Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join colleagues in wishing the former Senator, Jimmy Harte, well with is recovery. I also wish the former Senator's family well. Jimmy Harte is a gentleman and a nice colleague. We will miss him. I trust his family will pass on our regards.

I welcome Senator Cahill and wish her well. I think she will be a positive voice in the Seanad. She certainly has something new - arising out of difficult circumstances - to bring to this House. As Senator Conway said, she has been very vocal for the past year or more. I look forward to hearing from her regularly in the House.

I, too, join others in extending sympathy to the families of those killed in horrific circumstances in Paris. This tragedy feels close to home. It has hit all Europeans hard and has affected us deeply. What happened was horrific. It is hard to know what the world is coming to.

On a more positive note, I wish to raise a matter on which Senator Landy has already touched. I am being somewhat parochial, perhaps, but I welcome the provision of new schools in the Dublin West area, in particular, two brand-new schools, one primary and one secondary, as well as three extensive rebuilds. I echo what has been said before. This is the first capital programme in respect of which we have made a conscious decision that there will be no more prefabs in schools in Ireland. The latter are no longer acceptable. Much of the school accommodation that is being replaced was hardly fit for purpose. It is very good to hear that, finally, we have money to invest in education and in our children.