Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As a real advocate for the Mayo Roscommon hospice, I too send congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden. When he visits the Seanad and the Dáil, he will be representing the west of Ireland. Another person to fight for that region is sadly lacking. It is to be hoped that we will have another representative for the region in the Government and Oireachtas. Who knows, we might even ask President-elect Biden to be an honorary Senator. It is wonderful. It lifted my heart when I heard it. He is an immigrant to the United States, with his family coming from Mayo and Louth.The poem on the Statue of Liberty reads:

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

It speaks about the importance of diversity in the US but also in Ireland. We can even see the value and importance of diversity in Germany with the new vaccine brought forward by Pfizer and BioNTech. The two German scientists are children of Turkish migrants so it shows the value of migrants and immigrants coming to our country and the importance of diversity.

Last week, I spoke about the challenges we had in Ballinasloe. I am delighted to see that Galway County Council has returned the application for the permit to operate the waste transfer station. This is an absolute win for Ballinasloe and for the Ballinasloe says No group. I thank everyone who supported the Ballinasloe says No campaign. The council's decision means the application did not meet the validation criteria set out in the waste facility permit regulations and allows the community in Ballinasloe more time to prepare a campaign, as needed, in the months ahead.