I welcome the Minister of State. I thank her for her commitment to come to the House this afternoon. She is always welcome. I also thank her staff. We sometimes forget that behind all good Ministers and Departments are good staff who give technical support to the Minister of State and others in the formation of any budget. That is a key component of the process. I acknowledge the publication of The Budget in Brief: Your Guide to Budget 2026. Talking about budgets, if we had the resources, it should be in every hous…

I welcome the Minister of State and officials from the Department of Health. I particularly welcome our guests in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery and, of course, Rebecca. It is so great to see her and looking so well. I thank Gerard and Helen for sharing their and Rebecca's story. I do not think Senator Craughwell would have ventured in here without Rebecca's blessing. I know Rebecca, having had the opportunity to talk to her in the past. Rebecca, Helen and Gerard's story is remarkable. When he tells their story…

I thank the officials. I thank the Minister of State. I know there are many demands, but I know her to be a decent person. I know her to be a champion of cancer and health rights in particular. I think we are all on the one page, but let us not go asleep or tap ourselves on the back and think it is all done. Today is the beginning. Let us keep soldiering on until we get what we seek to achieve for everyone affected by this illness.

I thank the Minister of State and Senator Byrne.

The clock is ticking but we are okay. We are not under pressure. We only have three Commencement matters today.

I am anxious that we wrap up, if the Senators would like to take a half a minute each.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor. It is always great to see her in the House. I thank her for giving of her time because this is an exceptionally busy day for any Minister. It is budget day. I thank her for giving of her time, coming in and addressing all the Commencement matters on the agenda today. It is greatly appreciated. I thank the Senators.

I thank the Cathaoirleach, Leader and Members. I will not touch on the budget in any great detail but I thank the Leader for organising a debate on it today and tomorrow. It is important that we have a series of debates on particular topics. I commend the Government on the very detailed hot-off-the-press "Your Guide to Budget 2026". It sets out a lot of the very positive information in the budget but there are other things missing. We have a lot of time in the House as we are full-time politicians, or we should be.…

First, I want to say that I am thinking of the people of Gaza. A guiding light for my work here is that we should shine a light in a dark place. I pay tribute to our colleague, Senator Chris Andrews, for his bravery and courage. He is walking the journey and embarking on a journey. He is a man of conviction and one of our own. It is at times like this that we, as a Parliament, should be united in our support of him and the cause of Gaza. I am more than happy to endorse and support the amendment to the Order of Busi…

I welcome the Minister. It is good to see him in the House. It is always good to have the opportunity to talk about agriculture. I am not going to repeat all the 11 asks Fine Gael has put in its Private Members' Bill. I thank the party for bringing this Private Members' business before us today. All those asks are, of course, in the programme for Government. There is nothing contentious about any of that. Well done and I wish Members well in pursuing their colleagues in government over its implementation. Cut and p…

I thank the Minister of State and the Senator. I thank the Minister of State for coming here. We value his attendance here today.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Alan Dillon, to the House.

Sorry, Senator, we have to push on. I thank the Minister of State for staying with us.

I thank the Senator. Does the Minister of State wish to reply?

Okay. I thank Senator Byrne. Before I go on, I welcome our guests on my right, who are guests of Deputy Keira Keogh. They are from the Mayo Self Advocacy Group and are from right across Mayo. They are all very welcome, and so is the councillor. On my left, I welcome the guests in the special Gallery. I thank them for coming and I hope both groups have an enjoyable stay here in the Oireachtas.

I thank the Minister of State very much. We appreciate his time. I know it is busy. There is a vote being called in the Dáil. I thank him for taking a number of the Commencement matters.

The Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, is very welcome. He is no stranger to this House. I thank him for coming here because this Commencement matter is particularly important to his portfolio and area of expertise. This Commencement matter is in the name of Senator Seán Kyne and it relates to the recategorisation of Galway City Council from a tier 5 to a tier 4 local authority.

Before I call the Minister of State to respond, I welcome the three guests of the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, who are present. I apologise for cutting across the Minister of State.

That is why I thought I would give you the heads up.

I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive response and I thank Senator Kyne for raising the issue.