I thank the Minister of State. That enlightens Senators better than any Commencement matter. Her second intervention was exceptionally helpful and informative. I am happy to withdraw the amendment. We have had a good discussion on it. The Minister of State shared much information of which I was not fully aware and confirmed the Government's commitment. I do not doubt her commitment. I would like to think we are going away with a greater understanding of our concerns and having aired the issue in more detail.

I also welcome the Minister of State to the House. My Commencement matter relates to the rural community development scheme in terms of supports for town and village renewal. I note at the outset that it was a highly successful scheme, particularly around Covid-19 and post Covid, in terms of the challenges for rural communities and bringing them on. Supports for the town and village renewal schemes were very welcome indeed. The town and village renewal scheme was funded by the Department of Rural and Community Deve…

I thank the Minister of State for his response, which was hunky-dory and nice, but I reiterate the departmental website today indicates this scheme is to be launched at the end of April, so he might ask the relevant Minister or officials to change that. It states it will close in June, but clearly there will be a later start and a later close. People plan and wish to get on with these important pieces of work. I reiterate that I am very supportive of the scheme and acknowledge the Government would like to give it m…

As always.

I thank the Minister of State and Senator Byrne. We will move on to Senator Ahearn's Commencement matter, which relates to human rights defenders. We are expecting the Minister to come to the House shortly so we will suspend until then.

I welcome the Minister of State and apologise for the delay. I know that he had to go to the Lower House. I appreciate him coming back to the Seanad to deal with this matter, which relates to human rights defenders.

I thank the Minister of State for his very comprehensive reply and written response. It is one of the most comprehensive responses that I have ever seen here for which I thank him and his officials.

I would like to ask, and I know others have, for a debate on the Ukrainian refugee crisis. I use the term "refugee crisis" rather than "migrants". There is a very clear difference between a refugee and a migrant. That is clearly understood by many in terms of international best practice and the work of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other organisations that work in this area. We had a briefing today at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage by the Mini…

I only have one issue to raise. It relates to the census. Well done to everyone involved in what is very important work. It will be a long time before it is all read, of course. I received a call from a lady in the west who is now a widow and lives on her own. She asked me what I thought she should write in the census time capsule. I told her to write whatever she wanted to. She spoke to me later and told me that she had written a simple line: "My hope is that people of my age [she is in her 80s] will be able in th…

This is a very important Commencement matter and I thank the Minister for coming to the House to brief us on it. There has been a lot of discussion. From looking at some parliamentary questions last year, I note this issue or variations on some sort of scheme or incentivised scheme for retirement have been raised. I have read the Minister's various responses and I think things have evolved somewhat since. There has been recent coverage in the Irish Farmers' Journal and many provincial newspapers of the suggestion t…

I thank the Minister. The key word I used in starting this debate was "retirement". The Minister's focus was more on young farmers and I welcome that. There are two sides to this: first, those coming into farming and encouraging them to stay and, second, those who may wish to diversify, get out of dairy or reduce their input in dairy, which is important. What is critical here, and I know the Minister also believes this, is that we collectively ensure that farming enterprises are retained and encouraged, albeit with…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, for coming to the House. It seems he is permanently here. He is always welcome. It is great he takes the time and trouble to be here with us. We all appreciate it. I want to put that on the record. I call on Senator O'Loughlin.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton.

Before I leave the Chamber, I wish to congratulate Senator Clonan on his election.

Indeed, I met him many times because I was his county councillor in Booterstown in the Dún Laoghaire constituency. I also met his family. He is very welcome. I do not give advice. One should come in here every day and enjoy it. Every day one comes in here is a better day than going outside. I do not know Senator Clonan very well, but from what I have read about him he has an amazing track record. I congratulate him on his success in representing Trinity College. On behalf of the Seanad Independent Group, which I le…

-----he is very welcome. We look forward to working and collaborating well with him.

I will need a few extra minutes.

We are dealing with the Order of Business and I want to speak on an important aspect of that. Senators McDowell and Norris and I tabled an amendment regarding President Zelenskyy's address tomorrow. I believe we made our point. The Seanad can shine a light on many issues and we did so last night. The national media covered it. Our main concern was about the continuous and horrific images of civilians lying dead on the streets of Bucha. It is a matter for us and, personally, I believe it was important that we send a…

I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting what I think is a really important Commencement matter, which relates to the Land Development Agency, LDA, its commitments, and the Government's commitments to it. I am conscious that city and county councillors were very concerned about the power to transfer land outside of the section 183 process. It is something I raised many times in this House. The issue surfaced again when discussing matters with members at the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, conference in …

I thank the Minister of State for the very detailed response. As the LDA is settling down, there is not as much suspicion among the local authorities about it any more. The key is its focus on acquiring and developing lands in a selective and targeted way to boost housing supply. That is great. I have just one question on foot of the Minister of State's response, which says it all. I acknowledge the enormous work in terms of the tool for the mapping and the database of State lands. That is really important work tha…