Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)

Senator Andrews raised the issue of Oisín, a neurodivergent child and he also raised the issue of school places in Dundalk. I will request a debate with the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, on school places. The challenges faced by children with special needs in getting school places are very important. I understand there will be announcements again regarding additional places, as there have been over the last number of months.

Senator Stephenson raised issues regarding hate speech and the contact made from the European Commission on Ireland's hate speech laws. I know we have the Prohibition of Incitement To Hatred Act 1989. There were attempts to reform that which were not proceeded with but obviously the Minister is analysing the communication from the European Commission on that matter.

Senator Comyn raised the case of Kyran Durnin, who was missing for two years during which his absence was not noticed, which is hard to fathom and credit. An Garda Síochána has stated he is presumed deceased. We certainly hope the Garda can, if that is the case, recover his remains and that it will be some comfort to all who knew and loved him.

Senator Scahill raised the issue of the craft beer sector and called for a debate on this matter. Responsibility for tourism now lies with the Department of enterprise so I will request that the Minister, Deputy Burke, come in to debate this matter.

Senator Keoghan raised the issue of the national economic dialogue, which is led and chaired by the Minister, Deputy Chambers. I understand it consists of community, voluntary and environmental groups, businesses, unions, research institutes, academic committees and members of the Cabinet and the Committee on Budgetary Oversight. There is a large cohort of individuals there but if Senators have any suggestions for any changes to that, I am sure the Minister will hear those out.

Senator Daly raised the issue of planning exemptions for slurry storage. I will seek an update from the Minister, Deputy Browne, on that matter. I am not sure whether all the exemptions that are being discussed will be lumped together towards the end of the year. I know changes will be made to some of the exemptions on housing and a number of other exemptions have been included with that but I will ascertain this from the Minister.

Senator O'Donovan raised the issue of the mussel farm off Kinsale and put on record his opposition and that of Councillor Marie O'Sullivan to that venture. As was rightly said, it is at the appeals stage with the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board, which is an independent body to determine appeals against decisions of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine on aquaculture licenses. I have seen some of the footage on social media and I know there is widespread opposition. The ALAB will be doing its job in assessing that.

Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about the memo that is going to Cabinet soon regarding the Dublin city task force, which I certainly welcome. I am not sure which Minister will be overseeing that. I am told it is the Department of the Taoiseach and at the highest level. That is welcome. It is a good initiative. I look forward to a debate. The Deputy Leader and I have invited the Taoiseach to come in, which will likely be in September, but I am sure he will engage on that matter as well.

Senator Byrne raised the matter of childcare places and I will certainly request a debate with the Minister. There was a scheme recently which gave grants to certain businesses for additional places. I have been contacted by some groups that were engaging with leases of property rather than having ownership and that was deemed not to be suitable. That was the advice given to the Minister in terms of a lien on the property or whatever. There may be a need for some fine-tuning on that to allow for properties to be built on leased land but I will certainly request a debate on that.

Senator O'Reilly raised the Finance (Local Property Tax and Other Provisions) (Amendment) Bill that is being debated in the Dáil at the moment. We will have an opportunity before the recess to debate this matter and I am sure the Senator will air her views and have the ability to vote on that. The LPT is regarded as a valuable source of revenue and having a range of sources of revenue for the State is important. Certainly, the changes that are being made will be debated.

Finally, Senator Gallagher spoke of Casement Park and St. Tiernach's Park in Clones. I know that is regarded as the home of the Ulster final and I wish the Ulster Council well in securing funding for that. Obviously, the shared island initiative has referred to funding for Casement Park. I am not sure if it is the local GAA organisation in Antrim or the Ulster Council that will decide those things.I can contact the Taoiseach to share the Senator's concerns in regard to the allocations. Certainly, St. Tiernach's Park would be a worthy applicant for a large-scale sport infrastructure fund grant or something like that. It is important that it be kept as the home of the Ulster Final.