Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome my new neighbour, Senator Máiría Cahill, to the seat vacated by my dear friend, the former Senator Jimmy Harte. I wish Jimmy well and I wish Senator Cahill well in her future in this Chamber.

I send my sympathies to all the families of those who were killed in the massacre in France. I would also like to sympathise with the family of a young cyclist who was killed on the roads in County Kerry on Saturday morning. I know that people in Killarney Cycling Club and throughout the local area were shocked by his untimely death in such tragic circumstances.

I welcome the decrease in the number of people on the live register that was announced today. It is very welcome that the figure in question has dropped below 9% for the first time since 2008. It is a sign that we are getting people back to work in this country, thankfully. I wish that some of the jobs would come to our neck of the woods. Obviously, most of them are based in large urban areas, particularly Dublin, and that is driving up the demand for rented properties and causing rents to increase in such areas. I know the Taoiseach plans to bring jobs to the west of Ireland and I hope he will think about the south west as well. I look forward to that in due course.