I echo the congratulations extended by Senator Flynn to Deputy Connolly on her election yesterday as Leas-Cheann Comhairle. It was a wonderful, well-deserved achievement. She is certainly a Teachta Dála whom I admire greatly. She always sticks up for and does the right thing. She is well deserving of the position to which she has been elected and I am delighted that she won the vote yesterday. I congratulate all the Deputies who voted for her and gave her that honour. Please God, I will call all the female Deputies…

I welcome the Minister to the House. Like my colleagues here in the Chamber, I will be supporting the Bill. There is broad support for this Bill here today. I would like to raise something outside of this Bill. I appreciate the brief that Deputy Donnelly has got at this time, the humongous task that he has ahead of him and the pandemic times that we are living in but I want him to be remembered as the man who did something with the health services in this country. I want the Minister to take that out of here today.…

I raise the availability of land for the provision of housing. Over a quarter of voters told the exit poll during the general election in February that their key concern when casting their ballot was housing. We are all acutely aware of the hardship being experienced by families throughout the country due to the chronic shortage of housing. We all agree what a scandal it is to have 10,000 men, women and children living in hotels, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. We talk about the need for people to have out…

A number of steps can and should be taken now not later. As a matter of urgency, I ask that the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government come before this House to explain his plan.

It is with a heavy heart that I address the issue of the Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2020. Whatever view one takes on the details of the Bill, it is clear the effects of Covid-19 on our economy will be profound. I am not convinced that debt through loans is the way to proceed. That is certainly what the SMEs I have contact with are all indicating. Taking on further debt through loans, in any form, is not something that they want to do. In the shorter term it may be more effective to focus on the implementatio…

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Hear, hear.

As we continue to deal with the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, I ask that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport would come into the House to outline his plans regarding the resumption of air travel. I call on him to begin the process of administering pre-travel Covid-19 tests at all points of departure for those travelling to the State. There is no doubt that the tourism industry in Ireland has suffered a catastrophic loss as a result of the pandemic. Among the many Irish businesses suffering the …

I, too, want to be part of the congratulations to Deputies Calleary and Jack Chambers yesterday. I also want to say how sorry I am on a human level with regard to what has happened Deputy Cowen. I understand the public health measures that were taken yesterday by the Government. I want to draw attention to an area that may have been overlooked. Every single racecourse in the country is closed to the public. However, last Sunday in our area and in the Leader's home town, Fairyhouse racecourse had up to 5,000 people …

I did not get a chance last week to say how honoured I am to have been elected to the Seanad and to thank all of those who have helped me on my journey to be here today. I have no fear in knocking down any walls for the greater good of society and I will do my best to serve all the people of this island. I have served as a county councillor within local government for many years and I understand the value of that role within the democratic system. That value is not always recognised. The recently published Moorhead…

The Minister of State is very welcome. I look forward to working with him and bringing many jobs to County Meath over the next few years. As Senator Dolan mentioned, there are many grants available at the moment that small businesses do not know about and it is important that we convey that message to people today. It is incumbent upon all of those in the Seanad, local government and even the Dáil to get the message out that grants are available to them to draw down. The restart grant is there, for example. It is r…

I want to be part of the congratulations here today to you, Mark. I have known you for many years. It is a proud day for you and all your family. I was delighted to meet your father, Sean, earlier today. He was extremely proud of you. You are one of the Senators I look up to greatly. Your work ethic on behalf of the councillors on the ground has been superb over the past decade. If I can be one quarter of the Senator that you are ,then I certainly will make a good job in this House. I just want to be part of the co…

I congratulate Deputy McEntee on her appointment as Minister for Justice and Equality. I am delighted to be here today, the day the renewal of certain provisions of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009 comes before the House. I am passionate about fighting crime at every level of society. While the provisions under discussion today deal with highly important aspects of criminal justice, such as criminal prosecution in the Special Criminal Court, it is als…