Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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The Order of Business is No. 1, statements on food promotion and new markets, to be taken at 2 p.m. and to conclude at 3.30 p.m. if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to opening remarks by the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed ten minutes, all other Senators not to exceed five minutes, time may be shared, and the Minister to be given not less than ten minutes to reply to the debate; No. 2, statements on the Farrelly commission report, to be taken at 3.30 p.m. and to conclude at 5 p.m. if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed ten minutes, all other Senators not to exceed five minutes, time may be shared, and the Minister to be given not less than ten minutes to reply to the debate; and No. 50, motion 1, Private Members' business in the name of Fianna Fáil Senators, motion regarding enterprise matters and business supports for small and medium enterprises, to be taken at 5 p.m. and the time allocated to this debate not to exceed two hours.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before I call the Deputy Leader, I welcome to the Distinguished Visitors Gallery Councillor Terry Coleman, his wife, Martina, and his son, Chris. They are most welcome to Seanad Éireann today. I thank them for being here. I hope they enjoy their day in Leinster House. I thank the councillor for all the work he does in the city of Cork.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, I extend our sympathies to the family of Carmencita Hederman. I remember being fascinated by her as a young child. She was one of the first women in politics that young girls could identify with. She was very much herself. She had a very strong voice and she used it in all of the areas she was concerned and passionate about. I also add my voice of welcome to Councillor Coleman and his family. I hope he has an interesting day here in Leinster House.

I will raise a few issues today. First, I congratulate my near neighbour of Naas on being crowned Ireland's best kept town and its cleanest town by IBAL, both in the same week. It is great to see a Kildare town recognised. I will give a big shout-out to all of the volunteers in Tidy Towns who make sure this happens. While it is great to win an award, volunteers throughout the country do tremendous work for Tidy Towns. They may not get awards or recognition but it is important to say their work is every bit as vital. We need to look at ways to reward this type of volunteerism. After the Covid pandemic, it was difficult to get volunteers. It would be good to have a debate in the House on how to support, reward and attract people to become volunteers at different stages in their lives.

Another issue I want to bring up is that of family resource centres. I am glad that the Minister, Deputy Foley, has said there will be additional family resource centres right across the country. To make the case for my own county of Kildare, we currently have only four such centres. These are in Newbridge, the Curragh, Kildare town and Athy. They all do absolutely tremendous work despite the county's very rapid growth.We have a population of 247,000 and experienced an 11.4% growth rate from 2016 to 2022, which is well above the national average of 8.1%. In contrast, counties with much smaller populations like Wexford, Mayo, Kerry and Donegal have significantly more family resource centres, so there is a clear imbalance here. There is a particular need in north-west Kildare. By that I mean Rathangan to Allenwood, Derrinturn, Carbury and Clogharinka. We have the lowest rate of community childcare in the country. It is only 5%, as opposed to 24% nationally. I want to make a very clear case and would like us to ask the Minister to come to the House to discuss family resource centres, which give an absolutely fantastic service to the people.

Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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I wish to express my concern about the lack of funding for festivals. Like other counties, Donegal has lost some festivals this year that are not going ahead. These include the Donegal food festival, the Sea Sessions festival in Bundoran and the Donegal town festival, to name a few. The Rory Gallagher Festival has been a part of Donegal and Ballyshannon for over two decades. The town was Rory Gallagher's birthplace. Two weeks ago the festival marked the 30th anniversary of his death. It is now existing on a knife-edge due to costs of insurance and everything going sky-high. Fáilte Ireland's research shows the festival is worth €4 million to the local economy and €5 million nationally. I would like the Minister for tourism, arts and culture to address the issue of funding for festivals. All local festivals are struggling. They are playing a vital part in rural communities and funding should be made available so our festivals can be kept going. They are an integral part of every town's yearly cycle. It is when people come home during the year. They plan around it. These festivals need to get the funding so they are secure and people can plan what is happening. We do not want to lose any more in the rural areas.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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I join the expressions of sympathy to the family of the late Carmencita Hederman. Like Senator O'Loughlin I remember her well. She was ubiquitous during the Dublin millennium year of 1988 and was a colourful, articulate presence on the media scene. People noticed her, heard her and talked about her. We recall her distinctive contribution to Irish political life and send our sincere sympathies to her loved ones.

According to the Irish Examiner last month, there are vape shops selling psychoactive substances across the counter. We have been here before with head shops selling unspecified dangerous drugs. It was thanks to the 2010 Act that we managed to get them closed down. I see no reason gardaí have not been directed to close down vape shops selling psychoactive substances. Do we need the reporting of deaths before action is taken? It seems clear from the evidence presented in the Irish Examiner that psychoactive substances are being sold and it seems clear also there are professionals out there who will testify to the effects of such substances, so why no action? I fear I know the answer, namely, the Government is soft on drug sale and usage. The programme for Government talks about a "health-led approach" to drugs, which is often unfortunately a code phrase for decriminalisation or even legalisation. I do not object to health interventions for addicts but we should all be clear that our society, especially vulnerable young people, needs the support and protection of the law. Sometimes I get the impression that we do not care about young people anymore and that we are so sold on some principle of autonomy that we do not want there to be any guardrails in society. I was very disappointed by the Fianna Fáil manifesto, which certainly suggested the party was soft on drug use.

Now that the new drugs committee has begun its meetings, I hope it takes this problem more seriously than the predecessor committee did, though I fear it will not. I reviewed that committee's 59 interim recommendations. It heard from selected professionals, but I say "selected" because I could not see that there were any or many witnesses who were specifically opposed to the decriminalisation intent of the progressives on that committee. Regarding vapes containing psychoactive substances, that committee failed to make any recommendations despite the evidence heard. That is incredible. The interim report rushed out in October before the Dáil was dissolved was full of radical proposals but the committee members could not find it in their hearts to urge the use of the 2010 Act to prevent the selling of psychoactive substances in vape shops.

It should not be too much to ask of a Minister for Health or justice to come in here and tell us what is being done about these dangerous substances that are being sold over the counter across the length and breadth of the country. Professor Bobby Smyth, a consultant in child and adolescent psychiatry and a clinical professor at Trinity College is quoted in the Irish Examiner:

There is no evidence that it is being taken seriously. The only thing that indicates that something is being taken seriously is if they do something about it and a decision appears to have been taken to do nothing.

I hope we will have a Minister in here to tell me it is not true.

Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)
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I would also like to express my sympathies to the family of Carmencita Hederman. I knew Carmencita, though not very well. I knew her daughter Wendy, who was a councillor in Dublin Bay South. The family is dedicated to public service, the environment and protecting communities, so I wanted to add my sympathies.

Annie Callan's son, Oisín, is 13 years of age. Oisín is another example of a neurodivergent child being failed by the State. Oisín is a lovely, gentle child. He is nonverbal but able to work away independently when he has a routine and structure. However, his family are devastated because like so many he cannot get a school place in Dundalk and as a result he will not have the structure he desperately needs. Annie has applied to all the schools in Louth with ASD units and he is on the wait list for all of them in Dundalk. There are only two schools for boys with ASD units. Coláiste Chú Chulainn has a waiting list of 30 and the De La Salle College did not open registration for this year as it has no space because it only has the one class. St. Brigid's Special School refused Oisín saying he did not meet its criteria. Oisín has been in the unit in Kilsaran National School since infant class and what really frustrates families like his is that the Department of education knows these children will be graduating and still cannot ensure they will have school places available to them when they go into secondary school. These children are the most vulnerable in our society and it is an absolute disgrace that the Government is doing nothing for parents and children with disabilities. Oisín and his family are not unique. There are hundreds and thousands of children and parents in the same position. It is important to have the Minister come in and explain when the Government is going to wake up and pay attention to children and make it mandatory that all secondary and primary schools have ASD units, because as much as it might like to avoid or ignore the situation it is not going away. The Government is going to spend hundreds of thousands of euro taxiing children out of their communities to go to schools far away from their homes when they should be going to school with their siblings in their local community. We need to get the Minister in to explain what the plan is and why secondary schools do not all have an ASD class.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Anois, an Seanadóir Rebecca, no Patricia, Stephenson.

Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)
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It is better than Stephanie. I get Stephanie a lot.

The rise in hate speech in recent years both online and offline is very real, measurable and corrosive and causes great harm to those who fall victim to it. In 2022 alone the Garda reported a 29% increase in hate speech and hate-related incidents. Marginalised communities, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities are the communities bearing the brunt of this violence and hate speech. As legislators we have a duty of care to protect them not just in principle but in law. Ireland was given two months to begin implementing the EU hate speech laws or face being taken to the Court of Justice of the EU. The date for that legislation to be passed is 7 July of this year.This is not about criminalising free speech. We all support free speech. Hate speech legislation is about criminalising incitement to hatred and violence. We see threats made online every day to attack legislators like ourselves, gardaí and people involved in solidarity movements. Many attacks specifically target women in the public eye. Threats of sexual and physical violence, including death threats, have been made. Political representatives have seen a notable increase in this behaviour in recent years.

In addition, the United States Secretary of State recently threatened visa restrictions for foreign nationals working in regulators simply for doing their jobs. This amounts to threatening Coimisiún na Meán staff for doing their jobs and responding to EU directives. That type of interference is a threat to the Digital Services Act. We need to be clear that there can be no tolerance of the intimidation of Irish public servants for doing their jobs. We cannot allow multinational platforms or foreign states to dictate what protections we can or cannot give the people of Ireland. It is unacceptable ethically, politically and democratically.

The Social Democrats believe in freedom of expression. We believe it is the cornerstone of our democracy. However, so too is the freedom to live without fear, especially fear stoked by hate and weaponised online. We need to have a debate in this Chamber about ensuring the right of our public servants to do their jobs free of intimidation so they can do their work and respond to what we, as legislators, instruct them to do with our democratic mandate.

Alison Comyn (Fianna Fail)
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Proving that Ireland's smallest county is not only big on footballing talent but also brains and beauty, we are bursting with pride as Louth's very own Caoimhe Kenny has brought home the Miss Ireland crown. A true Louth woman, full of grace, beauty and strength, she has done us all proud and shown the whole country the talent we have in the wee county. She is the daughter of former Ireland soccer manager Stephen Kenny so I dare say she is no slouch on the field herself. Maith thú, Caoimhe. She has made Louth shine.

Staying in Louth, and on a much more serious note, this month marks the third anniversary of the last confirmed sighting of the young Drogheda boy Kyran Durnin, who was only reported missing in August last year and is now, sadly, presumed deceased. The story shocked the nation and there is still no explanation as to how no one noticed the disappearance of a six-year-old boy for two whole years. There is an ongoing Garda investigation, but I appeal to anyone who has information about what happened to Kyran, and I am sure there are people who know, to please contact their local Garda stations. No matter how small or insignificant they might think the information, it could be important to the investigation. Protecting people does nothing for the dignity of this little boy.

There are still serious questions to be answered about who knew what and, given Tusla engaged with the family in the months before he disappeared, I ask the Minister, Deputy Foley, to come to the Chamber to discuss what further information she has received since her most recent statement on the matter last year.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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I rise to discuss a sector that had a turnover in 2022 of €52 million and employs approximately 555 people. It is the craft beer sector in Ireland. We need to have a debate on the laws around licensing. The microbrewery in Ballinlough, west Roscommon, Black Donkey Brewing, recently announced it will cease trading. It has been in existence since 2013. Ms Michaela Dillon and Mr. Richard Siberry came up with the idea. It was the first brewery to brew commercially with native wild yeast. They have cited Ireland's outdated licensing laws as the reason for the closure of the brewery. They also cited a lack of ability to compete and attract other sectors that would be beneficial to the brewery, such as the tourism sector. Tourists could have been brought in to see how the brewery does its process. We need to learn from projects such as The Shed Distillery in Drumshanbo, where we have created a tourist attraction for a section of the country that does not currently have an attraction. People are now travelling to Drumshanbo to visit The Shed and see how the process works. That is sprouting cafés and other industries in the locality, which benefits rural Ireland.

Mr. Siberry explained to me that there is a petrol station beside the brewery. Somebody can go into the petrol station to buy a bottle of wine from Chile or Argentina for €7.99 but cannot go into the brewery right beside it and sample one of the craft beers. We are doing a disservice to rural businesses and the heritage sector. I believe it could increase footfall and benefit a lot of our rural attractions, such as walking trails, farms and so on. I would welcome a debate if the Leader could facilitate it.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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As a member of the industrial and commercial panel, I wish to speak about a total farce and affront to democracy and the business community that took place earlier this week. I am speaking about the national economic dialogue. I do not need to remind anyone that our country is currently trapped in a state of total policy inertia. It is not the inertia of a broken down car stuck on the road but that of a car rolling down a hill with the brakes off and no driver at the wheel. If there is any forum that captures this, it is the NED. The forum, which is purported to be a consultation with the public, has virtually no representation of the private sector. Looking at the 2024 participation list, only nine of the 101 organisations represented the private sector. While the dialogue for 2025 has more private sector representation, the organisations still only represent a fraction of our SMEs. Those present still overwhelmingly represented big businesses and multinationals. The vast majority of SMEs, which constitute 90% of our businesses, employ up to two thirds of our citizens and likely contribute as much as 30% of our tax revenue, are left out in the cold without so much as a say, invite or notification.

Who makes up the lion's share of voices at this forum? It is NGOs, paid for by taxpayer money; university academics, subsidised by taxpayer money; and Government and public sector bodies, paid for - you guessed it - by taxpayer money. We must put a total stop to the Government's practice of having the brass neck to claim it is engaging with the so-called public when in reality, it is consulting the cronies whom it pays and whose advice is always inevitably to do more of the same or worse. It is time for us to smash this policymakers' cartel if Ireland is to progress. I look forward to the Private Members' motion this evening.

Paul Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I refute the remarks of my colleague, Senator Mullen, with regard to Fianna Fáil's attitude towards drugs. Nothing could be further from the truth. I presume he was referring to the part of our manifesto that mentioned decriminalising certain drugs for personal use. That is a health-led response to drug addiction and a far more compassionate way of dealing with a problem than the criminal route for those unfortunate people who find themselves addicted through no fault of their own. I refute the Senator's remarks.

I rise to raise the issue of planning exemptions for slurry storage on farms. In autumn 2024, the Government promised there would be an announcement on planning exemptions in January 2025 for farmers who wish to build additional slurry storage to help to improve water quality. The lack of sufficient storage on many farms is leading to problems in our water quality. Unfortunately, however, the allowance was never made. It is now June. Farmers who wish to build cannot do so. Some of them did not apply for planning permission because they were told there was going to be an exemption. If they had gone the route of applying for planning permission, they would now have received it and would be able to go ahead and build. An opportunity has been lost here. These are the months for building when the ground is dry, etc. I do not know about bringing in the Minister to talk about the issue, but perhaps the Leader would write to him and get an update as to when this announcement, which was promised last autumn, will be made.

Noel O'Donovan (Fine Gael)
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I rise to discuss an issue in the town of Kinsale. The town is widely known locally, nationally and internationally as a major tourism hub and place of immense beauty. It is the gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way. An issue around the development of a commercial mussel farm at the gateway harbour entrance to the town has arisen in Kinsale. I am not a politician of protest and believe that working with others is how to achieve solutions, but this development in Kinsale has brought widespread frustration and anger within the community.It has actually brought unity in opposition to the granting of the aquaculture licence. This is a commercial application. It is not a private, local, indigenous fisherman looking to apply for a licence. It is a commercial venture that is located at the entrance to the harbour. For those who will not be familiar with Kinsale, there are Charles Fort and James Fort, locations of significant and historic importance in the Battle of Kinsale. Up to 60 acres of the sea bed is going to be taken up with this development. It will affect the local community and the business community. Up to 14 businesses use the wharf in Kinsale for commercial purposes. I support the local councillor Marie O'Sullivan, who is fighting to ensure this application, which is at appeal stage, is overturned.

I have serious questions for the Department as to how this licence was granted. It has sat in the Department's files and on desks for a number of years. Over 600 objections were received, yet a licence has been granted. While there will now be an independent process of appeal, last Friday we had a peaceful protest in Kinsale with more than 100 boats on the water and 500 people on the local beach. I want to put on record my objection to this application. This needs to be stopped for Kinsale. There is widespread agreement across politics, the local authority and the community in Kinsale that this has to be stopped. I will put down a Commencement matter for debate on the issue but I also wished to note my objection to it here today.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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I offer my deepest sympathies and condolences to the family of Carmencita Hederman. Carmencita served as a Dublin city councillor for 25 years and she served in the Seanad. I had the pleasure of serving with her daughter Wendy on Dublin City Council. I offer my deepest sympathies to her family and friends at this time.

I have raised Dublin city a number of times in this Chamber. I welcome the announcement from the Taoiseach that he intends to bring a memo to Government next week to establish a Dublin city task force. The urgency and the need for the Dublin city task force cannot be overstated. Again this week, we had another report from Irish Business Against Litter, IBAL, about littering in the inner city. Much to our abhorrence, Dublin's inner city has not only persistently rated as littered but has deteriorated. The littering, the drug dealing, the antisocial behaviour and the dereliction all need to be tackled so that Dublin city will be a safer place for all of us who live and work here and for everyone who visits. Dublin city is full of great people and really strong communities that make it a fabulous place to live in, but it is being failed and the city task force is desperately needed.

I have to absolutely reject the comments from Senator Mullen. I ask the Leader to urge Senator Mullen to retract his statement about Fianna Fáil in trying to politicise the issue of drugs, which is an incredibly serious issue. I am privileged to have been elected vice chair of the new committee on drugs. I served on the previous committee. Adopting a health-led approach is an humanitarian response. Saying that being soft on drugs is somehow trying to stigmatise and polarise that debate is unhelpful, it is ignorant and, more importantly, it is untrue. It absolutely misrepresented-----

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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You will be judged by your actions.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Senator Fitzpatrick, without interruption.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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It absolutely misrepresented the work of the drugs committee, the intention of the drugs committee and, most importantly, the Fianna Fáil Members in this House, in the Lower House and on the committee. I ask that those comments be retracted.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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It is my job to call out bad policy. If I am right or wrong, let me be judged.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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No interruptions, please.

Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I want to discuss the issue of childcare, specifically around the current planning rules that provide for a childcare facility to be made available, most commonly through the planning framework, for every 75 units that are constructed. In Wexford town most specifically, these units are being constructed but there is nobody to come on board, fulfil them and operate a crèche from them. It would be important to have a debate in this House on the model of childcare, whether the current situation of having a childcare facility for every 75 new residential units is the best mechanism for providing places and whether our planning rules are flexible enough to allow those units to actually be utilised for other purposes. We should get to grips with that in this Chamber.

Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)
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Last night, the Dáil debated the Finance (Local Property Tax and Other Provisions) (Amendment) Bill. It was presented as providing for a fair and proportional increase in property tax ahead of the November revaluation. We have to be honest that the tax is fundamentally unjust. It punishes working families, older people and rural homeowners simply for having a roof over their heads. Under this proposal, every home in the country will be paying more. When first introduced during austerity, local property tax was billed as a temporary measure and just another step to stabilise the economy. Like so many temporary taxes in Ireland's history, however, it is now a permanent feature of our system. Instead of questioning its legitimacy, this Bill seeks to entrench it further. To quote the former Taoiseach Enda Kenny, this is a "vampire tax in that it drives a stake through the heart of home ownership ... and sucks the life blood of people who want to own their own home". Families already pay income tax, USC, VAT, motor tax, tolls, fuel tax and carbon tax - the list goes on. Families are being squeezed from every direction and yet the State still has the gall to send a bill to the doorstep of the family home. Government TDs might dismiss this as a few euro a week, but the cost of living is out of control. In 2022, 1 kg of chicken breasts cost €4.99. Today, that same 1 kg of chicken breasts costs €11. This is a 120% increase. The market value of someone's home does not reflect their ability to pay a tax. It is crazy. Aontú believes in strong local government funded through central government, not through a regressive tax on homes. The property tax needs to be scrapped. It is time to stop using families as a cash cow.

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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Last week, we learned that the British Government had made a commitment of £50 million towards the redevelopment of Casement Park in Belfast. This follows on from a similar commitment given by the Irish Government back in 2024 to a similar figure through the shared island fund. When we combine the contributions from both Governments, plus the GAA's contribution, I think the figure is about £120 million. The estimated cost for the redevelopment of Casement Park is £260 million. That leaves a shortfall of approximately between £90 million and £100 million as things stand. According to an uachtaráin of the GAA, Jarlath Burns, for every month the project does not proceed, the price increases by £140,000 per month. Clearly, there is a solution in mind, and we all want to see Casement Park redeveloped. I firmly believe the solution lies in St. Tiernach's Park in Clones. Currently, it has a capacity of almost 30,000 and is in much need of increased funding. The current capacity estimated for the redevelopment of Casement Park is around 32,500 so the difference is not great, but there is a shortfall of £100 million. To put it mildly, the financial climate for all governments is uncertain at the moment.

I respectfully request that the Leader write to the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and to the Minister for sport to ask them to consider rescaling Casement Park downwards to a capacity of 15,000 or 20,000, which would be adequate to host any matches that would take place with regard to Antrim GAA. It would be adequate to cater for all their needs. Instead, much-needed investment could be put into St. Tiernach's Park in Clones. That is the true home of Ulster finals and it is where the Ulster finals should stay. I would say the majority of GAA people around the country would agree with me on that.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before I call the Leader to respond on the Order of Business, I welcome the group from St. Kenny National School from Ballinea in Mullingar. You are most welcome here to Seanad Éireann today. They are guests of the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke.I hope they enjoy the Order of Business. The school holidays are coming up but if they get any more homework between now in the school holidays, there is no more homework by order of the unanimous agreement of Seanad Éireann for the pupils of St. Kenny National School.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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I thank all Senators for the contributions here this morning starting with Senator O'Loughlin who congratulated Naas on being deemed the best-kept and cleanest town according to the IBAL survey. She rightly commended volunteers for their work across many communities over many years. She is right, of course, that it can take a long time for certain villages and towns to get to the stage where they win awards but that journey has to be, and is, recognised in these awards. She also spoke about the importance of family resource centres and also the lack of them in her own county of Kildare. She has called for a debate with the Minister, Deputy Foley, and I will certainly raise that with the Minster.

Senator Boyle spoke about festivals and the importance of festivals such as the Rory Gallagher Festival and its value to the local economy, which I absolutely agree with. Regarding the sources of funding, he is right. I know there are small-scale festival funding applications and local authorities provide funding to certain festivals as well. With rising costs, particularly of insurance and the like, some festivals are under pressure. Again, it is volunteers who are organising and running these. If the Senator put down a Commencement debate there might be a more detailed response forthcoming. It requires engagement across a number of Departments, including the Department of tourism, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht. That might be a way to go about that.

Senator Mullen raised vape shops and concerns regarding the sale of psychoactive substances. I am not sure of the latest on that. We have passed an amount of legislation relating to vaping. More legislation has been planned. If there is a criminal matter in this regard, I will certainly raise it with the Minister for justice. Senator Mullen also raised issues pertaining to my colleagues in government and Senators Fitzpatrick and Daly have dealt with that so I will have to leave that between them.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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Their viewpoint was well represented.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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I know there are strong commitments in the programme for Government regarding health-led approaches to drugs and obviously the drugs committee will be debating those matters.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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On a point of order, it is really important that in this House, when we discuss issues, we do so in an accurate and objective way. It is misrepresenting the situation to suggest that taking a health-led approach is soft on drugs, and that is exactly what the Senator said.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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What else is it?

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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It is not a soft-----

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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That is a matter of opinion.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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It is not. It is objectively not.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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You are not allowed have certain opinions these days. This is woke culture in action now-----

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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Senator-----

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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-----closing down the opposing point of view.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Senators-----

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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It is not. It is inviting the Senator to engage in informed debate-----

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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I will come before the committee if you invite me.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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-----to actually progress the debate and to progress the issue.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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The Leader is responding on the Order of Business and I am sure will facilitate-----

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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It is a really serious issue-----

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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Too right it is.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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-----that merits-----

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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I did not raise this for the good of my health. I raised it for the good of other people's health.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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I am confident the Senator has the capacity to engage in this debate in an informed way.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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Thank you.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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The Leader, I am sure, will facilitate a debate.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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I invite him to do that-----

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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Bring me before the committee.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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-----and to retract his comments which are so ill-informed and ignorant.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Please, Senators. Can we allow the Leader to respond on the Order of Business?

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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Apologies. I look forward to that invitation.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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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.