I welcome the Minister of State's response. The focus of my contribution this morning was about trying to make sure the rural element of our rural towns was tied into the marketing campaign. When talking about towns like Kinsale and hotels like the Blue Haven, Actons and the Trident or the Fernhill Hotel, Clonakilty and the Celtic Ross Hotel, Rosscarbery, we have huge, wonderful complexes that can be part of this marketing campaign. Connections with local authorities are also important. I mentioned that the Kinsale…

I acknowledge the ambassador’s presence, which is important. I want to raise the issue of the Defence Forces Reserve and where we are with the recruitment campaign that happened. A significant campaign was launched in March 2022. More than 1,000 people volunteered, which is a great sign of the enthusiasm out there to join the Reserve. People have been telling me that the Reserve was never going to get that activity back again. However, it showed the activity out there, with 1,000 people coming forward and putting t…

This is not quite in a similar vein but the issues surrounding the national car test, NCT, need to be addressed by the Department of Transport. I ask the Leader to request the Minister for Transport to come to the House because of the inability of this House to put on a Commencement debate regarding NCTs. It is unbelievable that the Minister does not turn up to a Commencement debate in the Seanad because the NCTs are not his direct responsibility. We now have a scenario where the waiting lists in some centres are o…

I do not know if I will take the full eight minutes but I thank the Acting Chair for the offer. It is great to have this debate. It is very important one. I acknowledge the report of the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media, who is with us today. I thank the members of the committee who did all the heavy lifting in putting it together. It is a very fine document. An awful lot of issues have been outlined which need to be acknowledged. The staffing issue is usually the big one. …

I raise the issue of non-consultant hospital doctor, NCHD, posts in Bantry General Hospital. First, I will give an outline of my argument. Bantry General Hospital is probably one of the most unique and wonderful complexes we have in the State. It services a really rural demographic. It covers a significant rural population that increases during the summertime. There is quite poor infrastructure in regard to the road networks in the area. The next nearest hospital is in Cork city. The latter is approximately 150 km …

I thank the Minister of State for her response. It is about trying to make sure we can get that number from 17 up to 20 or 21. We all realise the geographical issues with Bantry's location. It is about making sure that we talk up the complex, the management and staff, and what they achieve on the ground. If we can tell the good news story, the ability to get the doctors required on the ground will come. It is a global market now. It is not about the Irish national market, or even Europe. This is a global market, so…

I welcome the Lithuanian ambassador and congratulate him on his country's national day. I want to raise two issues. The first concerns the 9% VAT rate, which is an issue that has been debated for years. We must acknowledge the success of the reduced rate. The Government led by Enda Kenny made a brave and bold move in introducing it. However, the matter needs to be resolved now on a permanent basis, rather than having it arise every six or 12 months. The hospitality industry, in particular, needs clarity on what is …

I wish to raise the RTB and how it actually operates, or rather, whether it operates, which is the real issue. I believe it is appropriate that the Minister comes to the Chamber to address the key issues regarding how the RTB is actually working or trying to work with the general public. We have heard scenarios in the office where cheques have been sent to the RTB and it has written saying it never received the cheques, but the cheques have been cashed. How in the name of God could an organisation work in such a sc…

I welcome the Minister of State. I raise the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, and whether we have enough psychologists to service the educational platforms we have. NEPS is an important service. It gives support to teachers and parents on issues regarding education. From the figures I have received, we have just over 200 psychologists working in the service. This breaks down to one psychologist per 5,000 students. That is a significant workload for any psychologist. A psychologist might be dealing …

I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response to my Commencement matter. This is about trying to find a pathway. The universities are important in that regard and we need to increase the number of university graduates. A large cohort of private psychologists are doing a very important job. I know of cases of school principals contacting the local Society of St. Vincent de Paul to have private assessments paid for. That has worked well. The number of psychologists in the service is the big issue. The …

I would like to bring the attention of the Cathaoirleach to an important issue. We have had a huge debate the House over the past three or four months about school transportation. We can fight about the rights and wrongs of the school transport scheme over the past few months, but we need to make sure that the review of the scheme that started two years ago is published. It will be April in a matter of a few weeks and families will be applying for school transportation. We must know about the concessionary provisio…

I welcome the legislation that has been published, which is very important. The general public is looking in on the debate and people are looking for accountability within the banking sector itself. They will ask questions such as who the banking system is. The traditional bank manager in branches no longer exists. Technically, call centres have replaced them. If a person applies for a loan, he or she does it online. We do not know who we are dealing with, and we have no personal relationship with that individual. …

I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge, first, the members of the agriculture committee who are present. We all have our strengths and weaknesses but the committee works well. A lot of its members are in the House tonight. This is a good debate and comes out of our debate on the previous fund proposed by Coillte, and the knock-on debate about our forestry programme in society . It has been good because we have had to flush out where we are going with this forestry programme. The scale of what is proposed betw…

They have helped a wise and old Senator to make sure we can do something right. I appeal to the Minister of State to take the motion on board. We will not oppose it and she knows that. She should come back to us. We have an idea that could work. It could be phenomenal if it is worked upon, and everybody can be part of this focus for change.

The Minister is more than welcome. We are having a very interesting debate about the UL Hospitals Group and where matters stand. The first line of the motion is really important. It is amazing that €24 billion is being spent on health. That is the core issue: we are now putting as much money as is required into the health service. I will speak openly about what we have in my part of the world. We have the best medium-sized hospital in the world, namely, Bantry General Hospital. The management of the hospital have w…

I would like to raise the issue of how we are going to use our Goverment assets appropriately when it comes to the OPW, in particular. I was in Kinsale at the weekend. The town is a jewel with so much going for it. The number of OPW properties and assets there is enormous. We have James Fort, Desmond Castle and the Battle of Kinsale site, as well as other OPW properties throughout the town. We need to put a co-ordinated plan together to make sure all of these properties and sites are open to the public. Some are an…

In May 2021, there was a cyberattack on our health service. Letters to the many people affected by it have landed in west Cork in recent days. Their data, including telephone numbers, email addresses and other contact details, have been compromised. The letters are only being sent to these people 19 or 20 months after the cyberattack. There needs to be a significant campaign by the Minister to inform the general public of what is happening. Many people thought, 20 months later, that there could not be any issue wit…

The Minister of State is more than welcome. I have a Commencement matter about the ophthalmology services in the Cork-Kerry region. I am looking for an update on the proposed theatres in the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital and the proposed outpatients department in Ballincollig. The ophthalmology services in our region have, unfortunately, been poor for a considerable time. At the moment there is a waiting list of more than 4,500 people, of whom 2,469, unfortunately, have been waiting more than a year …

It is positive news to think we are probably eight weeks away from having the surgeon that is required to have these two theatres up and running. This issue has been around since 2017, as the Minister of State said. To think we are coming to the endgame is important. The endgame is that we have a date and a time. We have the infrastructure and now we have a date on which it is going to open. That is a positive step forward for the people of the Cork-Kerry region. If we can have those theatres up and running in the …

I want to acknowledge the Leader's good news and congratulate her. I myself was not aware of it until a few minutes ago. A Chathaoirligh, I would like to acknowledge your rise to the position of Chair. I am delighted for you and your family. You will be an excellent Chair over the next two years. I say "Well done" to Senator Buttimer. I would like to have a debate in the next few weeks or months on the tourism industry, which has unparalleled issues coming towards it at present. Not alone do we have issues regardin…