Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are two issues I wish to raise, the first of which has already been mentioned by Senator Gallagher, that being to wish Peter O'Mahony of the Munster rugby team the best of luck. He has been instrumental in his play for Munster and Ireland. It is great to see a man from Munster captaining the Lions in the first test match.

An issue which has been raised many times in the House is the shortage of chefs. The Restaurants Association of Ireland recently issued a plea for funding to be put in place for the training and recruitment of chefs. In the area of Limerick in which I live, there are over 50 vacancies for chefs in restaurants. Restaurateurs have recently told me that they will not be able to open on certain nights as they cannot currently recruit chefs fast enough. It is an issue in regard to which there is widespread fear and the Restaurants Association of Ireland has today said that it wishes for the issue to be dealt with.