Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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Before I ask the Acting Leader to read out the Order of Business for the day, I want to welcome the Croatian ambassador, H.E. Davor Vidiš, to the House. As Members will know, we are celebrating the Croatian national day this week. I take this opportunity to congratulate the people of Croatia on their national day, known as Statehood Day, which is being celebrated today. Today Croatia commemorates the day when the first multi-party parliament was constituted in 1990. It is my pleasure to welcome Mr. Vidiš to the Distinguished Visitors Gallery. The ambassador has been a very good friend to many in Leinster House and has been an excellent representative of the Croatian people and Government here in Dublin. I hope he enjoys his day. I thank him for being here this morning.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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I want to start by acknowledging and welcoming the Government’s recognition this week of the State of Palestine. Ireland, along with Spain and Norway, is leading the way in giving recognition to the Palestinian people. I want to commend and thank the Tánaiste, everybody in the Government, the Department of Foreign Affairs and various NGOs, and all who have worked to get us to this point. It is not an end in and of itself but more of a beginning. It is a very clear statement of our collective belief that there can be no peace in the Middle East until such time as the Palestinian and Israeli people can, in equal measure, live in freedom, dignity, security and peace and can co-exist with respect for each other and with a shared ambition for a better future for all. I would renew our appeal for the release of all hostages, for an immediate ceasefire to allow for sustained humanitarian aid in Gaza, and for all sides to commit to a two-state solution.

I also ask the Acting Leader to ask the Taoiseach’s office to engage with Seanad Éireann on the Taoiseach’s proposal for an inner city task force. The Taoiseach’s announcement indicated that the task force would complete its work and make recommendations within a 12-week period. Four weeks have already passed and it is critically important that the task force is seen to deliver an incremental benefit to the inner city. To do so, it should really engage with residents, businesses and all of the stakeholders in the inner city. It is not clear whether there will be any form of public consultation or engagement. A debate in this House with the Taoiseach’s Department on the issue would be very welcome. It is really clear that what the inner city needs and what we all want is for it to be a safer, cleaner and more liveable place for us all. It is not that at the moment. I would welcome the Taoiseach’s commitment to a debate in this House and a sharing with this House of his ambition for his task force.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the debate which took place here yesterday evening on the report of the Housing Commission. Members of the Opposition were probably a bit out of step and did not put themselves in the best position to progress a discussion on housing, and not for the first time, when they hastily submitted an amendment which failed to appreciate the value of the work that was undertaken by the Housing Commission. I thank everybody who worked on the commission. I urge members of the Opposition to engage with its report in a constructive way so that, collectively, we can map out a vision and a plan for the delivery of housing post 2030. In the meantime, if they could support Housing for All and allow us to continue to increase the supply and affordability of housing for our citizens, everybody would benefit.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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Before I call on Senator Currie, I want to welcome the students from rang a trí in St. Andrew’s National School in Lucan, led by Rebecca, who is the daughter of Senator Currie. They are a wonderful group of students. I met them earlier in the corridor and they were full of life, inquisitiveness and great conversation. I also thank their teachers for their great work. As I said to them earlier, the tradition in the Seanad is that they will have no homework. It gives me great pleasure to call on Senator Currie in the presence of her daughter, Rebecca.

Emer Currie (Fine Gael)
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It is a huge honour to be here today with the students of St. Andrew’s National School. I thank their teacher, Mr. O’Dwyer, and all of their teachers for facilitating their visit today.

What I want to raise today is the frustration that is sometimes felt by communities, community organisations, schools and school communities with the bureaucracy of the Department of Education. This is keenly felt when there is a block or a lack of progress in accessing essential services or advancing school projects, including in the area of special education. In this case, it is actually as fundamental as a lease agreement between the Department of Education and the Le Chéile school in Tyrrelstown in west Dublin. There is no lease and as a consequence, it is very difficult for clubs, community organisations, and childcare operators to access facilities in the school.That should not be happening. There has been a lot of discussion about movement in that regard, with the Government putting more pressure on schools to open up their facilities, which are paid for by taxpayers. There is no point in facilities lying empty at weekends or in evenings. What makes this situation even more difficult is that a community centre in the area and other schools have been affected by the Western Building Systems structural deficiencies. Some 40 schools need to be remediated. We have a community centre that needs to move out of its building into other premises to sustain all of the fantastic organisations and clubs that use the community centre, and to keep them going, including the Dublin Sonics Basketball Club, which has 200 members, both boys and girls. It is essential that the Department of Education moves on the need for the lease. I thank the community centre for all the work it is doing. The Acting Leader can imagine what it is like for them trying to reach out to other premises to find places for their clubs to continue.

I met Early Childhood Ireland yesterday. It has put together a great plan of public good childcare. One of the things it spoke about was the need for us to recognise and move towards early educators being on a similar platform to primary school teachers. That is something I ask the Minister to seriously consider.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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The professions of paramedic and advanced paramedic are separate and individual. An advanced paramedic is able to insert cannulas into veins or arteries to administer pain relief or lifesaving drugs. The current search and rescue supplier in Ireland, CHC, uses advanced paramedics and has advanced paramedics on its crews. This means when they go to the most remote areas in Ireland to pick up people in accidents or for medical transfers, they are able to provide first-line medical treatment. The contract just awarded to Bristow Group requires that a transfer of undertaking take place. In other words, all of the staff from CHC would transfer to Bristow and be trained up on the new helicopter for use. However, I have heard, and this needs to be verified quickly, that Bristow does not intend to use advanced paramedics. It will only use paramedics on its aircraft, which means when they will not be able to administer lifesaving drugs when they arrive at an incident. This is a very serious matter and I ask the Acting Leader to send it straight to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. If the contract was changed to allow for paramedics only, why did that happen? Is it a cost-saving feature? Did the contract change? Will we have advanced paramedics? I certainly believe the people on the Aran Islands and the islands off the coast of County Donegal and the west of Ireland in general will want advanced paramedics coming to treat them. It will be similar for those who find themselves in road accidents. County Donegal, which has very remote areas, is famous for road accidents. In a situation like that the person arriving in a helicopter is often the first responder who can get to a place an ambulance cannot. People in need of lifesaving drugs that have to be administered intravenously or intra-arterially require an advanced paramedic. Has Bristow taken it upon itself to decide it will not pay the cost of advanced paramedics? We really have to get to the bottom of this. I ask the office of the Leader to make contact with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and report back to the House because all of us have an interest in where we are with respect to advanced paramedics and the availability of advanced paramedics for the forthcoming search and rescue contract. I think the first one comes into service around October of this year.

Annie Hoey (Labour)
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Today I will talk about two different strands of the housing crisis. All of us have been out knocking doors over the past while, and after every canvass in Dublin North-West we remarked among ourselves on how many empty houses there were. We do not mean houses that are clearly abandoned with wood across them and so on, or houses with recently sold or for sale signs on them. However, you can tell they are empty. We are stunned by it. It does not matter which part of the constituency it is - up, down, north, south or any of it. In every part of the constituency, we are knocking on doors, then peering in and can see the houses are just empty. I know we talk a lot about the housing crisis, and the need in that regard, but it is important to say that I am not even sure all of these vacant properties are even being captured at the moment. I could not stand up today and not highlight how stunned all of us were at how many of the doors we were knocking on belonged to houses that are outright empty.

That brings me to my second point, which is about a protest held outside Leinster House yesterday specifically about the housing crisis in Gaeltacht areas. It was held by Conradh na Gaeilge and a number of organisations, including Bánú, which is a campaign group. For those who do not know, Bánú means deserted or depopulated. The literal translation is whitened. It is a group founded last year to advocate for increased housing in Gaeltacht areas for Irish language speakers. The housing crisis is obviously felt across the country. There is nowhere to buy and few places to rent, but I suppose that is felt acutely in Gaeltacht areas. The most recent census shows the proportion of Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas has decreased from 69% in 2011 to 66% in 2022. Advocates have said the lack of places to live is one of the main reasons for that. We need to be concerned about this. Our Irish language is something we want to see grow and thrive, and if people cannot live in the Gaeltacht areas where they can speak their Irish language, that will be really problematic. Is í an ghéarchéim thithíochta an rud is mó atá ag brú daoine amach ón Ghaeltacht. Ní féidir le daoine cead pleanála a fháil nó tithe a cheannach le fanacht ina gceantair féin. Is beag áit atá ar fáil ar cíos go fadtéarmach. The housing crisis is the biggest thing pushing people out of the Gaeltacht. People cannot get planning permission to stay in their own areas, they cannot buy houses and there are few places available for long-term rental. The protesters have three areas they want the Government to look at and I bring them up today. The draft Gaeltacht planning guidelines that have been promised by Government since 2021 need to be published immediately. Údarás na Gaeltachta needs to be given clear functions in law with regard to housing. The Planning and Development Bill 2023, which is at the tip of all our tongues, needs to be strengthened as it relates to Gaeltacht areas. I am not sure if we necessarily need to have a debate about Gaeltacht areas specifically, but the Acting Leader might relay that issue of the housing crisis in Gaeltacht areas to the Minister for housing on behalf of this House.

Frances Black (Independent)
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I too welcome the recognition of Palestine this week and I commend the Government, the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach for their work on this. However, I also thank my colleagues in the Opposition for their support of the Civil Engagement Group's arms embargo Bill yesterday. I thank them for listening to the voices of the Palestinians, who are calling out not just for a ceasefire, but an arms embargo to prevent Israel from acquiring the guns and bombs it is using to murder them. I thank them for listening to the hundreds of people who came to protest outside the gates of Leinster House and the thousands of people who sent emails to every Member of this House begging them to support the Bill. We in the Civil Engagement Group cannot accept the status quo whereby thousands of exemptions are granted to aeroplanes from countries which arm Israel, allowing them to transit weapons, munitions and dangerous goods through Ireland. It is very difficult to accept that the Minister will grant a request whenever there is one and will not even order inspections of the aircraft. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, already has all of the powers he needs to make a difference and we in the Civil Engagement Group will continue to persuade him to do so. I stand with the vast majority of Irish people whose solidarity with the people of Palestine is unbreakable and unconditional. I stand with the displaced people facing down death every day in Rafah. I stand with the people enduring violence from illegal settlers in Hebron and Masafer Yatta. I stand with the Palestinians who are living as second-class citizens in Israel under an apartheid regime, and with the Palestinian refugees scattered all over the world who long to return to their homeland, which is their legal and moral right. I am grateful to the many politicians, activists and experts who continue to champion the occupied territories Bill which, in the wake of the Government's belated recognition of Palestinian statehood, is more relevant and necessary than ever.Ireland must comply with international law and cease to trade with illegal settlements. That is absolutely vital. The people of Ireland, who continue to march in their thousands and tens of thousands have my respect and admiration. I hope and wish that their spirit and humanity continues to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. I hope and pray that it is better reflected in the policy of our State.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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As this is the last Order of Business before the local and European elections next week, I am sure the Acting Leader will join with me in wishing the best to all candidates in both the local and European elections. It takes a certain amount of courage, bravery and even foolhardiness to put your name forward. I want to wish every candidate the very best of luck but also to say a particular thanks to those whose names are not on the ballot paper, those who go out and put up the posters, knock on the doors, drive people around and do all the hard work. They are the unsung heroes because sometimes we do not fully appreciate in our democracy how important those foot soldiers are in ensuring that we have the vibrant and rich democracy we have in Ireland. Long may we cherish and protect it. To all of those, may they gain some enjoyment, whether they are successful or not, over the course of the final days of this campaign.

I would also like to welcome back to Leinster House Newstalk's political correspondent Seán Defoe. Many people will know Seán as a very fair and balanced journalist. He spoke with a lot of courage and honesty on Newstalk yesterday about testicular cancer and what he has been going through. I think it sends out a very important message to all of us men to check ourselves out. This is something that can happen to young men like Seán as well. I think it is important that we thank him for being able to speak so honestly about what he has gone through but to also say that he is very welcome back here to Leinster House.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I wish to join with Senator Byrne in wishing all candidates every success. I thank everybody involved and participating in the democratic process. I also wish Seán Defoe a very speedy recovery, and well done to him on his broadcast yesterday. Senator Lombard is next, and I thank him for agreeing to let Senator Currie go before him.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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That is no problem, and I thank the Chair. I want to raise the issue of beaches and where we are with our beach environment at the moment. Cork County Council, from this weekend, will roll out 40 lifeguards over, I think, 12 beaches around County Cork. It is a really important and valuable asset that we are going to have lifeguards out from now until the second week of September. However, I would argue the point quite clearly that we have 1,200 km of coastline in County Cork. We have literally hundreds of beaches. I think there needs to be a more proactive programme put in place to make sure these amenities are more accessible, not alone with lifeguards - which are a really important part of that - but also car parking and particularly toilets, which need to be a part of the roll-out of a strategic policy to make sure that these beaches are more accessible to people. They are a wonderful asset to young and old, and I do not understand why we are not doing more to make sure they are more accessible.

This is particularly the case for the toilets issue. I fundamentally do not understand, in the day we are living in, why we do not have access to toilets for the majority of these beaches. It does not work for families and it does not work for society. We need to look at how we are going to promote our amenities. These amenities are huge and wonderful. I am blessed in where I live, and blessed that I have amenities like beaches that are literally within two or three miles of me, but none of them has the amenities that are required for people. I would argue the point that we need to put in place a strategic plan for lifeguards in particular; for access, which involves car parking; and also for toilets. That needs to be done around Ireland because we need to promote our tourism product, particularly for the locals who want to go to these beaches. This needs to be led by the Department of local government in particular. It is the only Department with the funding power to make sure this happens. It is unbelievable that we have not done it already but now we need to put that strategic plan in place.

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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I join with the Cathaoirleach and Senator Byrne in wishing Seán Defoe a good and happy future life. He has had a difficult time. I heard part of his interview yesterday. We all know Seán very well around here so we certainly wish him well.

I am sure the Acting Leader will join with me in also welcoming the fact that yesterday, we had a Government announcement of €250 million in sports capital funding. While I know clubs will not be made aware of their actual financial allocations for a number of weeks, it is a significant commitment by Government to the sport and community sector all over Ireland. We cannot talk enough about this and how important it is to communities, whether urban or rural. We all look forward to the many clubs, sports clubs and schools who have decided to do new things with sport getting that funding now. As I said, the figures will not become available to the clubs for some time to come.

Finally, and very quickly in the few seconds I have left, I want to mention a report I was reading this morning from the business editor of RTÉ, Will Goodbody, with regard to the amount of fraud and scams last year. Almost €100 million was stolen by fraudsters in this country. That is a big increase of 16% on the previous year, and it continues to be a massive problem. While we can all accept that card payments - from a security perspective and for the safety of people - are good because cash floating around can lead to armed robberies and that type of thing, there is an awful lot of distress that can happen to people as well when money is taken out of their accounts and their direct debits are refused. It brings a lot of stress onto people and it is a growing problem. I know the Government is working on this but maybe, at some stage when the elections are over, the Minister for Justice might come in and we might have a discussion about this matter. It is a growing problem and it is going to get worse unless we bring even more stringent rules into place.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I also wish to join in the comments on the candidates going around knocking on doors. I have been around with a lot of our Fine Gael candidates in Roscommon and Galway, and there is a lot of excitement and enthusiasm going up hills, down dales and down boreens. It is great craic. I thank people who take the time to engage, particularly with new candidates coming to people's doors. I really appreciate that people take the time and listen. So many have been telling me that they will take the leaflets and will read them. However, do not forget to vote - which is the most important thing - on Friday, 7 June, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and of course for our European candidates as well.

I raise the increase in funding that has been announced for the housing adaptation grants. It is great to see an increase across Galway and Roscommon, and up to 11% in Roscommon. It is crucial that this fund is about helping people, particularly older people or anyone with a disability, to live at home and in comfort, which is key to this. The challenge we have in the west is that an awful lot of our housing stock is a lot older. If you look at the report from Western Development Commission, only 5% of housing in the western region reaches a BER rating of B2 or over. That is not good enough. That means that homes and houses in rural areas have more challenges, particularly because the housing stock is a lot older and built decades ago.

This fund is crucial, and it is important to highlight it to people and to encourage them to apply. It is up to €8,000 for adaptations such as the roof repairs or heating and wiring but up to about €30,000 for showers. That is, replacing a wet shower or something like that. There are also mobility aids of up to €6,000 for grab rails, access rails and stair lifts in homes as well. Some of these need OT reports but it is crucial that people see and know that these funds are out there, that they can apply for them, and then combine them with the SEAI. If you are getting the fuel allowance, you can also apply and get the fully-funded energy retrofit. The challenge we have is that of course, this is taking time. People can be waiting up to 12 months, so we need more supports. We need higher funds available, and we need to look at the fact that in regional areas, account must be taken and prioritisation made for people who are over 70. If you are over 70, looking for funding for this and you come from an area of deprivation like in the west, you need additional supports.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I rise, first, to welcome the fact that the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, has announced additional beds for hospitals, and especially the 184 beds that are being announced for the mid-west, specifically UHL, Nenagh Hospital, St. John's Hospital and Ennis Hospital. These beds are certainly most welcome. They could not come at a better time, where Limerick, especially UHL, is in the news every day of the week, realistically, with regard to bed numbers and people waiting on trolleys.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I will cut across the Acting Leader for a second to welcome the students and teachers from St. Cronan’s Senior School in Swords. They are very welcome. Céad míle fáilte. I hope they had a pleasant visit to Leinster House. I thank them for being here. In keeping with the custom and tradition, I bestow on them homework off tomorrow night rather than tonight because they will not get homework at school today I hope.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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Then it will be for the first day back after the mid-term break.

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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Do not forget Monday is a bank holiday.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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The Acting Leader is giving me good advice. I thank her.