I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I look forward to his ongoing work in the Department. He is a straight talker who says things as they are. He usually gets things done. The subject of flooding is difficult. Water, wind and fire are the three enemies of every homeowner. Wind and fire must be mitigated by the homeowner but, unfortunately, with water it is very difficult to put defences in place. If these are the three enemies of a homeowner, the delays in the State responding with flood defences is a …

The fallout from the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on the social lives of teenagers, students and young adults. Further suffering is now being foisted upon students in particular as a result of them entering into contracts for accommodation in many colleges and universities. In order to secure accommodation for the year ahead, students had to pay somewhere between €5,000 and, in some cases, €10,000 in advance, only now to be told that the contracting party was not aware that there was going to be a loc…

As you well know, a Chathaoirligh, there is widespread support for the decarbonisation of electricity generation, but in doing so we must be very careful and understand the impact that is having on many communities throughout the country. The development of onshore wind turbines is affecting a number of communities in my constituency. Their big concern is that, as of yet, the revised wind energy development guidelines have not been published. They are due to be published later this year. However, there are currentl…

I propose to share time with Senator O'Loughlin. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. As one of the people who has been most vociferous in calling for a debate on living with Covid-19, I am pleased the Minister of State is with us today. Many of the points have already been addressed. We must keep the people with us for a protracted period. Even with the emergence of a vaccine, it is clear that Covid-19 will be around for a considerable time. I appeal to the Minister of State to look at a couple of areas. …

As every day of the level 5 lockdown goes by, more and more issues arise that are clearly not consistent with what is being attempted to suppress the virus. Many of them attach to rural pursuits. It is difficult to justify why a small number of cattle buyers cannot attend cattle marts to assist in the trade of livestock, which is part of the food chain. Rural men and women who are interested in hunting normally take their guns and dogs to shoot pheasants at this time of the year, mainly alone or sometimes with one …

As we face into the Christmas period, it is appropriate that we would have a discussion on living with Covid-19. There has been a very genuine effort in the last weeks by most people in Ireland to try to suppress the virus after it appeared to be spiralling out of control. It is too early to predict what the incidence rate will be in December but it is absolutely necessary that the Government sets in train a strategy for managing the Covid-19 response during the Christmas period. I have been contacted by a large nu…

I wish to share time with Senator Malcolm Byrne. I welcome the Minister of State. Fianna Fáil welcomes this opportunity to discuss solutions to the ongoing biodiversity crisis and will support the motion proposed by the Green Party. I compliment my colleagues on it. The rate of global change in nature during the past 50 years is unprecedented in human history. Nature across most of the globe has now been significantly altered by human activity, with the great majority of ecosystems and biodiversity showing rapid de…

I move: That, for the avoidance of doubt, office premises ordinarily occupied by staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission shall be considered to form part of the parliamentary precincts for the purpose of the giving of evidence by witnesses, by means of such specified videoconferencing platform as may be approved and provided by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, to any Committee appointed by Seanad Éireann or by both Houses of the Oireachtas.

I welcome the Minister to the House. Fianna Fáil is happy to support the legislation, which probably does not come as a big surprise to the Minister. We support it because it is technical in nature and is required due to the transposition of the EU directive that the Minister has identified. Like the Minister, I am somewhat concerned that it has taken so long to get the legislation to the House, and that we find ourselves in this emergency situation, considering that it has been around since 2004. However, I certai…

I am digressing a little to broaden the point but I will conclude and bring it all back. The Cathaoirleach need not worry about that.

I will try to bring it back on track as soon as possible. It is very important to continue our effort to invest substantial amounts of capital moneys in our infrastructure. Public transport is under pressure at present because of the necessity for separation and due to level 5 measures, we have been obliged to reduce to 25% the usage of the facilities but we should be looking to the medium term when we get to the other side of the pandemic. We need to look at electrification of our interurban routes and to get to m…

She is a formidable lady.

It is not a plan anyway.

Now.

Now.

Now.

I move: That, pursuant to subsection 2° of section 2 of Article 25 of the Constitution, Seanad Éireann concurs with the Government in a request to the President to sign the Railway Safety (Reporting and Investigation of Serious Accidents, Accidents and Incidents Involving Certain Railways) Bill 2020 on a date which is earlier than the fifth day after the date on which the Bill shall have been presented to him.

It is regrettable, in the first instance, that we in the House have to bring forward legislation such as this. It is symptomatic of a desire on the part of certain people to ignore the basic guidelines. Looking through the window of where society currently is, there is the zero-Covid side on one extreme and, on the other, the herd immunity analysis. The reality is that most people are somewhere in the middle. They want to do what is right but they want to live with Covid. The Government will have to move more quick…

A great colleague at that.

Broadband has been promised to every house in the State for over ten years now. It remains no more than a promise. The Government last year signed a contract with National Broadband Ireland to the value of approximately €3 billion. Since then, we have heard precious little from National Broadband Ireland on when it intends to begin the installation of broadband. At the time, the estimate was five to seven years but we have no indication as to when it will begin and end. We are now in level 5 and have asked the Iris…