Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Initially, I want to mention Private Seán Rooney, who lost his life so tragically in Lebanon in December while serving our country overseas. I understand that the United Nations is to award Private Rooney a medal to honour his memory and his sacrifice. This will be a very bittersweet but proud moment for his mum Natasha and his fiancée Holly. I just wanted to say this today and that we here in the Seanad have absolutely not forgotten the sacrifice of Private Rooney. We know the lengths to which our Defence Forces personnel go in order to serve the State. I salute him and them.

The long-awaited census results have finally been released. It is always interesting to be able to trawl through and spot quirky bits of information and data such as the fact we have 10,000 new Irish speakers in Kildare, which is really good. The census is a real treasure trove for data lovers. As expected, Kildare's growth has outpaced the national average. Growth there increased by 11%, which is significant. Of course, population growth and population density are of particular interest to Members in both Houses, especially as we await the report of the Electoral Commission. The fact that Kildare's population has gone up by 11% really leads to the call for extra investment and extra resources. When we see that Kildare County Council serves two Dáil constituencies, it is obvious that we need more resources for our county officials. We also need to have investment in leisure and amenities, which is very important.

The number of people aged 65 and over continues to grow in Kildare, and has increased by 35%. Again, this is significant in the context of putting in place measures for people as they age and grow older. This is why I am particularly happy to be able to help deliver Alzheimer Society of Ireland day care centre in Kildangan, which will open in the coming weeks.

In Kildare, 35% of people work from home at least one day a week. This leads to an increase in business in our local shops. That is welcome, and I have certainly noticed it when I am out canvassing. It is also important to consider this in the context of a flexibility of service when it comes to commuter travel. It also shows that we need to have not just weekly, monthly and annual tickets, we need also to have blocks of tickets.

Thanks to Sinéad Lucey Brennan, I see that 14% of people in Ireland are neurodivergent and 8% have long-term disabilities. We can see too that 53% of our carers are unpaid. That is significant. We obviously need to have the increase in support to them.

The water quality debacle continues in south Kildare, with musty and mossy-smelling water. I have requested a meeting with the Uisce Éireann, because the very least we can expect is that water should be odourless and transparent, with no taste.