I thank the Minister of State for his response. Based on his reply and the census that is taking place in April, one can therefore say, again, depending on the Central Statistics Office, CSO, that the preliminary results will be published in the summer of 2022. The electoral commission, if it has been set up, would have 12 months after that to report, and for this to be confirmed within three months of the publication of the final census data. On the local elections, I again urge that timely decisions are made on t…

I welcome the Minister of State. I agree with others regarding her passion and indeed the frustration as expressed in her opening contribution regarding the present system which is not working to the satisfaction of families. Families who have special kids are often frustrated. They are very tired at the best of times. It is a constant fight in many cases to get the services that they deserve, and require. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Health, which received an email from Down Syndrome Ireland outlining h…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Browne, go dtí an Teach. Fáiltím roimh chinneadh an Rialtais chun brú ar aghaidh leis an mBille seo agus é a chur tríd an dá Theach roimh dheireadh mhí na Samhna. The Minister of State is welcome. I thank him for, and acknowledge, his work. I acknowledge the work of the current and former Ministers for Justice – Deputies McEntee and Humphreys – on getting Government agreement to progress this Bill through both Houses by the end of the month. The impending deadline has c…

I welcome last week's announcement of the establishment of a technological university, TU, in our region of the west and north west. One of the beautiful things about this proposed TU is that it is a multi-campus university. There are now university towns throughout the region, from Castlebar to Galway city, Killybegs, Letterfrack, Letterkenny, Mountbellew and Sligo. A unique aspect of this TU, and one that will enhance the offering in the region, will be the ability of students to obtain a technical university qua…

I second the motion. I thank Senator Buttimer for sharing time and I welcome my colleague, the Minister of State. I thank my colleagues in Fine Gael for their input and support in respect of this most important motion. I also acknowledge the programme for Government commitments and my colleagues within the Green Party and Fianna Fáil. I mentioned the Green Party first. I meant no disrespect to Fianna Fáil, but I think it is fair to say that the Green Party has a huge interest in the area of public transport, as do …

Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

I welcome the Minister. It is important to see senior Ministers in the House and I acknowledge his attendance. My life experience suggests that power outages are much less common now compared with the 1980s and 1990s. That is testament to the investment and expertise of EirGrid and ESB Networks in terms of their maintenance of the lines. From my recollection, blackouts were much more common back then. As the Minister of State with responsibility for natural resources in 2016 and 2017, I would have said at the time …

Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

I thank the Cathaoirleach's office for selecting this Commencement debate and I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I had a choice of which Minister to put this matter to. I could have put it to the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, the Minister of State with responsibility for the Gaeltacht, Údarás na Gaeltachta and Gaeltacht regions, which includes Ros an Mhíl, or to the Minister of State's own Department, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. That shows the cross-depar…

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. The last part of it, where she said that the function of fishery harbour centres is to support the seafood industry, cuts to the core of this issue. The fact, however, is that we need to look at this in a broader way. We must be ambitious for Ros an Mhíl and for this project. That is why we need a cross-departmental approach to develop and push it forward. My view is that officials in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine do not want to progress it. I have s…

I wish to comment on the Passport Office and passport services. I acknowledge the pressure the services and staff are under who are liaising with ourselves and the general public with regard to pressures within the system. There is of course pent-up demand for passports, and delays due to Covid-19. Covid-19 meant people were not travelling but they are now. We always support Ireland as the venue of choice and people to staycation. We have to acknowledge as well that people wish to go abroad for a break with family …

I welcome the Minister of State. I concur with Senator Burke on the concerns about penalties being imposed on farmers. Farmers are very aware of their responsibilities. This has been rumbling for a long number of years with regard to responsibilities for protecting habitats and environments. Depending on conditions and at certain times of the year, fires can spread if started maliciously or accidentally by another individual. They can spread – pardon the pun – like wildfire across commonages, protected areas and fo…

I wish to take up Senator O'Loughlin's point on the roadshow of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue. I acknowledge that he was in Maam Cross in Connemara last week. I commend him on that and on engaging proactively with farmers. The difficulties farmers face in respect of convergence probably depend on which part of the country they are from. Full convergence would be positive in my neck of the woods and on much of the west coast. I acknowledge the campaign of the Irish Natura and …

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and thank the Minister for Health for attending the previous session. First, I wish to acknowledge the increased budget for health this year, with the provision of some €22 billion, including the retention of €4 billion in funding that was committed during the pandemic in 2020. On the issue of critical care beds, I welcome the €10.5 million that has been allocated to provide an additional 19 critical care beds, bringing the total number of critical care beds to 340, in…

I welcome the Minister of State. Most of us who have been in politics for some time have experience of the trauma and impact of a flooding event on homeowners, whether it be on a relatively small scale, when, for example, a small number of houses are affected, or a large-scale flooding event. The severe trauma people go through when their homes or businesses are flooded has a huge impact, not just for the day, night or period of time when the flooding happens but for a long period after that, as they wait for the i…

Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

I welcome the budget allocation for the Department of Health. As announced yesterday, there is some €22 billion, including €4 billion provided as pandemic supports, which was exceptional funding which has been maintained for next year's budget too. There are 900,000 people on waiting lists. Some are there because of delays caused by Covid and by the cyberattack. Prior to that, there was an excessive waiting list. We need to treat that waiting list with the same energy and enthusiasm as we have treated the Covid pan…

I commend the Minister of State, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy McGrath, and all of the Cabinet on their work on the budget, on the public expenditure side, as announced yesterday. Additional details will be given in briefings conducted in sectoral Departments. There is a lot of information that has not yet been released but it will be over the next number of days. It is important to acknowledge that we have experienced two of the largest challenges ever to face this country - Covid and Brex…

I welcome the Minister of State. I will comment on the finance side of the Budget Statement, which was made by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe. We have come through a severe pandemic. Thankfully, owing to the solid foundations put in place over the last decade, including balancing the books at the end of 2019, the nation had the resources to cope. We restored our good name and reputation which meant we could afford to borrow the money required to invest and support businesses throughout the country. I ackn…

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Education. I take this opportunity to congratulate her and the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, on the voted capital allocations in the national development plan that have increased from €740 million to over €1 billion in 2025. Obviously cost inflation will account for some of the increase, and that is something that is increasingly problematic or worrying, but there is a commitment to continue the development of school infrastructure and buildings in this c…