Like others, I believe we have identified what was laid out at the weekend in terms of the housing crisis. The idea of global investment funds purchasing houses that were meant to be for first-time buyers has been responded to with shock. That shock has turned into outrage because it seems this practice is about to continue unabated. I welcome the position that the Taoiseach and the Minister have taken and their intention to move quickly. I would welcome a debate on housing generally but also on this specific matte…

Like others, I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, and thank him for the work he has done on this issue to date. I know that, committed European that he is, as we all like to think we are in this House, this is a welcome development. It is about underpinning one of the four fundamental freedoms upon which the European Union was founded and exists. I am relatively pleased with the progress so far. I have some concerns about the way in which the European Union initially managed the vaccination programme, the…

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to take No. 12 on the Order Paper before No. 2. It is a Bill, entitled Clean Air (Smoky Coal Ban) Bill 2021, and it seeks to introduce a full ban on the sale of smoky coal. We are all well aware that smoky coal is a major factor in air pollution. The sale of smoky coal was banned in some parts of the country as early as the 1990s in an effort to address this issue. Winter smog, at the time, was a growing problem in urban areas due to the widespread use of bituminous c…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for the introduction of regulations to prohibit the sale, marketing, distribution and burning of bituminous (smoky) coal on a nationwide basis; and to provide for related matters.

Next Friday.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, for coming to the House to discuss this issue. Clooney National School is a small school in a rural setting outside Ennis, in the greater east Clare area. It is currently a four-teacher school. As a result of a drop in student numbers to 73 this year, there is a threat to its four-teacher status. As the Minister of State knows, the retention number is 79. I appeal to the Minister and the Department to give special consideration in this particular year for a number of r…

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate her being here and, hopefully, taking those comments back to the Minister. In addition to the general appeals system, I ask that special consideration be given this year, in a blanket way, to all schools. Clouna National School, close to Ennistymon, is going from three teachers to two under the staffing schedule. The children in Clouna and many other schools dotted around the country have suffered so much. I appeal to the Minister of State and the Government to give serio…

I move: That Seanad Éireann: recognises that: - post offices are at the heart of local communities, playing a unique and important role in both rural and urban areas; - post offices provide crucial economic, administrative and social services to communities all around Ireland, especially to those in rural and isolated areas; - post offices serve an important function as ‘a service provider of last resort’ in rural communities where other service providers have decided not to operate for commercial reasons; - post o…

I thank all Members who have contributed in a positive way to the debate on this motion and I thank the Minister of State for her endurance in listening to all the points. It is now really up to the Minister of State and the Government to take on board all the points she has heard to ensure at long last we reach a point where post offices are seen as an integral part of their community and do not limp on month to month, year to year and change to change without really knowing whether they will survive. We must get …

Like others, I offer my congratulations to Senators Horkan and Maria Byrne and look forward to working with them and others over the coming years. I ask the acting Leader to try to organise a debate at the earliest possible opportunity to discuss the reopening of society in line with the fall in Covid numbers. I expect an announcement next week with further proposals for the months ahead. It would be appropriate if we had a debate here. There are a couple of areas that I have real concern about. The aviation sector…

There were two well-known Fine Gael brothers who were both Members of the Dáil, the Mitchells. I cannot remember which one of them was reputed to have said that it is much easier to sound intelligent by being negative. Unfortunately, far too many politicians and commentators have sought to show their intelligence through negativity during this pandemic. It would be fine if it did not have the profound impact that it has had on society. Some political parties and individuals have taken that route, I presume in the b…

Like others, I ask the Leader to try to organise a debate in this House, possibly next week, on the issue of living with Covid. As we approach the 5 April deadline where we expect to see some changing of restrictions, it would be appropriate that the views of Senators be heard on this important issue. If we are to hold the people with us, there has to be a credible lifting of some of the restrictions. It will be difficult to keep the public with us unless we show them some positive response to what they have achiev…

I welcome the Minister to the House and I look forward to the engagement with her. I know she has a very clear understanding of what is required, as do others. The tourism sector is in a very different position now from what it was in previously. Even with the potential for some opening up over the summer, the tourism mix is very different. It is very clear we will not have the inbound tourism upon which the survival of so many people depends. We will have to reorient the entire tourism product. There has been enga…

As the Minister of State well knows, family carers are an invaluable but undervalued element of the healthcare service in Ireland. Over 350,000 carers provide essential care on a daily basis to over 400,000 people saving the State an estimated €10 billion a year, which is very significant. Many of these carers devote a major part of their lives to caring for a loved one in situations that are often, let us be honest, very lonely. These carers remain silent and isolated. They accept their lot and get on with the tas…

I thank the Minister of State and welcome her very honest appraisal. I am not for a moment suggesting that this is simple. The numbers may not be that great when it comes down to it. There are many family carers who are elderly. A husband or a wife who is looking after his or her spouse is likely to be in or around the same age, or a little younger in some cases. These people will be addressed in the over-70s grouping. They are being addressed. That is being resolved. I am aware that in certain medical practices wh…

I support my colleague's call for the intervention of the Minister to address what I believe to be a very serious issue around the Future of Media Commission, which includes public service broadcasting. The Minister was not slow about intervening with regard to the travel by members of the board of Bord Fáilte when, in the minds of some, they transgressed the restrictions at the time. It is really appropriate now, when one considers what is at stake, that this issue is addressed without delay. I want to raise the i…

The Minister of State will be well aware of the level of devastation Covid has wreaked on the hospitality and tourism sector. Every little business in this sector has effectively been put on its knees. While there is recognition that the Government has supported the sector in so far as could so far, it is now recognised that more needs to be done. In recent weeks, I have had conversations with Mr. Adrian Cummins of Restaurants Association of Ireland and Mr. Dermot Kelly of the Irish Hotels Federation. They made it …

I welcome the Minister of State's comprehensive response. What really gets me, however, is the carry-on of the banks. The announcement today by Bank of Ireland that it is closing over 100 branches across the State - three in Clare in the towns of Tulla, Kilkee and Milltown Malbay - is an appalling kick in the teeth to the people in those communities who stood behind the bank when the State bailed it out to protect our banking system. That is the reward these communities are now getting from the upper echelons of Ba…

I thank the Minister for being with us. At this juncture it would be right to recognise the front-line workers in the transport sector working in both public and private companies who have heroically continued with their duties over the past couple of months. It is often forgotten that they are a key part of the front-line effort and worked so diligently. There is no doubt that Covid-19 has wreaked havoc across the economy, and nowhere more so than in the transport sector. Twelve or 13 months ago we thought problem…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. She does not need me to tell her the state of the aviation sector. It is absolutely on its knees, and she knows that through the work she does every day. It is not just the aviation sector, as all the ancillary businesses that have other customers but which were predominantly serving the aviation sector are also in a state of free fall. I have first-hand experience of this because there is an international airport located in the constituency I come from, namely, Shannon…