Well said.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for taking this Commencement matter. The Minister of State will be fully aware of the rural social scheme, commonly know as RSS. This scheme is aimed at low-income farmers and fishers. To quality for the RSS, people must be in receipt of a social welfare payment. In return, those participating in the scheme provide services that benefit rural communities. These services are critically important. The areas covered under the schemes are: maintaining and enhan…

I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive response. I am pleased with it. As he correctly stated, it demonstrates the Government's commitment to keeping the rural social scheme in place. It has an important function. I acknowledge the budgetary measures of the increase in the payment under the scheme. It is to be welcomed and is significant. That also demonstrates the Government's commitment to the rural social scheme. I know from speaking to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, that she is supportive of it. L…

I want to raise the issue of the family of the late-----

I raise the issue of the late Shane O'Farrell from county Monaghan. Everyone will know of him. His case was discussed many times in this House. It has been a long campaign for a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death. Shane's parents, Lucia and Jim, and his four sisters will meet this afternoon with the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice. It is expected that they will go through aspects of the Judge Haughton report. I understand he completed his work on 1 June and that an advance copy has b…

I will be brief. I thank the Minister of State for coming and setting out all aspects of the Bill. We discussed this Bill in great detail in the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I see Senators Cummins and Fitzpatrick here and we have had a lot of engagement on the Bill. I confirm my full support for the Bill. It makes sense. As the Minister of State said at the outset, it is a technical Bill. Much of it follows through in terms of the governance issues around water and, as we now will call…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 10, to delete lines 28 to 31 and substitute the following: “ “Licensing threshold” means 2,000 cubic meters or more in any 24-hour period;”. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am mindful that I sit on the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The committee discussed this legislation at some length. I am also mindful that I am a member of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The Irish Farmers Association, IFA, made a submission to …

The Minister of State has given his response. I acknowledge that and I do not wish to add any further comment.

I move amendment No. 2: In page 11, to delete lines 26 to 29 and substitute the following: " "Registration threshold" means 25 cubic metres or more in any 24 hours;". Before I proceed with amendment No. 2, I thank the Minister of State and his officials for the explanatory memorandum that was circulated last week. It was further to the two queries we had in the previous session in the House, when we discussed aspects of the Bill and the interpretation of the Library and Research Service. I again thank the service f…

I take on board what Senator Pauline O'Reilly has said. As I said, I am on two committees and there is always a conflict between them. While we do not always agree with everything that goes through pre-legislative scrutiny, I was very supportive of the work the committee did. I was also very supportive of our engagement on the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine. Like every politician, I am entitled to reflect on the issue. Legislation is not made in the committee; it is made in the Houses of the Oireac…

I note the Minister of State's response.

I want to thank Senators Maria Byrne and Conway for using their Private Members' time to introduce this motion. They made a convincing case and articulated the arguments and rationale for this motion well. I wish them well with it, I am supportive of it and I thank them for bringing it to the House.

As we are.

I want to raise two issues with the Leader. I formally welcome the announcement this week by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, of the roll-out of €450,000 of funding for Traveller apprenticeships. That is a positive move which I want to acknowledge and which is important. It is not a lot of money but it is a movement in the right direction. Education and training are important, particularly for the Traveller community in terms of practical apprenticeship…

I was there yesterday.

I join the Leas-Chathaoirleach in welcoming Deputy Richmond, a former Senator, and the students from UCD. Indeed, I will be mentioning Deputy Richmond in my few comments I prepared for today. I am delighted, therefore, that he is here and may still be here when I am finished. I will say a few quick things and it is all positive. It is just as well that the Leas-Chathaoirleach flagged that the Deputy was behind me.

I thank the Minister of State and the Senators. The devil is in the detail though. At the end of that very comprehensive run-around of the national transport network, the Minister of State's conclusion said it all. She said that, "This motion is generally in line with the principles of this Government and is broadly acceptable in [terms of] aspects, particularly [in] its call to move toward a more equitable" system. The Minister of State then went on to talk about the creation of a new medium hop zone as being "unl…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. We are dealing with Second Stage but all Stages of the Bill are being pushed through the House. While I am supportive of the Bill, this is not the way to do business. I accept these are unprecedented times and this is an emergency but I want the message to go back that it is not the way we should process legislation. I will support it but I wanted to make that important point. We have 19 amendments, none of them mine. They will be debated and I thank the Senators who ta…

The Cathaoirleach can exercise his discretion.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I fully understand the importance of this legislation but the point needs to be made, particularly from the Opposition side, that we live in a parliamentary democracy and how the legislation is being put through is not good practice. I recall that when the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, was a member of a previous Government, one of his constant themes was the frustration he had felt in opposition, with only two Green Party Deputies, at the way legislation was handled. He …