I will not mention her on her phone all day while I am speaking; that is grand.

There has been considerable debate on data centres. The point I was making is it is really good to have data centres located where we have a high source of energy such as offshore wind energy. The wind last year saved Ireland's electricity system a gas bill of €2 billion. That is instantly replacing gas with wind, which is a positive. We need to be optimistic and give people hope. It is easy to be negative. Every unit of wind energy on our system brings down the price of electricity for homes and businesses. We hav…

We all have opinions on lots of different things but we do not have to be ignorant.

Welcome to the job, a Chathaoirligh.

Oireann an Cathaoir duit. The Chair is a good look; it suits the Cathaoirleach. I look forward to working with him. I remember coming in on, I think, my second day in the Seanad. I had no idea what I had let myself in for. I had no clue. Senator Buttimer and I discovered we had a mutual friend in common in Paul Linehan, the lead singer of the Frank and Walters, which was a very good sign because they are a brilliant band. If there are people in the Seanad who have good taste in music, I will cope. That was a very g…

It is great that the outgoing Cathaoirleach will to become Leas-Chathaoirleach if everything goes according to plan. It is great to have someone like that as a wingman, or wing person. Senator Joe O'Reilly has made my life so much easier in the Chamber. He would say to me, “Don't sweat it, Róisín, it will be okay.” Even though he loves talking, he was always brief in the Chamber and in the Chair, which is a great skill to have for someone who loves to tell a story. I really admire that in him because I tend to talk…

I will try to speak to the issue at hand and not to every single issue under the sun relating to women. This will probably be one of the best pieces of legislation ever passed. It will go down in history. I thank the Minister of State on behalf of all women in Ireland. Becoming a councillor is often the first step to getting everywhere else, namely, to the Seanad or the Dáil. This is a momentous win for the women of Ireland - and for the men as well - because they have been carrying the can for far too long. We are…

I welcome and thank the Minister. She has done stellar work since assuming her role. I am from north Clare, which is heavily reliant on tourism, and were it not for the work the Minister has done with regard to finances, many tourism businesses there would have closed. I wanted to acknowledge that. I am happy to support the Bill but wish to make a couple of points. The Minister is working on the development of a new sustainable tourism policy. It is important that we see this work coming to fruition. We want a gree…

Ar an chéad dul síos, tá mé ag iarraidh a bheith dóchasach. On a positive note, I will speak briefly about rural public transport. Statistics show that private car owners in rural Ireland have a significant part to play in carbon reduction. We are facing an existential crisis. If we think the 25% emissions reduction target for agriculture is a challenge, transport emissions have to be reduced by 50% by 2030. We are not taking that seriously enough and I have deep concerns. It is great that we have some new Bus Éire…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as teacht isteach ar 6 p.m. leath slí tríd an tseachtain. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil sí an-ghnóthach so tá meas mór agam uirthi as teacht isteach. We have had school transport issues for years and since long before the Minister, Deputy Foley, was ever appointed. We cannot put all of the blame on her, especially when her role requires her to deal with every single aspect of education and not just school transport. The school transport section has let the Minister down and has been lettin…

The special needs issue is a whole other can of worms. We could have another one-hour session on it. I have parents crying down the phone to me. Then, because of something I did, I may get them a transport service but I do not want to be the one who has to do that. I want the system to work for everybody equally, not only for those who get on to politicians who know the best way to get things done is to harass the Department to get an issue sorted. Does the Minister have figures on the increase in the number of bus…

The Minister of State has been landed with duties which are not the responsibility of his Department. The Ministers are busy people. Can the Minister of State please explain to me, in light of the huge uptake of free transport, which is a great thing in theory, what the Department of Education is doing about school transport in order to increase the number of available bus drivers? My parish lost a bus that has run for 50 years, a bus I took to school. Last Tuesday, over 37 families were left on the side of the roa…

I appreciate that response from the Minister of State but there is nothing in it that I did not know already. I have been working on school transport with kids through Green-Schools and modal shift for about 14 years. I have all the figures and I know the rules about 3.2 km and 4.8 km. To be honest, the reply does not deal with the issue at all. I asked a specific question, namely, has the Department done anything about increasing the number of bus drivers. If not, it will not be able to get this bus service that i…

This is a very serious matter because since I have become a Senator, we have had a great opportunity with a thing we called Commencement matters, but the way that Commencement matters went this morning, I wonder if there is any point in them. I asked a very clear question of the Minister for Education around school transport and to ask what will the school transport section of the Department of Education do to rectify the situation with school transport issues and, in particular, the route from Inagh to Ennis. The …

Can the Cathaoirleach do so as Cathaoirleach or do I have to do that?

Okay, the Leader will do it.

Okay.

This is a great day for road traffic in Ireland. This is badly needed legislation, especially given the increased use of e-scooters, e-bikes, etc. I congratulate the Minister and his team on the work to date. There are a few different points I wish to raise around the Bill itself. Section 56 of Part 15 relates to zero emission vehicles Ireland, ZEVI. I looked up the website and it looks good and is impressive, but all the information there is about e-cars. I spent more than 14 years on the modal shift and working w…

It is good that we are progressing this Bill. As the Minister of State said, it is something we have been required to do by the EU. We could have Seanad Chamber debates all day, every day on the water situation in this country, which we all know is pretty dire on so many levels. I will stick to a couple of points. In the programme for Government, we said we would fully consider the review from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities of Irish Water’s proposed approach to water supply projects for the eastern and …

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, for coming to the Chamber on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, whose remit is housing specifically. We all know it is an issue and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is working on it, and possibly the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, as well. I wanted to invite the Minister to the House to ask him what we can do about ensuring that all Airbnbs are registered and have applied for change of use if they have gone from a lo…