Is tús Sheachtain na Gaeilge é agus má tá aon deis ag Seanadóirí ar chor ar bith, ba chóir dóibh an Ghaeilge a úsáid. Is teanga iontach í. Tá sí i bhfad níos deise ná aon teanga a d'fhoghlaim mise riamh agus tá go leor teangacha agam. Ba chóir dóibh a ndícheall a dhéanamh agus dul ar shuíomh idirlín Sheachtain na Gaeilge, nó ar Duolingo muna bhfuil sé acu, agus a bheith ag foghlaim an Ghaeilge álainn. It is the first day of Seachtain na Gaeilge. We actually have two weeks of it - coicís. I would encourage all Senators to use their cúpla focal. If a Senator does not have a cúpla focal, he or she should go onto Seachtain na Gaeilge - the website - and learn a few phrases, or perhaps go onto Duolingo. I have several friends who, even though they learned Irish in school, forgot it all but they have gone onto Duolingo and have turned themselves into Irish speakers again. Let us embrace our beautiful language. It is stunning. There are so many things we can say in Irish that I cannot even tell you how to say in English they are so amazing. We have 50 ways to say, "love". We have 32 ways to say, "field". Let us fall back in love with our Irish language this week.

It is local enterprise week. The local enterprise offices, LEOs, have been working ridiculously hard since the beginning of Covid and they have given such great funding. I am a big advocate of small businesses. What I have seen is that the local enterprise offices have really helped small businesses get online. I often see that small businesses have great ideas but their public relations, PR, might not be the best. They might have a great product or a great idea, but their PR is lacking. I would encourage such businesses to go to the LEOs and get help with that because currently business is happening online more than anywhere else. The LEOs gave considerable grants and nearly everybody I know with a small business got online. To that end, I would remind people it is local enterprise week. If one is to support enterprises, go online and support one's local enterprises this week. I commend the LEOs for all the work they have been doing.

I want to acknowledge that it is the anniversary of the recognition of Traveller ethnicity. It was today two years ago that we recognised Travellers as an ethnic minority. That is really important. I worked in a Traveller training centre 21 years ago and I was constantly in rooms full of white settled people discussing how we were going to solve all the Traveller problems. I was at a meeting two weeks ago with several white settled people in a room discussing how we were going to sort out the Traveller accommodation problem.

Perhaps it is time that we stop talking about these groups and instead ensure when we are trying to solve problems that we have representatives of them in the rooms for such talks. It is high time for us to move past thinking that we can solve problems for other groups and people without actually listening to them and hearing what they have to say. We have not progressed in any way in the last 20 years in how we deal with Travellers and their demands and needs, except that we are probably recognising their culture somewhat more. I see some movement now in recognising amazing craftwork, coppersmithing and things like that. We need to recognise them and progress beyond talking about them.

We are fortunate to have a representative of that community in this House. On Senator Garvey’s comments on the Irish language, I will be circulating ten phrases that could be used in the Chamber during Seachtain na Gaeilge. They will not be too taxing or very technical. As this is Seachtain na Gaeilge and we are approaching St. Patrick’s Day, it would be appropriate if they could be used. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Garvey agus glaoim ar an Seanadóir Ó Donnghaile.

We will not be too taxing on the Cathaoirleach this year but, if God spares us, next year we will be putting him to the test.

Mar atá ráite ag an Seanadóir Garvey cheana féin, is cúis cheiliúrtha go bhfuil tús curtha cheana féin le Seachtain na Gaeilge. Mar atá an cás le roinnt imeachtaí eile, is mór an trua go bhfuil na srianta i bhfeidhm agus nach féidir linn í a cheiliúradh ar an dóigh thraidisiúnta agus a dhéanaimid é den chuid is mó den am. Mar atá ráite ag comhghleacaithe cheana féin, má tá Gaeilge nó má ta píosa beag Gaeilge ag duine, ba cheart dó nó di úsáid a bhaint aisti. Má tá duine ag iarraidh an Ghaeilge a fhoghlaim, níl le déanamh ach ceist a chur ar na Seanadóirí Garvey nó Clifford Lee, nó orm féin, agus déanfaimid ár ndícheall cuidiú leis an duine sin.

Like Senator Hoey, I extend my solidarity to the members of An Garda who were injured on the streets of Dublin at the weekend and indeed to all front-line workers who face intimidation and bullying tactics by those who have appeared on the streets under the guise of being anti-science, anti-vaccination and anti-mask. Given the limited time afforded to me this morning, I do not want to get into all of the detail of the weekend and indeed into some of the worrying and troubling public remarks that were made about the events on Saturday and who was responsible and behind them. I agree with Senator Hoey that this is a reminder that we all have a responsibility and a role, not least as political leaders. No matter where we are or where we reside in society, we must face down the hard right when it presents itself on the streets, in the European Parliament or elsewhere. This is an important point to remember. I hope it is one that we can collectively agree to return to and, more importantly, to address going forward.

I also want to touch on the poll and the research released by votingrights.ie, indicating that 56% of respondents are in favour of extending voting rights in presidential elections to citizens in the North. There is also a majority in favour of extending such rights to our diaspora. It would be timely, as we approach St. Patrick’s Day when we traditionally engage with our global diaspora, that we would have an opportunity to hear from our diaspora about the Government's plans as we come out of this pandemic and about how we should engage with the diaspora in the changed reality that we face as a result of the pandemic.

To conclude, I am disappointed with the time allocated to the Health (Amendment) Bill 2021 in today’s Order of Business. I have raised these concerns before and I appreciate that the Leader has done her best in trying to allocate and set aside appropriate time. Given the circumstances and nature of this Bill, just two hours and 15 minutes for all Stages does a disservice to this House and to our work as legislators and parliamentarians. Legislation of such importance should not be rushed through in such a tight window.