When is it proposed to take Report Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

When is it proposed to take Fifth Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I thought the Senator was going to say "joined at the hip".

I do not want to cut into the Senator's time.

With the agreement of the House, we will now take Senator Ahearn's Commencement matter. We will take Senator Chambers's matter when she arrives.

Before I call Senator Davitt, I would like to welcome the students, teachers and accompanying adults from Moyle Park School, Clondalkin. You are very welcome to the House. We are now dealing with Commencement matters, which are topics Members of the Seanad have tabled. A Minister comes into the House to respond to them. They are very welcome. I hope they enjoy their stay here in Leinster House. I call Senator Davitt.

This should also cover Friday.

I wish to raise two issues this morning. One relates to strategic housing developments, SHDs, introduced in 2017 to deliver houses. Yesterday, I received from An Bord Pleanála a full schedule of all the properties and developments that are stuck in An Bord Pleanála or have not been processed, many of which date back to 2022. They are in Dublin, predominantly near the Minister's homeland of north County Dublin, which is an interesting observation. There is a large development in Bishopstown, County Cork and ones in …

I welcome the news today that the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, will publish the opening of the mother and baby institutions payment scheme, which has approval by Cabinet. We now know that this scheme will go live on 20 March 2024. It has been a long time coming and many people have been waiting. I have personally been involved in this issue for years. I have had personal experience of it. We debated this to a great extent and at great length in this House and, regrettably, we did not get a lot of support in this Hous…

I welcome the Minister of State. The purpose of the Bill is to consolidate and update the legislative provisions that regulate the employment permit scheme. The 2018 review of economic migration policy, of which the Minister of State is aware, endorsed the robust fundamental structure of the existing system. However, it went on to recommend that legislation should be initiated. I take it that forms part of the motivation for the Minister of State's work on the Bill. As he stated, we need to be responsive to employm…

I welcome the ambassador and our other guests. In particular, I welcome former Senator Eugene Regan to the Chamber. He is a friend and colleague of mine. I collaborated politically with him at local and national levels. It is great to see him here in this Chamber of which he was once a Member. I wish to raise the issue of the farmers charter of rights. The Leader will be aware of the ongoing issues relating to farmers, who are constantly seeking to be treated fairly and with respect, dignity, professionalism and ef…

Running around the park.

I am particularly pleased to see the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, arriving in the Seanad Chamber. She is directly responsible for the disability sector. It is always great when the line Minister with responsibility, with knowledge, with expertise and with her finger on the pulse in terms of the policy comes to the House. I am not so sure that she has her finger on the purse but she certainly has in terms of the policy. I thank her for coming to the Senate on this important issue. My Commencement matter today…

Sending an email is very different to looking someone in the eye.

The Minister of State said she was measured in her words and so am I. I have correspondence in front of me that I could have read into the record but it would not be appropriate because it is sensitive.

We know that EY has completed a report into St. John of God Community Services on the financial deficit and has confirmed that €27.9 million - let us be precise - is the accumulated deficit as a result of the SLA for St. John of God Community Services. I wish the Minister of State well and I wish everyone well. This is a time of working together. At the end of the day the focus here, as the Minister of State rightly said, is beyond St. John of God Community Services. There are other challenges for other people. The…

I want to welcome the visiting delegation from Canada. You are most welcome to Seanad Éireann. I also want to join the Cathaoirleach and the Leader of the House in paying tribute to Michael O'Regan and expressing sympathy to his family. He was a remarkable man. In many ways, when I think of John McGahern and his readings I also think of Michael O'Regan. He was a man of the earth and soil. He loved his beloved west Kerry and rural Ireland. I think of all of the political debates and banter I had with him in the cant…

I support the Minister in respect of these three amendments. What he is trying to do with regard to the LDA is significant, particularly in Limerick, but also everywhere else. The Bill is about Limerick, however, and I wish to focus on that. It is clear the LDA has a significant amount of work to do. We need to support and assist it. There will come a time when we have to make a judgment on the LDA. It has been slower to get off the ground than many, including the Minister, had hoped, but I see where the Minister i…