I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and wish him the best of luck in a very important portfolio, in particular given the trying times in which we are living. I will speak to Part 3 of the Bill, which the Minister of State covered very well. Many co-operative societies have contacted me in the last few weeks with concerns about how they are going to manage their day-to-day affairs and their AGMs. The clarification on such matters in Part 3 is very important because many agricultural societies, specificall…

I raise the State vacation policy we are promoting, which is very important. In the past three or four days we have seen vast crowds go to many amenities throughout the country. However, there is a serious lack of infrastructure. Large crowds flocked to beaches in west Cork last weekend where there was a lack of amenities such as toilets and lifeguards. The issue must be examined for the coming month. Investment by local authorities, in particular in toilets at beaches, must be promoted in the next four weeks as, I…

I thank the House for the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. How small-sized and medium-sized businesses will survive in the future is one of the key issues. That is why this legislation is so important. I welcome the indication that the primary producers are being included. The fishermen, farmers and food companies are all very much a part of our rural enterprise and rural economy and the ability for them to access the actual funding is welcome. Going forward, we need more of these schemes. To hav…

I raise the announcement by the Minister for Education regarding the leaving certificate results of 60,000 students, which has also been noted by other Members. I am very concerned by the announcement and the lack of joined-up thinking. This morning, I received several phone calls from constituents in west Cork through my office in Bandon who are due to attend Clonakilty Agricultural College. The closing date for them to accept their place in the college is 21 August, which is before the leaving certificate results…

It has been a turbulent week in Irish politics. I welcome the appointment of the new Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It is a very important brief and he is going to face many challenges. I acknowledge the role he is going to play in what is a vital sector for Ireland. I spent most of yesterday in Castletownbere meeting fishermen. I met the Castletownbere Fishermen's Co-operative Society and the south west producers. There is great uncertainty within that sector. It is important that the new Minister …

I wish to take this opportunity to raise the issue of school transportation. We hope we are seven weeks away from having the schools reopening. The lack of clarity regarding the school transportation scheme is something we need to get clarity on as a matter of urgency. Last year, the criteria were changed to allow a second school to be considered for school transportation. We need clarity on whether that is going to be continued. If the 2 m rule we have at the moment in the Houses of the Oireachtas was to be implem…

I congratulate the Chairman on his elevation. I did not have the opportunity to do that last week, and I am sure he will do a fantastic job. I raise an issue that has been raised many times in this House in recent years, which is farm safety. It is one of the key issues that we need to prioritise as we start off this Seanad. Unfortunately, over the past decade there has been no major change. Some 40% of all fatalities in workplaces happen in an agricultural setting, even though the sector comprises only 5% of the o…

I realise time is tight. I support colleagues' views on the great effort being made to tackle this unfortunate virus. We have spoken about the economy, education and the health service but the agriculture service and agriculture community also need a mention. I want to talk about the genuine mental stress farmers are under. The Cathaoirleach produced an important report many years ago on farm safety. This is the new farm safety issue. Farmers have been very isolated and are very much by themselves. I participated i…