The 999 service in Ireland operates from two towns, namely, Navan and Ballyshannon. The ECAS service as it is known, the emergency call answering service, is provided under State contract by BT Ireland. In the last year and a half, the workers in Navan and Ballyshannon joined the Communications Workers Union to try to improve their workplace conditions across a number of areas. I have met them, as has the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, who has come to Navan. Unfortunately, the better treatment they are see…

I also welcome Councillor Dermot Lacey who I have always admired. I thank my County Meath colleague Senator Keogan and all of our colleagues for tabling this motion and having this important debate this evening. I have always been a great advocate for local government in this Chamber and elsewhere. It is a topic I am passionate about. I spent 17 years as a councillor. I was first elected when I was 21. I was Fianna Fáil's spokesperson on local government in the last Dáil. Currently I am the rapporteur of the Seanad…

Through the Chair.

Before I call on the proposer to reply, I welcome to the Distinguished Visitors Gallery Martin O'Reilly, Michael O’Grady and Mike Carty, who are all guests of Senator Ahearn. I welcome them and hope they have a lovely evening in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Meath people stick together. I welcome to the Distinguished Visitors Gallery members of the family of Barry Ryan, Superintendent of the Houses of the Oireachtas. They are very welcome. I thank Mr. Ryan for his work. I hope they have a pleasant evening in the Oireachtas. I thank Members for their contributions in respect of what has been a very engaging motion. I thank the Aire Stáit for his presence, work and contributions.

I join the Leas-Chathaoirleach and Deputy Leader in welcoming the ambassador and his staff. I wish them well and thank them for their service. I note the comments made by the egotistical billionaire owner of the social media platform X, or Twitter, this morning. He made an expletive-ridden rant attacking his own advertisers who are leaving the platform in their droves and taking their money away. It is also notable that last Thursday, when riots were raging in this city and the Garda was contacting the social media…

Next Tuesday at 11 a.m.

I say "Well done" to the Cathaoirleach for pointing out to Members the existence of the Seanad Public Consultation Committee, a forum with which people can engage. Some people here seem to have amnesia about who got rid of town councils and perpetrated that act of butchery. I proposed a Bill in the previous Dáil which was voted against by Deputy John Paul Phelan and everyone else in Fine Gael. I rise to mention the ongoing issue at Tara Mines, where 700 workers have been laid off for 131 days. Negotiations between …

It was more - 800.

As a member of the media committee, I express my support for Senator Byrne's motion and pay tribute to him for the work he has done in this sphere. I also welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, and acknowledge and praise him for the work he has done in this sphere, especially in the area of national strategy and support for the companies that operate in this area, for the appointment of an AI ambassador and for the advisory council. They are all notable moves so far and in starting that and exploring their…

The lady's current salary slip shows that if she worked for the 52 weeks of the year, she would probably earn over the €65,000.

Last Sunday was an amazing day for Irish football with a record attendance of 44,000 people at the FAI cup final in the Aviva. Again, however, what was a momentous day for Irish football was overshadowed by events going on off the field. As the chief soccer reporter of the Irish Independent , Daniel McDonnell, put it yesterday, there are good people in the FAI who are being failed by their inability to present a coherent message of progress without some other wing of the organisation, be it the executive or the Lud…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply and the work he is doing. I agree with him in that I too hope the FAI takes the appropriate steps before its AGM in respect of making sure it reaches the gender quotas for the board. I also welcome the audit that Sport Ireland undertook to make sure it had the checks and balances in place to uncover these payments and I welcome that the Minister of State has commissioned a report. When does he expect the report on these payments that he sought from Sport Ireland to be on …

There have been several contributions this morning regarding yesterday's debate in respect of Local Ireland and the presence of representatives of various local newspapers in Leinster House yesterday. It is important we have that debate. Local Ireland's focus yesterday and when it was here last year was on revenue. Last year, it looked for a reduction of VAT to 0%, which the Government acceded to and put in the budget. Yesterday it spoke about a fair share of Government advertising. It should have acknowledged that…

Before I go to the next slot, I welcome former Minister of State, Áine Brady, and her group to the Gallery. I welcome her back. It is great to see her and I hope she and her group have a lovely evening in Leinster House.

I join Senator Black in acknowledging the presence of Professor Colin Harvey, who has published some extremely important reports on Irish unity in the EU. I acknowledge his presence here.

That concludes the debate on the political situation in Northern Ireland. I ask the Acting Leader when it is proposed to sit again.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome the launch of a scholarship pilot scheme yesterday by former Irish international footballers James McClean, Gavin Bazunu, Seamus Coleman, Kevin Long and Enda Stevens. On foot of funding they raised, €30,000 will be provided for a scholarship pilot scheme that will provide two bursaries to enable one 17-year-old boy and one 17-year-old girl to train full time with their League of Ireland club while completing their leaving certificate. More importantly, I back the cause of James McClean, who, as part of th…

Following the big announcement yesterday that Ireland will co-host the UEFA 2028 championships we need to immediately begin discussions on who will fund Casement Park in Belfast. Already the rows and wrangling are starting up North, which is depressing. I join my colleague Justin McNulty, MLA, in his calls for this to end, for the positivity of yesterday's announcement to be embraced and for a decision to be made swiftly on the funding mechanism. Everyone is making the right mood music noises. I have heard the Taoi…