Yes.

Grand.

I support this proposal. Crataegus is commonly known as the May bush and there are several varieties and subspecies. This addition makes sense. From one perspective, we are talking about not being prescriptive and about rich biodiversity. We do not want to be drilling down and over-micromanaging the whole process, but it makes abundant sense to include these two species and I am somewhat surprised they are not on the list.

I do not know where the Minister of State is getting his advice. I have a crataegus in my garden that is 40 ft high. That is a tree and not a shrub. They are all over the place. The Minister of State will know them from all over his part of the country. These hawthorns are our trees. They are listed in The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs. These are not shrubs. I do not know what anybody who comes in and tells the Minister of State that hawthorns are shrubs is doing or where he or she is coming from. If that is t…

My point concerns the percentage referred to for Scots pine. I am not going to rehash the amendment, but I would be interested in the Minister of State putting on the record his view, or that of the departmental officials, in respect of that percentage not being reduced. I had suggested we reduce it. This is just a commentary now, but I made that suggestion because of what we know about Scots pine. My colleague, Senator Boylan, is correct when she talked about the indigenous pine species found in the Burren. In fai…

Thank you, a Leas-Chathaoirligh, for selecting this Commencement matter. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I do not know how much he knows about the eastern bypass but I will take him through some of it and my understanding of it. The Dublin eastern bypass, or the Dublin Bay motorway, as it was called, was a proposal originally considered and drafted in 1971. That is a hell of a long time ago, over 40 years ago. The idea was that the bypass would complete the Dublin sea road across Dublin Bay and back t…

I thank the Minister of State. The key point in his reply is that the review found that "the need for the scheme, as originally intended, was no longer justified". In addition, the strategic assessment report concluded that the eastern bypass had limited benefits for the M50. Those two factors were the reasons the scheme was originally proposed. I agree with the Minister of State on those points and I thank whomever prepared the reports because they came to the right conclusion. There is potential for a new transpo…

Well said.

No.

No. It is Senator Hackett's turn.

I join with others in thanking my colleague and friend, Senator Keogan, for organising the coffee morning. It was fantastic. It was great to see such diversity, different backgrounds and different traditions, all together. It is important to acknowledge that. I ask the Leader for a debate at some point on the Children's Rights Alliance Report Card 2022. I want to dwell on the positives of that report, which was circulated to all Members. It was confirmed by the Children's Rights Alliance that the Government has mad…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, for coming to the House today for Commencement matters. It is appreciated. I call on Senator Hoey who has a Commencement matter on the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival 2022.

I thank the Minister of State for that very comprehensive reply.

Could you please speak up, Acting Chairperson?

I agree with the Leader. We had a long protracted debate, and the Minister was not here. I know he is a reasonable and fair person. I thank him for the Grant Thornton report that eventually came. To give the Minister an idea of what went on, it was nearly impossible to get this report. The farmers could not even get it. We got it. We are discussing primary legislation. We are the Upper House and we had to make a case. We were told we would have it the next day, but it did not come the next day. We had to keep askin…

It was helpful to listen to the consistency of message and approach throughout the House. I acknowledge the Minister is in a coalition government with the Green Party and Fine Gael. I acknowledge the Green Party has set out to close down the mink farming industry. That is the price to be paid for going into a coalition government. One party does not get everything the way it wants it and neither does any other party to the coalition. That is the difficulty. I also acknowledge that the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, c…

I will exercise my three minutes.

I thank the Minister for coming to the House, and I really do appreciate his very genuine offer of engagement with the farmers. It is important. I also concur with the comments of the Leader of the House, Senator Doherty. Senator Doherty has previously spoken about leverage. I do not like using that word in politics, and especially in a constructive Chamber such as this. We do, however, have some sort of leverage at the moment, which is that we are a House of legislation. We are trying to perfect this and ensure th…

I take it that the Senator is sharing time.

Is that agreed? Agreed.