I thank the Cathaoirleach's office for choosing this Commencement matter. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, to the Chamber although I must express my disappointment that there are three Ministers in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, none of whom are here this morning. Keelderry commonage in east Galway has eight shareholders. An inspection in 2010 found 0% eligibility for farm payments. That is 0% in terms of forage. No control report for the inspection took place. One shareholder w…

Just one moment. An official inspected the commonage and gave a 96% eligibility. Both gentlemen, two shareholders, were successful with their judicial reviews. The eligibility found by this inspector from outside of County Galway was the area granted and both received their outstanding payments. This is the crux of the issue. As a precedent was set, two of the shareholders were paid. It was assumed that the other shareholders would then automatically be paid-----

-----but they were not.

I appreciate that the Minister of State is not a line Minister in the Department. The correspondence from the Department states that the inspection found that the whole of the 90% of the area was eligible under the revised basic payment scheme rules and the results were applied to all shareholder applications from 2015 onwards. Unfortunately, this only came about because of the judicial review taken by two of the shareholders. As I said, as a precedent was set it was expected that all other shareholders of Keelderr…

I call for a debate on issues within Inland Fisheries Ireland. The organisation advertised a position for a seasonal fisheries assistant, which it does every year. It states clearly that key experience is essential, as is a leaving certificate, level 5 national framework qualification or recognised equivalent, with minimum grade C in at least two higher level papers, to include one of biology, physics, chemistry, geography or maths. That is a standard requirement for Inland Fisheries Ireland for a junior position o…

Those who give dirt on other people need to be looked after.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers. I sympathise with all the families who were bereaved over the past year due to road deaths and all those who were injured, in particular those who have had life-changing injuries because of the actions of others and in some cases perhaps, unfortunately, their own actions as well. It is very difficult for all, and in particular their loved ones. The Minister of State mentioned a figure of 29% for the non-wearing of seatbelts. That does not mean 29% of all driver…

The Minister is very welcome. I acknowledge the record investment in An Garda Síochána under her leadership. Budget 2023 brought An Garda Síochána's total allocation to some €2.14 billion, an increase of €240 million in annual funding, nearly 20% over the 2020 budget. I also acknowledge the increase in numbers in Templemore after the hiatus of Covid, and the fact that 100 new gardaí have attested so far this year, 470 are in active training and two more classes are due there in October and December. The Minister wi…

The Minister is very welcome to the House to discuss this very important area. I am sure that on Committee Stage there will be some impassioned debate on this and on some of the points that have already been raised. It is safe to say that we have seen from social media internationally the very best and the very worst of the use of CCTV and bodycam footage, as Senator Ruane has rightly highlighted. That is certainly very well known. I am sure the Minister has looked at international best practice and perhaps the Min…

I join with other Senators in thanking Martin Groves, Bridget Doody and everyone else in the Seanad Office and all those in the Houses of the Oireachtas for their work and diligence over the last months. I wish them well over the summer break. I acknowledge the plans by the Saolta University Health Care Group in the west to submit the preliminary business case for a new accident and emergency department and paediatric and maternity building to the Department of Health in the coming weeks. This is another step forwa…

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for his comments. I was Minister of State in the Department when the Bill went through Committee Stage in the Seanad. I acknowledge the significant amount of work Senator Higgins put into it. There were a large number of amendments. The Minister of State noted that five non-Government amendments were accepted by me at the time. It goes to show how generous I was as Minister of State, not that it did me any good. This is an important Bill. The basis of it was not that we…

To summarise the debate on the last occasion, concerns were expressed regarding the impact NHAs may have on certain community projects. We are talking about small sections of NHAs and not about damage to large sections. Pitches, for example, were mentioned. The sports capital grant process has opened. In this context, if a community wanted to build a running or walking track around a pitch which impacted or came close to an NHA, the question would be whether making a slight change to its boundary could assist in th…

I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive response on what we have done in the past and in budget 2023. It is important that the programme for Government commitment to a tax package that will benefit workers in this country and the summer economic statement are followed through on. It is essential to put money back in people's pockets to help them deal with the rising prices of goods and services. Tax cuts give people choice as to how to spend their own money in a time of tight personal finances and they …

Now.

Now.

I join in tributes to the late Brendan Daly. I never met Mr. Daly but I am aware of his role and of his service to the people of Clare and to the country. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. My good friends in Inland Fisheries Ireland are before the Committee of Public Accounts today and I was watching them all morning. They have an awful tale of woe, upset and having been downtrodden, with people victimising them, and Lord save us, I feel so sorry for them. I wish I could attend myself but, unfortunately, we cannot…

-----but he had a good working relationship with them. I am not sure what it was. Everything is wrong except the executive, which is doing a tremendous job according to himself. There are no issues. He apologised for a number of issues which are on the public record there. I welcome any apologies but I just find the stuff I am hearing today from officials, both within Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Department, extraordinary. There are a series of issues. We know all that is going on in RTÉ, and Inland Fisheries I…

The Minister of State is welcome. I am taking this Bill on behalf of my colleague, Senator McGahon, who cannot be with us. I welcome the introduction of the Bill and look forward to it being enacted. The Title to the Bill contains a word with which we can all agree, namely, "solidarity". What we are looking at here is a temporary solidarity tax. It is clear that the consequences of the war in Ukraine have been felt in many aspects, including with regard to inflation and, of course, the energy costs impacting direct…

When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

We had a very interesting debate with the Irish Dental Association at the Committee on Health this morning, and I have had some dealings on issues of dentistry in my constituency last year where an orthodontic practice closed, which had consequences for patients and for patient care for a time. The Irish Dental Association states the legislation governing dentistry, the Dentists Act, is antiquated and dates back to 1985. Will the Leader contact the Minister for Health to ask for a comprehensive engagement with the …