Fáiltím roimh an díospóireacht seo inniu agus táim buíoch go bhfuil deis agam labhairt ar an ábhar rí-thábhachtach seo. Mar a luaigh Seanadóir Conway, is múinteoir meánscoile mé agus aontaím go bhfuil géarghá le hinfheistíocht sa chóras oideachais i mbealach a thugann deis dúinn bheith ar aon-chaighdeán leis na córais is fearr ar domhan. I am proud to be a member of a party, Fianna Fáil, that has a proud track record in education. From the pioneering work of the former Minister, Donogh O'Malley, in introducing free…

I acknowledge Sheila O'Byrne and Catherine Coffey O'Brien, who are in the Gallery. I have read Ms Coffey O'Brien's letter and will revert to it in my concluding remarks. Senator Boyhan said that nothing beat life experience, and I fully agree. With the way he laid out his remarks, it hit home. I was a secondary school teacher before I became a Member of this House. Given the damage that can be done to a child when abused, I do not know how he has the strength to come from that background and be in this House advoca…

We had great news over the weekend on electric vehicle charging points, including five new high-powered chargers for Mayo, five for Roscommon and seven for Cork. Unfortunately there were zero for the entire county of Galway. There was great disappointment that, out of the 53 new high-powered charging points to be rolled out throughout the country, none of them are coming to my county of Galway. To compound issue, in the southern half of east Galway, below the railway line, there is only one fast charger at present …

I am not a history teacher, but a few years ago I had the opportunity to teach the concept of genocide as part of third year history. The example we used at the time was the Srebrenica massacre in the former Yugoslavia. It was a hard thing to teach, to show videos of documentaries of people visiting mass graves that included their parents and their siblings. That was tough. That is the future for the current people of Gaza. They will visit mass graves in years to come, visit their relatives and look back on an horr…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: - “Seanad Éireann resolves that the Dereliction and Building Regeneration Bill 2025 be read a second time on this day 12 months, to allow for further consideration of issues arising in the Bill.”

Last week, I sat with a family devastated by the effects of HHC. For people who may not be aware of it, HHC is a synthetic drug which is widely available in vapes from vape shops in cities, towns and villages throughout the country. HHC is consumed through normal vapes. More and more young people are being exposed to these vapes, which can be legally bought. At present, HHC is not illegal and this is a serious problem. The advertising that goes on for HHC is criminal. Companies are clearly targeting young people. A…

Go raibh maith agat an tAire as ucht bheith anseo. Every time I have liaised with the Minister, the Department or his staff, I have been heartened by how committed they are to the apprenticeship model, which is vital if we want to deliver housing and other vital infrastructure in a timely fashion. If we want a future-ready workforce, we need a future-ready education system. I have been speaking with the TUI, whose nomination to the Seanad I am thankful for. It is dealing with critical backlogs in the apprenticeship…

We can all agree that one of the biggest frustrations for the Irish taxpayer is waste. Since 2017, Ireland has wasted more than €2.1 billion worth of renewable electricity due to curtailment. Taxpayers' money finances the energy that is used to electrify social housing, yet we are throwing away thousands of euro worth of electricity every night when we generate surplus energy. Why? It is because we have nowhere to store it and it simply gets earthed. This is all happening against the backdrop of the all-too-common …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht a bheith anseo ar maidin. Is léir go bhfuil géarghá le comhrá cuimsitheach ar an ábhar seo agus go bhfuil réiteach na bhfaidhbe seo ag teastáil láithreach ar mhaithe le daltaí na hardteiste 2025. I thank Senator Pat Casey, with whom I have worked closely on this issue in recent weeks. Like me, he has fielded a high number of queries on this from students and concerned parents across Wicklow. The recent news relating to leaving certificate grade inflation, namely, that it …

I thank the Minister of State for the response. I understand it is hard in real time to gather data on a current issue, in this case the number of applications. However, there seems to be some dispute and ambiguity as regards what percentage of applications received this year were from previous leaving certificate years and students who had the grades that were increased by, on average, 7.5%. That needs to be taken into account. It is a stressful time for leaving certificate students. I was a secondary school teach…

Mar a dúirt an Cathaoirleach Ghníomhach, níor chóir don Aire Stáit a bheith róchrua air féin. Tá an-Ghaeilge aige agus rinne sé iarracht. Is é sin an rud is tábhachtaí, sé sin go bhfuil sé feiceálach agus é ag úsáid na Gaeilge. Gabhaim buíochas leis as ucht a bheith anseo. I bhFianna Fáil, tá áit thar a bheith lárnach ag an teanga in ár gcomhdhéanamh mar pháirtí agus inár stair mar pháirtí. Ní gá ach féachaint ar an méid infheistíochta a rinneamar thar na mblianta nuair a bhí an Roinn againn agus feicfear go bhfuil…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a bheith anseo don ábhar thar a bheith tábhachtach seo. When it comes to public transport, I think it is quite clear that the west has been completely left behind for many years. One only has to look at the 2021 decision by the NTA to completely wipe from the map the X20 and 20 Bus Éireann route from Galway to Dublin. The optics of that decision to wipe out the biggest city and the third biggest city from having any public transport provided by the State whatsoever was catastro…

Yes. I will speak later on. I will let the vote proceed first of all.

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. Ar an gcéad dul síos, ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a ghabháil leat as ucht a bheith tofa mar Chathaoirleach inniu. I offer congratulations to the Cathaoireach on his new role and wish him the best of luck for the next few years in the work ahead. It is a huge honour to be standing in this Chamber as a Senator. It is a proud day for my family, my neighbours at home in Raheen and the people of the Loughrea area, who gave me my chance by electing me twice to Galway County Council.…

I was just going to say that I am playing senior hurling now. The responsibility of the role is not lost on me. I might not have a hurl in my hand anymore but I have a key role to play in this Chamber, and I want to play it well, if I can. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, agus mar chonclúid, is de réir a chéile a thógtar na caisleáin. I look forward to five years of consistent hard work in this Chamber on behalf of everybody who got me to this point.