I welcome the Minister of State. It is great to have her here to discuss the issue of Pewterhole Cross in Kinsale. I asked the Minister for Transport for an update on the funding request from Cork County Council to carry out necessary upgrade works at Pewterhole Cross in Kinsale. This is a significant issue for the residents of Kinsale. It is a thriving town that has seen huge population growth in the past few years. Kinsale is now the second largest town in the constituency. One passes through Pewterhole Cross on …

It is because of the significant size of County Cork that we do not get the funding that is required. County Cork encompasses one eighth of the geographical area of the State, but we do not have one eighth of the actual budget from the Department when it comes to road restorations. That becomes the key issue when we are trying to maintain roads and get structures put in place to make sure road networks can be maintained. My huge geographical area starts at Ringabella Bay and goes down to Ardgroom. It would take me …

Like most of us-----

The health service is one of the key issues that we all hear about every night we are out knocking on doors. First, I want to acknowledge Bantry General Hospital. The health service is mentioned when one knocks on the doors of people who live in the constituency of Cork South-West but these people also want to praise and acknowledge the staff and management, and what has been done in Bantry General Hospital, particularly over the last four and half years. There are two multi-million euro investments happening there…

I move: That Seanad Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2024, copies of which were laid in draft form before Seanad Éireann on 3rd October, 2024.

I acknowledge the contribution of the Minister regarding this issue. The fund he speaks about is really important. It creates an awful lot of employment opportunities in rural Ireland, and it is very important we support those opportunities. The racing fund the Minister speaks about has just been amended with the new budget. It is important we go through that process and make sure the fund is available for both the horse racing industry and the greyhound industry. It is a really significant driver in our rural econ…

I compliment the Minister on this legislation. The independent appeals office does a very important job to make sure that if farmers have an issue with the Department, they can go to an independent actor. The fact that it is independent is why it is so important. Even though it works within the remit of the Department to some degree, it is still independent. "Independent" is the important word in the entire set-up. It gives the farming community a level of reassurance that if an issue with the Department arises, th…

It is great to have the Minister of State present to discuss Garrylucas and the world-class outdoor water-based activity centre that was proposed in 2021. The Minister’s announcement that day that she was going to put funding aside for as many as 19 or 20 such activity centres was a significant development. I will speak to the one proposed for Garrylucas. The idea that there would be significant investment in Garrettstown was welcome. The area is a world-renowned location and has everything going for it. Kinsale is…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. It is unbelievable to think that an Irish Water issue, a lack of finding an ability to sort out the sewage treatment in that location, is the issue that obliges us to shelve this project. We have huge issues with all our beaches because we have no toilets there. How a local authority of the size and nature of Cork County Council cannot sort out its own wastewater treatment issues regarding this is beyond belief. When one is getting a €19 million project to do huge dev…

First, I acknowledge and welcome the ambassador from Spain. I come from a place just outside Kinsale, called Minane Bridge. The history between Kinsale and Spain is unique, going back to the 1601 war. It is an amazing story. The presence that the Spanish still have in that town is unique. It is great to have the ambassador here and he is welcome. I also greet my colleague and acknowledge the death of the mother of the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. It is a very sad situation for Peter, who only lost his dad in recen…

I would like to follow the theme of school places. Many parents are going to open nights and visiting schools at present to see where is the appropriate place to send their child. It is a very stressful time, as well as being a very important time for children moving from one school to another. When people are looking for a special place for their child, however, it becomes a huge issue. It is an issue that we need to start talking about and planning for. We have put a great deal of investment into special places i…

I acknowledge the efforts of the committee. It did a fantastic job of putting the report with 109 recommendations together. I acknowledge the Chair who did a really good job. He really tied in the key points that needed to be made. Senator Micheál Carrigy had been a really good advocate for people who need help and it is great he used his personal experience to make sure this report went through the Houses of the Oireachtas. This debate is very welcome because we are going through a potential change that will happe…

I welcome the Minister of State. I am asking the Minister for Education to intervene to ensure that the comprehensive review of the reasonable accommodations at certificate examinations, RACE, scheme will be completed by the State Examinations Commission prior to the 2025 examinations. As the Minister of State will probably be aware, this is World Dyslexia Awareness Day. Ten per cent of the population is dyslexic. Thirteen thousand students in our education system are dyslexic. What we are looking for today is clea…

When we had the commission members before the committee, they informed us it would take two or three years. We are still in that timeline. It is outrageous that we do not have a timeline here. We will have a situation where kids will be doing their junior certificate and they will not have the accommodations required to reach their full potential. Children will get assistive technology to help them along that road but it is the case that if a person has a C-Pen that reads the stuff, it takes longer to do than physi…

I tabled this matter, in which I mentioned the Ministers with responsibility for housing and agriculture, to seek an update on where we are with the nitrates derogation. It is disappointing that we do not have a Minister here to deal with this issue, particularly one from the Department of agriculture. A bombshell hit the agricultural sector 12 months ago, and the dairy sector in particular, when we lost our derogation. The majority of Ireland, seven eighths of it, became part of a 220 kg per hectare zone and only …

The officials came here for three days but they did not go to the right area. They should have gone to Timoleague, where we have a derogation of 250 kg per hectare. The rest of Ireland is at 220 kg per hectare. It was decided not to take them to the one location where the 250 kg per hectare is being reached. That is absolutely crazy stuff. I am not being pedantic but, in the Minister of State's statement, he said that a public consultation is taking place in November but that measures were to come into effect on 1 …

Like other Senators, I wish to comment on the issues relating to Lebanon and that part of the world. The scenes we are seeing are absolutely frightening. It is something we thought we would never again see. The past year has been really terrible there. What has been happening in Gaza has been absolutely frightening, particularly with the loss of life and injuries to children there. Last week, I came across a figure stating that 30,000 children in Gaza have lost limbs. That is unbelievable. We have never seen anythi…

The Minister of State is more than welcome. I raise this matter to ask the Minister for Education to provide an update regarding the timetables for building works at St. Brogan's College, Bandon, County Cork. This is part of a multiphase operation. There are three phases. The first phase has been completed. We are looking for progress regarding the second phase. St. Brogan's is a co-education, multidenominational school based in Bandon, which offers a wide range of subject choice for both boys and girls of all ages…

I thank the Minister of State for a very comprehensive response. He mentioned what was involved in the second phase, and that is really important. It includes three special education classrooms and seven special education tuition rooms. We need the final piece of the jigsaw. We need to make sure that this development can move forward. We have been waiting since January or February to get news from the Department about the proposal and on whether it be moved on. There is a need at some level to make sure this propos…

I thank the Cathaoirleach for the opportunity to raise an issue that was in the budget yesterday. The Minister for Health has had the wonderful idea to do something about the issues we have pertaining to vaping at the moment. The Minister has stepped into the arena and has put a tax on vaping, which is really welcome. It is something we should start promoting and talking about. Vaping is probably the revenge of the tobacco industry on our society. We just need to get to grips with it. One of the statistics I came a…