Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his remarks about Niamh Bhreathnach at the outset of today's session. I was a ward colleague of Niamh in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council when I first ran for the council in 2009. She was one of the people with whom I was elected at that time. She was incredibly unpretentious and a wonderful doer. She got things done in a way that I suppose having experience at Cabinet allowed one to do. I certainly remember a local issue where I asked for something to be done and the answer was "No", but when Niamh asked for it to be done, it got done. We miss her and the people in Blackrock for whom she worked hard will miss her as well. I extend my sympathies to Tom Ferris and their children.

I raise the issue of drones. I know it has been spoken about already but it seems this is an issue that does require regulation. There is already a law in place for the regulation of drones and the operators of drones are restricted in where and when they can operate them and at what heights, but they are also required to register them. For the most part, they do not bother doing that. It seems that in the way we regulate other products at the point of sale, it would make sense to require the registration of a drone at the point of sale. Of course, it is possible to buy them online and abroad, etc., but for Irish retail outlets selling drones of whatever capacity, there should be a law requiring the drone to be registered to the person who buys it at the point of sale. That way we will give another tool to the authorities to catch the people who are using them irresponsibly and causing the massive damage, disruption and cost associated with the incidents at Dublin Airport this week.