Tánaiste. It is good to see him in the House for the first time since I became a Senator. It is a very positive day today. People woke up slightly happier, maybe, than they have been in 14 months. Bearing in mind there has been provision of approximately €30 billion in supports for individuals and businesses, how will the phasing out of these supports be done in a way that will still support vulnera…

I welcome Senator Horkan to the Chamber. I am still finding my feet and ask him to take it easy on me and to tread carefully. I want to speak on two matters. Today, outside Leinster House, there is a young girl called Fossie who is displaying a Fridays for Future banner and asking for climate and environmental education to become part of the core curriculum for primary and secondary schools. I support her in her endeavours and it is a shame someone so young must be out demonstrating every Friday. I admire her and t…

Well done to Senator Dooley for bringing this motion forward. We have all probably been inundated with communication from post office owners and postmasters. I certainly have been. There is much stress in that sector. It is good that we have this motion and that the Government is taking it seriously. It is important that people realise An Post is State-owned and, as a Government, it is our responsibility to try to do all we can for post offices. It is imperative that we save post offices. I will go so far as to say…

First, I want to cover the great news today from the Department of the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and the office of the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, regarding support for regional airports. There will be €6.3 million allocated to Shannon Airport at a time when there have been zero flights, which, in itself, causes considerable hassle for regional tourism in the area because it is one of the main ways people come in to visit the west coast. It is great news today. It is positive not only for the airport but for t…

I move: That Seanad Éireann: recognises that clean water is a basic human right of every inhabitant of this country and acknowledges that access to clean water and sanitation is also a United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal that Ireland has signed up to, and the need to protect it from source to sea and everything along the way, rivers, lakes and groundwater; notes the following commitments in the Programme for Government: - to ensure the provision of safe drinking water and the proper treatment of wastewater…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House, for listening to all our contributions and for his positive contribution at the end. We could probably talk about water all day. If we do not sort out water, we will not and cannot sort out housing. We know that housing is one of the top issues in Ireland, along with health. Health and housing will never be sorted if we do not sort out water. This is a very serious issue. It is actually a crisis but we do not call it a water crisis. It is time that we started u…

I thank the Minister of State for coming in today. Unfortunately, she has been handed another poisoned chalice. It is a very serious matter. I speak on behalf of people who have worked with children with autism and the parents of children with autism. I want to be a voice for them today. I reached out to them after the event and they reached out to me. The average person affected by this has a series of questions and would like to find out the following. How do families establish whether there is a dossier on them …

I welcome the Minister back to the House; I am sure his time is precious during the crisis. I welcome the resumption of visits to the old folks homes. It is massive and means so much to people to be able to see their families twice a week. It is a step in the right direction and it is hard not to get teary-eyed thinking of people being able to see their families again. I am pleased that we can do 105,000 vaccinations in the next week, which is quite impressive. No one has had to do this before. There will always be…

No. Let everyone else come in.

We would all like to do that.

He will answer it at the end.