Sula leanaimid ar aghaidh, I would like to welcome students from UCC with Deputy Thomas Gould today in the Gallery. Tá fáilte romhaibh.

Sula dtosaíonn muid leis an Seanadóir O’Reilly, I want to welcome four guests of Deputy Cormac Devlin to the Gallery. They are transition year students Claire Pegum, Áine Wyatt, Iris McMahon and Ellen Pluck. Tá fáilte rompu. It is great to see students coming in and witnessing democracy in action. We do appreciate it. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.

Bhí comhrá againn sa choiste Gaeilge an tseachtain seo caite maidir leis an nGaeilge ag an tríú leibhéal agus líon na gcúrsaí atá ar fáil trí Ghaeilge. An rud is mó a sheas amach domsa ná taobh amuigh de chúrsaí oideachais agus an Ghaeilge mar chúrsa faoi leith - na cúrsaí cosúil le céim sa Ghaeilge nó céim san aistriúchán atá ar fáil - níl ach dhá chúrsa timpeall na tíre ar fáil trí Ghaeilge. Tá dhá chúrsa ann don tír ar fad. Ní dóigh liom go bhfuil sé sin inghlactha sa lá atá inniu ann. Ní hamháin go bhfuilimid a…

Amendments Nos. 314a and 314b have been ruled out of order because there is a potential charge on the Exchequer. Senator Boyhan may speak on the section.

Amendments Nos. 320 to 329, inclusive, and amendments Nos. 332 to 336, inclusive, are related and will be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome Councillor John Crowe, neighbours and guests of Deputy Joe Cooney in the Gallery today. They are all very welcome to Seanad Éireann. I thank them for coming in to see democracy in action.

I have the pleasure of welcoming teachers and pupils from Castlegar National School, not too far from me in County Galway, to the Gallery. They are all very welcome. As long as they take it handy on Kilnadeema-Leitrim the next time they play them in the hurling, I have the privilege to allow them the week off homework.

They still get two nights off. They are all very welcome. It is great to see students coming into the Gallery to witness democracy in action. It is really important that they engage in politics throughout their lives. Gabhaim buíochas leo as ucht teacht isteach.

Amendments Nos. 337 to 339, inclusive, 341, 343, 346 and 348 to 351, inclusive are related. Amendments Nos. 349 and 350 are physical alternatives to amendment No. 348. Therefore, Amendments Nos. 337 to 339, inclusive, 341, 343, 346 and 348 to 351, inclusive, may be discussed together. Is that agreed? Agreed.

First, I pay tribute to former Senator and MEP Brian Crowley and extend my sympathies to his family and to the Cathaoirleach at this difficult time. Today the State Examinations Commission, SEC, published the guidelines for extra time in this year's leaving and junior certificate exams for students with very specific learning difficulties. It is positive that there is some acknowledgement that there is a problem, but that is as far as I see today's action going. It is an acknowledgement that a problem exists but it…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. Glaoim ar an gcéad cainteoir, an Seanadóir Casey.

When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

When is it proposed to sit again?

When State agencies fail to listen to local county and city councillors on the ground, the consequences are invariably negative. There is a growing frustration among councillors. They sit through lengthy local area or county development plan meetings only for the Office of the Planning Regulator, OPR, to overrule them and to decide with a stroke of a pen that it knows better. For example, when I was a county councillor in 2024, we tried to zone lands for sports facilities in Loughrea. However, we were overruled, an…

During the summer, I had the pleasure of going to Inishowen. Councillor Martin McDermott brought me to his brother's house. It was just really sad. I stood and watched a man with tears in his eyes while he allowed me to stick my hand into the wall of his house and literally pull dust out. It is not something you cannot believe until you go and see it. The level of devastation this has visited on people makes it a really emotional issue up there. Like Senator Gallagher, Councillor McDermott has constantly been on ab…

Amendments Nos. 10, 26, 46, 53 to 55, inclusive, 69 to 73, inclusive, and 78 to 88, inclusive, are related. Amendment No. 84 is a physical alternative to amendment No. 83. Amendments Nos. 10, 26, 46, 53 to 55, inclusive, 69 to 73, inclusive and 78 to 88, inclusive, may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I will let Senator Ruane back in briefly but I also have to allow other speakers.

There is not a single special educational needs, SEN, classroom at second level in Loughrea, County Galway. There is a rural hinterland with a population of 24,000 served by two secondary schools, not one of which has an SEN classroom. That is wrong in this day and age. An awful lot of students drive through Loughrea town and past their local secondary schools to get to towns like Athenry in order to access the nearest school that meets their needs. That is extremely wrong and we need to urgently address that. I fu…

I appreciate the response and I know the Minister of State is delivering it on behalf of a different Minister but, basically, what we hear in the response is that there is one SEN classroom on the way in Loughrea. It does not exist; it is on the way. I know that four are approved and that the project is at stage 2a with the Department, but I ask that that stage be fast-tracked. In a town where there is not a single SEN classroom, we see in the response that there is a four-classroom SEN base awaiting approval for L…

Last Thursday evening, I left Leinster House and hurried home to a talk in then Meadowcourt Hotel, which was completely sold out, by Aoife Noone on her Think Smart Cyber safety initiative, which tries to educate parents on the dangers of the online world for their children, and empower them. Parents are extremely fearful of what their children face online. They do not have a clue and feel powerless to try to help their kids to navigate the online world in a safe way. I regard myself as someone who is pretty clued i…