I want to be associated with the thanks expressed to the Cathaoirleach, the Clerk of the Seanad, the Seanad staff and the committee that organised the events for yesterday's Seanad 100. Congratulations on such a positive event. The strongest take away for me was the enormous positive feedback from the former members of Seanad Éireann. I would like to think that in the new year we might explore how we can continue to build on that relationship with former members of this House and the knowledge transfer they have, a…

Hear, hear.

I second the motion. Question put and agreed to.

It is a reasonable request. I do not know what the Minister’s response will be. I wish to acknowledge the work that my colleague, Senator Craughwell, has done in regard to Class K PRSI. He briefly referenced litigation and settlements. I am aware of those and some of the advices around those. However it is not appropriate for me to share that here today because clearly it relates to individuals and I do not intend to speak about individual cases. There was clearly an admission that something was wrong and people do…

On behalf of my Independent colleagues, Senators McDowell, Norris, Craughwell, Mullen, Keogan and Clonan, I welcome the Taoiseach and thank him for his very kind words. I would also like to thank Mr. John Bowman for touching on the importance of Independent Senators, which is what I will focus on. In preparation for today I took the time to look at an article in the The New York Times on the very first meeting of Seanad Éireann. It pointed out that of the 60 Members of Seanad Éireann, there were 36 Catholics, 20 Pr…

Well said.

I will pick up on what Senator Ned O'Sullivan said about the shared island initiative. The Cathaoirleach and I were at Dublin Castle yesterday to hear the Taoiseach set out his stall. What passion and enthusiasm he displayed, and what grá he has for this initiative. We had amazing speakers and contributions, and major engagement. Dublin Castle was packed both inside and out. There was a great sense of optimism and hope. The Taoiseach touched on all-Ireland actions he has planned in areas such as biodiversity, touri…

First, I welcome the Minister to the House. We are discussing the Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022. I want to start by saying that it is somewhat disappointing. The Minister has acknowledged that we were not in a position to complete our pre-legislative scrutiny. It was only completed at 12 p.m. today. If we put that into context, the deadline for the submission of amendments to the Bill was 11 a.m. today, so it is very unsatisfactory. There have been a number of similar timelines with p…

I am not on the committee but have been following aspects of the Bill. I have soldiered on many campaigns with the Minister so I was not surprised to hear the positive feedback on how responsive and engaging she was. It is a hallmark of her style. I do not want to embarrass her, but that is true. Much time, engagement, listening and practical suggestions have come through this long arduous process. It is a tribute to the Minister to hear her colleagues and those directly involved in the Bill talk about it. I heard …

I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting my Commencement matter. I acknowledge the correspondence I received last night from the office of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, apologising that he could not be here, for which I thank him, and telling me that alternative arrangements were being made. Subsequently, this Commencement matter was moved from third on the list to second, which may account for some of the confusion on how the Commencement matters are being taken. That is way…

I thank the Minister of State. It is a classic example of an excellent response to a Commencement matter. It is exceptionally detailed. The response even referred to me. I know the Minister of State is delivering the response on behalf of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and the Department. I thank the Department for taking the time to advise me yesterday that the Minister could not be here. It is a measure of attention to detail and focus by the Minister and Department. The response is exactly what I was looking …

I support Senator Malcolm Byrne's call for a debate on the national children's hospital. I welcome that call. This is an extraordinary situation. With all due respect to the Senator, he is a member of Fianna Fáil, which is in Government. There is a Fianna Fáil Minister for Health. I thought the Senator would have an open door at any time to discuss overruns in the construction of the children's hospital. I share his concerns. This highlights the difficulty in communication some people have with the Minister and the…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive statement. As he stated, Tailte Éireann is to be the name of the new body. That is important. There is a need for marketing in that regard. We know it involves a merger of the Property Registration Authority, Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Valuation Office. It is important legislation. I thank the Oireachtas joint committee for its extensive pre-legislative scrutiny on the Bill, which was acknowledged by the Minister of State. It was a constructive engagement by …

I welcome the Minister to the House. This is a multi-million euro fund for horse and greyhound racing, which should carry conditions in terms of corporate governance. We have not discussed corporate governance and the conditionality around animal welfare during this debate. There is much merit in what is proposed in many of the amendments. There has been a lot of debate on all sides about the recurring theme of animal welfare. I thank Senator O'Reilly, who was courageous, brave, forthright and honest in her contrib…

It is great to see the Minister of State in the Chamber. I will not discuss this at great length. Suffice to say, I undertook, following engagement with the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, to bring nine amendments to the House. I made it very clear that none of them were mine. I supported the principle of stepping up to the plate and articulating on behalf of the IFA. All of the amendments were in order, discussed, pressed and rejected. That is the simple fact of the matter. I want to put that on record because it …

I thank the Minister of State for that acknowledgement.

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber, which is her Chamber too. I thank her for being here and thank Green Party Senators for this motion and for using their Private Members' business. It makes sense and I will fully support it. I am conscious the Green Party is in government and coming to the mid-term of the Government's life-cycle. I have not yet seen the mid-term review. I presume one is planned, as is the case in most coalition Governments. This one has a huge, ambitious programme, much of which I agr…

No, I do not need you to add to it, I am grand. The motion calls on the Government to "work with industry, third-level institutions and other State bodies to continue to increase knowledge among construction professionals and the wider public of the benefits of timber as a construction material". I also agree with that. Like the Green Party, I support sustainable development. I have been reading up on this and looking at research in Finland, Norway and Sweden. There were major challenges in relation to Bostik and o…

I bring greetings from Poland, where I attended an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, meeting last week in the parliamentary Chamber in Warsaw. I visited alongside Senator Cassells and Members of the Dáil and we were assisted by members of the Irish Embassy in Poland, who always do us proud, receive us well and brief us well. Two things were palpable during our visit. First, everywhere we went, we were met with endorsement and warmth from the people of Poland for what the Irish people have …

I join the Cathaoirleach in welcoming the women that are in today, particularly sitting councillors from the women's caucus. They are welcome to Leinster House. It is great to see them; we do not see enough of them. As I said earlier in the dining room, I look forward to many of them competing in the next elections, be they Dáil or Seanad elections. We can have the women's caucus and other groups but it is important that we bring them into the centre of politics and into elections. I asked the Minister to make a st…