I join others who have condemned in the strongest terms the approach of the Israeli Defence Forces and the police force in their actions during the funeral of Shireen Abu Akleh. It was a disgraceful attack on not just the Palestinian people, who are mourning one of their own, but also on a fundamental tenet of the democracy of any state, namely that of journalism. We all recognise the important role journalists play in protecting the fundamental freedoms of others and holding various different institutions to accou…

I thank the Minister for outlining the position he has taken. There has been a great deal of debate in committee and in both Chambers in regard to this particular issue. It is not surprising that many have sought to try to broaden this legislation because the notion of reviews and reform of the overall architecture of the Marine Accident Investigation Board and its operation has been around and promised for a long time. Quite frankly, it has not happened. That is why there has been such a push at this stage. I reco…

Now.

As the House is well aware, Covid-19 as an infectious disease is reasonably well under control in Ireland and fairly well under control across Europe. There are still some outstanding issues in other countries. As a result, we see our tourism industry beginning to recover and there is no doubt that scheduled flights are very much back on track, with passenger numbers increasing. I am thankful the frequency of flights is starting to recover. This is all really positive for a major dimension of our domestic economy, …

I thank the Minister of State for attending to address this important issue. If I look through my files from the long number of years I have been in the Houses, one of the issues that has arisen most often is that of the state of play at University Hospital Limerick, UHL, or Limerick Regional Hospital as it was previously known. Notwithstanding significant investment over the years, the situation has deteriorated and continues to deteriorate. Those of us who believed in the reorganisation of the hospital structure …

I appreciate the Minister of State's upfront and frank appraisal of the situation. I accept that the 2040 project is there and 96 beds have been promised. I know the hospital will move quickly and I hope those beds can be provided even more quickly. However, something needs to happen in the interim. It is not enough to say that every effort is being made. I am not having a pop at the Minister of State but it is not acceptable to say every effort is being made and we will do our best because that does not cut it wit…

We all appreciate that the economy has been under a very particular strain over the past two years particularly resulting from the Covid-19 crisis. Notwithstanding that some sectors of our economy are going well and flourishing, they are unfortunately unable to find staff to meet the demands and needs of the industry. I ask the Leader to try to arrange a debate at the earliest possible opportunity to look at labour movements and the deficits within our labour market. There are certainly problems right across the ho…

Like others, I sat on the transport committee and this issue got a good hearing. The issues raised by Senator Boyhan and others were well ventilated, were thrashed out and, I would say, reached a conclusion that did not meet the expectation or the wishes of anyone on the committee, but we reached a kind of a truce with assurances from the Minister. Senator Buttimer, other members of the committee and I put a lot of time into it. We were guided to a large extent by the evidence and by the information provided to us …

Councillors in particular.

While many homeowners and electricity consumers will receive the €200 discount as compensation towards the spiralling cost of energy over the coming days, a number of others, unfortunately, will not. In certain multiple-apartment blocks, there is a single meter point reference number, MPRN, and the residents in the various apartments are facilitated through a pay-as-you-go system. Unfortunately, however, the electricity suppliers are providing the €200 rebate to only one MPRN in each block. We need to look into tha…

I want to be associated with the remarks of welcome to Senator Clonan. I have had the pleasure of meeting him on a number of occasions both here and in other parts of the city and, indeed, on various radio programmes. I have always found him to be a respectful, insightful and interesting man, and I always felt that if he made it into the Oireachtas he would have something to offer. His skill set, not just in the disability sector, and I rarely met him without him being in the company of his son, Eoghan, will be ver…

I want to conclude on this. It amazes me that the board and senior management have not resigned at this stage. It is appalling what they have allowed to happen.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I had the pleasure of sitting on the climate change committee in the last Oireachtas on behalf of Fianna Fáil and I was probably in the minority in that we were in opposition, yet I supported the principle of carbon tax. We were not in government and we did not have to do it, but we did so because it was the right thing to do. I very much welcome the fact the Greens are part of government and that they have brought forward certain elements that will help us to…

The Leader will be well aware that in recent days a number of our utility companies have outlined their intention to increase significantly the charges for electricity. We all know that the context for this is the very significant increase in wholesale fuel prices. Most of our electricity is guided by the price of gas and the cost of a therm of gas has gone from 60p prior to the Covid-19 pandemic to approximately £2.30 on the international trading market. That is a very significant increase, so there is a clear con…

I join others in asking for a debate on the crisis facing the agricultural sector. It would be appropriate if we had the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine before us in the House. I very much welcome the decision of the Government yesterday to set aside up to €12 million to assist farmers generally in meeting the challenges faced with the crisis in the grain supply. The encouragement of the Government in that regard is helpful, and I am sure that €12 million will bear fruit. Notwithstanding that, conside…

This debate is overdue. I recognise the tremendous efforts of the Minister and the Department to deal with the crisis caused by what has happened in Ukraine. We will leave that discussion for another day. There is little doubt that these people have suffered great trauma. Seventeen days ago, I travelled to Lviv in Ukraine to see at first hand the conditions refugees were facing in advance of crossing the border. Things have improved and they are getting through more quickly, which is to be welcomed. There is a real…

Senator Horkan will express sympathy on behalf of Fianna Fáil with regard to Mr. Hill. The Senator knew him personally and I understand he was in his company over the weekend. On behalf of Fianna Fáil, I ask the House to reflect on and remember a former Member of this House who passed away over the past few days, Mr. Paul Kavanagh. He served here for a period in the 1980s. He was undoubtedly a dynamic force in Irish business at the time. He sat on the boards of An Post, Aer Lingus, Eircom and IDA Ireland. He had gr…

Like Senator Buttimer, I thank the Minister for his engagement at the committee. We spent many hours in discussion and teasing out not just this legislation. As the Minister has rightly identified, this is effectively a stop-gap measure, to paraphrase slightly, in respect of what needs to happen regarding the composition of the board. I have certainly been taken by our engagement as a committee and individually with Michael Kingston in respect of his expertise, knowledge and personal story in the context of this le…

Next Tuesday.

Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.