I too welcome to the Distinguished Visitors Gallery the Japanese ambassador and the mayor of Waterford city and county and his wife. I welcome the announcements today of the Ministers for Social Protection and Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputies Humphreys and Darragh O'Brien, regarding changes to the community employment, CE, Tús and rural social scheme, RSS, schemes. As we know, these are very important schemes throughout our country that play a very important role within communities by providing amen…

I would like to be associated with the remarks of the Leas-Chathaoirleach and those of Senator Murphy on the latest atrocities in Ukraine. It is heartbreaking for all involved. We all know that the cost of living is an issue that has come to the fore with rising inflation and the associated impact of the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Fuel prices are certainly putting people to the pin of their collar. I have met with numerous groups regarding cost-of-living issues. I recently met with people involved in providing ho…

I concur with the comments by my colleague, Senator Crowe, on the childcare sector. I second his call for a debate on the matter. There are issues surrounding core funding. We know the importance of the childcare sector, which is of growing importance in society. I have spoken previously and requested a debate on the many positives of greenways, blueways and plans for active travel across the country. Unfortunately, being up here, I missed the public consultation in recent days in Moycullen and Oughterard and this …

I thank the Cathaoirleach's office for choosing this Commencement matter. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, although I am disappointed that of three Ministers of State and the Minister in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage not one of them could be here to discuss this matter. Nonetheless I welcome Deputy Madigan. I have been raising this issue for many years in various ways with different Ministers. The issue is the perilous financial situation in Galway County Council in terms …

That is a very disappointing response. There was mention of money to reverse the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, and the money used during the Covid-19 pandemic. All local authorities were eligible for those and received them, and they were not particular to Galway County Council. As Senator Dolan commented, this is about staffing resources to provide services the people of County Galway need, and we need better engagement than we get now. It is clear now the local property tax will not …

I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate the Independent Group on tabling this very important motion. It addresses a very worthy topic and a series of facts and conditions that can affect any family at any time. Neurological conditions can strike very suddenly. Strokes and acquired brain injuries can happen all of a sudden. Any of us present could get a phone call at any time to tell us very difficult and tragic news about a family member, friend or neighbour. It is a real problem and a life-changing issue,…

The Minister of State should have been here.

I thank the Cathaoirleach's office for choosing this issue for debate. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, to the Chamber to discuss, once again, healthcare matters in the west of Ireland. As I always say, it is great to have a Minister of State from the west, who has an interest in this particular area, answering the questions. As he knows, the national development plan, NDP, under Project Ireland 2040 objectives, states: "In accordance with balanced regional development, a cancer care network for the…

I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I acknowledge and welcome that there are plans and a commitment to develop this very important centre, although the timeline is not spelled out. According to the experts, what is urgently needed is the functional cancer centre at University Hospital Galway, including inpatient beds, operating theatres, cancer ICU, an ambulatory rapid access diagnostic centre, a haematology oncology day ward and outpatients department, and modern laboratories, as well as functional region…

On Thursday, 23 June, and Friday, 24 June, there will be a public consultation for the Galway hydrogen hub, GH2. The consultation takes place in the Galway Harbour Hotel. It starts on 23 June, running from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on that day, and continues from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on 24 June. Along with many other people, I attended a launch of the public consultation yesterday. The members of the Galway hydrogen hub consortium include SSE Renewables, National University of Ireland, Galway, NUIG, Córas Iompair Éireann, Bus …

I will try not to be as controversial as the last speaker in terms of county boundaries and breaches. I can see a lively discussion at the next Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party meeting about issues like this in relation to Athlone and other places but I take the point the Senator is making. In fairness, we have a small but important part of south Mayo in the constituency of Galway West. To be fair when I say this at district meetings within our own party they do not like it. They want to be back in Mayo and that goe…

As the Deputy Leader will know, the INTO is carrying out pre-budget lobbying today. It has a number of very valid issues and concerns, including the need to tackle the chronic underfunding of primary schools. Primary schools receive a standard capitation grant of €183. This is in contrast to the grant of €316 paid to post-primary schools. This is a concern as they have a large number of day-to-day running costs they need to cover. With the costs associated with inflation and the costs of products rising, this puts …

I welcome the Tánaiste to the Chamber and the introduction of this important legislation. The Sick Leave Bill 2022 will provide a statutory sick leave pay scheme for all employees, which will be phased in over four years. As the Tánaiste pointed out, we are one of the few countries in Europe without a mandatory sick leave entitlement. Therefore, this is a welcome catching up, if you like, to bring us into line with our European partners. As was said, under the current arrangements, sick leave is provided for about …

It is important to put this in the context of the broader package of reforms in the whole area of insurance over a long number of years. It is one of a number of Bills being looked at this year that will address various issues that have arisen since the action plan on insurance was published. It will result in the implementation of the proposed ban on price walking and other measures to address this practice and will enable the Central Bank to collect data on this through the national claims information database. I…

Next Tuesday.

I second the motion and welcome the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to the Chamber. I thank my colleague, Senator Maria Byrne, for setting out the motion. The scourge of inflation is hurting everybody in this country. The rise in the cost of living caused by inflation is hurting families, single people, students, adults and every sector of society. Inflation is, in the main, outside of our control. The illegal invasion of Ukraine has set the world upside down, in particular the continent of Europe. We have seen that ac…

Senator Flynn will have a chance to contribute to the debate. It is important that people who work hard, pay their taxes and do not benefit from the benefits others receive are looked after as well. We will continue to adjust the tax threshold to ensure that people will pay the higher rate of tax at a higher rate of income. If we do not do that, everyone will end up paying a higher rate of tax. The Government has done a lot and I know the Minister is doing a lot within her Department. We need to continue the focus …

I take this opportunity to welcome two changes announced by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, this morning. We have had considerable debate on the issue of passports in this House and within parties. We debated a Fine Gael motion on the matter in February. A new agreement with the Garda on witnessing first-time child applications was signed yesterday. At present about 50 applications a day are stalled and need new consent forms because of the inability to contact witnessing …

I support this Bill and commend Senator Martin for initiating this legislation that, as the Cathaoirleach said, has generated cross-party support. I acknowledge also the presentation this morning and the briefing in the audiovisual room, which was informative and well-attended. There were many valuable contributions in the field, both legal and those involved in beekeeping. I will be brief in my comments. I absolutely support this initiative. It is not often you see 90% support among a group of individuals, in this…

The Order of Business is No. 1, the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022 - Committee Stage (resumed), to be taken at 12.45 p.m. and to adjourn at 4 p.m., if not previously concluded, to be resumed at 8.30 p.m. or on conclusion of No. 103(1), whichever is the earlier, and to adjourn after 90 minutes if not previously concluded; No. 2, statements on the national maternity hospital and Women’s Health Action Plan to be taken at 4 p.m. and to adjourn at 5.30 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated …