I want to bring up the issue of our young people leaving the country. Some 68%, or over two thirds, of 18- to 24-year-olds are considering emigrating. We have bright, educated, talented young people who have no hope for their future here. It was sad to listen to them on the news on Tuesday evening, talking of finishing their degrees and emigrating. I understand why. They see their siblings and friends earning nowhere near enough to buy a house at, say €400,000; or even rent; or, unless they work 24-7, to cover thei…

I welcome this debate today. I think it is great. I will start by saying that citizenship is not a right afforded to people and there is not an automatic entitlement to it. It should be earned. The proposed changes to citizenship rules have made people sit up and realise that up until now we essentially put zero restrictions on acquiring citizenship, and that should not be. Irish citizenship should be valued. Our requirements are laughable compared with other countries. If you want to apply for citizenship in Swede…

I, too, want to talk about energy costs today. Ireland has the highest electricity prices in Europe. Families are feeling it every time a bill comes through the door. Where is the Minister for energy? He has not met the four largest energy suppliers in Ireland in the past year. He met Electric Ireland, Bord Gáis, SSE Airtricity and Energia once in September 2025. That needs to be addressed. Energy costs are putting enormous pressure on households. The Minister should sit across the table from these companies and as…

I too wish to be associated with the condolences to Senator Gerard Craughwell on the death of his wife, Helen, and also to the family of former Senator Enda Bonner. Since the last few weeks of August, my office has been dealing with the school bus ticket chaos, as I call it. We have parents contacting us who cannot get their children on the bus to school. It is the same story every year, with parents desperately trying to find a solution when school comes back, bus drivers threatening to walk off the job and empty …

Hear, hear.

I support Senator Harmon in everything she has said. I want to raise the ongoing crisis in assessments of need and the impact this is having on families in Cavan and Monaghan. Earlier this year, I was helping a mother whose young son had been offered a place in an early intervention preschool. She should have been delighted but instead she was under huge pressure because to take up the place she needed an assessment of need. We contacted the HSE and I followed up again and again but we received the same template ov…

I also welcome the delegation from Canada. They are very welcome. I have three sons living and working in Manitoba, Souris and Brandon. I bring up the issue of e-scooters. Imagine being afraid every time you step outside your own front door. That is a daily occurrence for a visually impaired woman living in Cavan town. I was speaking to Joanne yesterday. She is clinically blind. She says she is genuinely afraid for her life because of e-scooters speeding along footpaths. Instead of feeling safe using her white cane…

Hear, hear.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. It is our second time to discuss roads in Cavan. I appreciate his dedication to the cause. An announcement for additional funding was made last week due to damage caused by Storm Chandra in January 2026. Monaghan received €900,000, which is a good thing. Roads were severely affected and the funding is badly needed. However, I cannot understand why Cavan got nothing. Did Cavan County Council apply for funding? The storm did not stop at the border. The same rain …

I thank the Minister of State for his response, but he did not clarify what criteria were used. He said that no significant damage from Storm Chandra had been identified and notified to the Department. Was an application for funding made to the Department by Cavan County Council or was it just that the application was not strong enough? On the website, the Department of Transport says that it assessed the roads. Was it the council or the Department that assessed the roads? I still do not believe that the people in …

I understand that an application was made. That is why I am asking for the detail of the criteria, and what criteria were meant to be met. I ask the Minister of State to find out if the Department could look at this issue again.

I, too, think today is a sad day. Yesterday, the Department of Health published its report on the abortion figures for 2025. There were 10,600 abortions last year - the highest yet since the eighth amendment was repealed. Since 2018, there have been 65,000 lives lost across this country to abortion. That number is equal to the entire population of Sligo. A few weeks ago, the Taoiseach and Tánaiste were pushing for and voted for removal of three-day wait. We were told about how women have made their minds up and do …

I want to start by acknowledging the courage and determination of Kelly Lynch's family and especially her mother. Her determination in the face of unimaginable grief has been extraordinary. As a mother I cannot imagine the grief of having to bury your own child. On top of this, Kelly's family has to mourn her death while advocating for justice and answers. Kelly was just 23 years old when she was found in the Ulster Canal in Monaghan. Almost immediately her family raised serious concerns about the circumstances sur…

I thank the Minister of State very much for coming in for this Bill. I support this legislation. I congratulate Senator Mullen on the work he has done on this Bill. It is very good legislation. In a recent debate, I welcomed the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan's, proposal to make violent pornography illegal, but it does not go far enough. The Minister has mentioned content that shows knives or explicit acts of violence, but in a lot of this content, the violence is implied. A study found that one in eight videos shown…

I want to raise the issue of the deposit return scheme. Anyone who uses the scheme knows the reality of what is involved. When you go to a machine, it can be out of order, it can be full or it can reject perfectly good cans, particularly miniature cans, including Coca-Cola cans, for some reason. This is inconvenient, frustrating and an unnecessary torture. It must be remembered that this is not a tax that can be used for disability services or schools. It is money collected by a private company, which means there a…

I move recommendation No. 3: In page 6, to delete lines 56 to 67, and in page 7, to delete lines 1 to 4. I support all of the recommendations to this Bill put forward by the Opposition. Recommendations Nos. 3 and 5 to 7, inclusive, speak directly to the cost-of-living crisis facing every single family across the country. At what point does the Government accept that people cannot afford any more? Every week, I meet people who are working hard and doing everything right but who are worse off than they were five year…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I wish to ask about a few things. I am looking for an assessment to be carried out , and the Minister of State’s indicated that this would give rise to a great cost for the Exchequer. The Government can be accused of the same thing I can be accused of, however, which is not having actual facts. What is the nature of that great cost? How much is it? That is what this recommendation is looking for, namely an assessment of the estimated annual reduction in tax receipts and …

This is the last time I will come in on this point. I accept what the Minister of State is saying. We are both more or less saying the same thing. It would be wrong not to recognise the measures the Government introduced have eased the burden on people who were put to the pin of their collar. People are less anxious and stressed out and the measures have eased the burden. Therefore, this was not a made-up reason to protest but was a protest based on a genuine need. If those pressures are put back on people who are …

I move recommendation No. 7: In page 8, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “(2) The Minister shall undertake an examination of the Exchequer implications of abolishing Carbon Tax, including an assessment of the estimated annual reduction in tax receipts and the options available to offset such reduction.”.

Yesterday, the Minister and Ministers of State for Transport announced additional funding for regional and local roads damaged during Storm Chandra. Monaghan was allocated €900,000, which is welcome, but I could not believe no funding was allocated for Cavan, which also had serious road flooding issues. In a statement, the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, said, "The funding made available today will ensure that priority work can be undertaken ... to restore our regional and local roads, keeping our rural communi…