Martin Kenny

I thank the Minister. I understand that and appreciate there is work being done by an awful lot of people across the European Union from the Government here and other governments in Europe, as well as farm and consumer organisations, to look at all of this and to recognise that the product that has been coming in from Brazil is way below standard. The big problem with it all is traceability. There…

The fertiliser issue is having a huge impact globally. Even the WHO has said that it is going to have an impact on food production and could lead to global food shortages. This is a real issue that we need to deal with here in Ireland with regard to resilience and to finding alternatives. The Minister mentioned that work has been done on this aspect and I welcome that. One of the alternatives I w…

Will the Deputy give me his herd number?

I am very glad to be here today to speak on behalf of everybody in Ireland and thank the nurses for the work that they do, particularly on International Nurses Day. It strikes me, on this International Nurses Day, that so many of our nurses are international when you walk around the hospitals. I think between one in five and one in six are from overseas. Many of them come here because they have th…

I commend colleagues on bringing this forward. The reality is that the vast majority of people around the country are finding it very difficult to meet their energy costs. We all know that. We can see it in the arrears. We can see it in the difficulty people are having when it comes to the cost of living across the board. All of this basically stems from energy. That is one of the big issues we ha…

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this Private Member's motion. The vast majority of people recognise that we need the Government to take action to deal with the ever-growing cost-of-living crisis. The previous budget, which was introduced here last October, did absolutely nothing for ordinary people and workers. It was an example of Government spending great deals of money to deliver …

Through a new Government-----

-----that the Deputy did not prop up.

Little was done until then.

First, we all recognise the integral part the haulage industry plays everywhere across the country. In every community around the country there are so many small haulage companies that are usually working on contracts that are very tight and for which there is tight competition. Many people in this House would understand that. When the companies get that contract they have to fulfil it. Very often…

-----here today, we have not seen it on paper. It would be very useful to get that. Anything that happens that benefits people is welcome, but the problem is that it has been like pulling teeth to get even this far and we have an awful long journey to go to ensure ordinary people can get any sense they are being looked after in all of this. The one thing I found when talking to people out on the p…

Everybody in this place knows what a district electoral division, DED, is. A district electoral division is usually half a parish. Everybody in politics knows about them and how they work. When the Central Statistics Office does an analysis it does an analysis of how many people there are per square km. It looks at them in DEDs. In many of the parishes around me, there are approximately 20 people …

I commend everyone who has brought forward this motion and all the speakers so far. We have an issue in this country with workers' rights. While I understand the Government may be in denial of that, the fact of the matter is we do not have collective bargaining as a right and that is something which needs to be established as a right. Of course, we enjoy pretty good employment. A lot of employers…

I wish to raise the issue of the HSE discharging people from hospitals without the consent or co-operation of the families and in breach of the HSE's own protocols. I have an example of a man in south Leitrim who had a stroke and was in the care of the HSE. His sister in Dublin got a phone call saying, "He is going home today". She said there was nobody at home and that the house was under reconst…

As the Minister of State knows, we are living in very uncertain and volatile times across the world, in particular with conflicts in so many places around the globe. We are all very aware of the impact this is having, in particular on fuel prices and other commodities in Ireland. It is all having a knock-on effect on food prices and the food chains in the European Union. I am sure these are issues…

I understand that, but that is the view people have developed from all of the talk about more and more militarisation. The cut in the CAP budget needs to be reversed. People need to be reminded that CAP payments or subsidies, as Leo Varadkar would now call them, are not free money for farmers. CAP was established to ensure food security, increase productivity and guarantee fair living standards f…

This Bill is very welcome. It is very clear. The intention of it is something that I fully and totally support. It is very clear from a public policy perspective that we must do everything we can to protect children from nicotine addiction. That is what is intended here. It is set out very clearly. Last year, girls going to the debs were trying to get vapes to match the colour of their dresses. T…

I want to raise today the issue of St. Cecilia's School, Sligo. It is a special school that takes children with special educational needs up to the age of 18, and it is a lifeline for many children. However, we have been contacted by parents, many of them very frantic and frustrated because they are unable to get a place in the school. This is because the necessary funding cannot be sanctioned. I …

You did nothing for decades.

Following a week of protest.

The depth of disappointment was evident in people across the length and breadth of the country over the past week, and that developed into anger as time went on. People say the Government is out of touch, but for some reason, it seems to be choosing to be out of touch and to walk away and not listen to ordinary, decent people. People can throw up all sorts of stories that some of the protesters we…

The situation with regard to infrastructure around the country is poor, to say the least. In rural areas and the north west it is extremely poor. I will mention a few of the issues. The south Leitrim water scheme, which provides water for more than two thirds of the population of County Leitrim, is currently operating at more than 100% capacity. It is meant to operate at 80% capacity so there is l…

She is not telling us.

As the Minister is aware, we fully support what the legislation we are discussing here today is trying to achieve, which is to form a situation where the State can co-operate fully with the Omagh inquiry to ensure there is a complete transparency around what happened in Omagh. I remember that incident very well. In my home area of Cloone, County Leitrim, we were commemorating 200 years since the F…

I thank Deputy Cullinane for bringing forward this motion this evening. The national cancer strategy is due to be reviewed. As has been evidenced by the Deputies who have spoken before me, while the targets that are set are very logical and would ensure that people get the treatment they need within an appropriate timeframe, in many cases, they are clearly not being met. That is not the case just …