I also welcome Ambassador Nader on his return visit to Ireland. My son did an Erasmus programme in Austria a number of years ago and was made very welcome. I hope the ambassador is also receiving a warm welcome here. I also draw my colleagues' attention to the presence of Mr. Conor Dolphin in the Visitors Gallery. He is from Galway to do intern work with us and is very welcome.

The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the sitting and business of the Seanad on Thursday, 27 October 2022, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business, without debate; No. 2, Consumer Rights Bill 2022 – Report and Final Stages, to be taken at 1.15 p.m. and to adjourn at 2.15 p.m., if not previously concluded; No. 3, the Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) Bill 2022 - Report and Final Stages, to be taken at 2.30 p.m. and to adjourn at 3.30 p.m., if not previously concluded; No. 4, the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022 - Committee Stage (resumed), to be taken at 4 p.m. and to adjourn at 6 p.m., if not previously concluded; No. 5, statements on school transport to be taken at 6 p.m. and to conclude after 60 minutes, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed six minutes, those of all Senators not to exceed seven minutes, and their time can be shared, with the Minister not to be given less than five minutes to reply to the debate; and No. 6, Private Members' business, Social Welfare (Surviving Cohabitants Pension) Bill 2021 - Second Stage, to be taken at 7 p.m. or on the conclusion of No. 5, whichever is the later, with the time allocated to this debate not to exceed two hours.

I agree with the Order of Business as just outlined. I will start off with a very positive story. A young woman from Westport, Shannon Sweeney, won a bronze medal at the European Elite Boxing Championships last week. A homecoming event was held in Mayo on Sunday. I congratulate her and her very proud coach, Mr. Martin Brennan. I know that a lot of work over many years, not just by Shannon but by the team around her and the boxing club in Westport, went into getting her into a position where she had an opportunity to win a medal. Her fantastic performance in the event meant that she won the bronze medal. We have had some fantastic successes in female boxing in recent weeks and it is great to see the sport doing so well. Katie Taylor paved the way but so many young women are now following in her footsteps. It is great to see. I wish Shannon Sweeney and her family well.

The recent announcement by the Minister for Justice of proposals to change the licensing laws is broadly welcome, although a significant amount of concern is being expressed across the board, including by An Garda Síochána. The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, AGSI, has acknowledged that reform is needed but it is concerned about how it will be managed in the context of resources and Garda numbers, given the potential for an increase in antisocial behaviour. I understand the Minister and the Government will be providing additional supports for communities to help them to adjust to the new licensing laws. Our licensing laws were out of date and did need updating.

In tandem with that, we have a significant issue with antisocial behaviour across the country. It is not just a Dublin issue. It happens everywhere. One can look at other cities in the world. I was recently in Kraków in Poland and in other European cities during the summer. There is a visible police presence on the streets that we just do not see here. I am not sure what the difference is. I was in Spain with my family during the summer and I do not think ten minutes passed without us seeing a member of the police force making people feel safe, because there were many tourists coming in who did not know the area. For some reason, our capital city seems to be different. It is the same for Galway, Limerick, Cork and even smaller towns, like my own town, Castlebar. One just does not see as much of a Garda presence as people would like to see. There is a consistent call from the public to have more gardaí doing community policing, being on the beat and knowing their area. A debate is needed on that. I know other colleagues requested that yesterday. I understand that the Leader's office has requested that from the Minister.

I welcome the change to licensing laws. It is good for business and it is good to have flexibility, because it does not help to have everybody come out onto the streets at the same time. Equally, we need to reassure the public that resources are there to protect people and that antisocial behaviour will be dealt with appropriately.

I know I am almost out of time. Wind Energy Ireland made a presentation in the audiovisual room this morning. There seem to be fantastic opportunities for renewable energy off the coast, particularly the west coast, where it is the windiest, but we seem to be moving at a snail's pace. We were world leaders in renewables and wind energy ten years ago but now we are at the back of the class. It would be great to have a debate in the House at the earliest opportunity about renewables, with a focus on wind energy and offshore wind energy potential. My understanding from the Department's reply is that the technology is not available to install wind energy north of Mayo. Experts who I have spoken to tell me that the technology is available and is currently floating off the coast of Aberdeen in Scotland. It has it but, for some reason, we do not.

It is hard to stop Senator Chambers in full flow.

I congratulate the Cathaoirleach who has been awarded the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. I am not sure if it means that he is wise. The award was made by the Ukrainian President and is quite prestigious. I congratulate the Cathaoirleach.

We read in The Journal today that the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Defence are at loggerheads over the continued service of a number of sergeants who joined the Defence Forces in 1994. These valuable, highly skilled, highly trained people will be lost at the end of this year if the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform does not stop its messing. It is unbelievable that that Department has such reach into every single Department. Why do we have Ministers at all? Let us get rid of them all and let the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform run the entire country. I have spoken about the power of the Civil Service. It is becoming annoying. Someone who wants to hire a secretary now has to ask the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and wait for its blessing. This needs to stop.

I opened the Irish Examiner today and saw an article about my favourite organisation in Ireland, the Irish Coast Guard, once again. It is about to spend €400,000 plus VAT on pens, pencils, bags, hats, t-shirts and so on related to branding. Will somebody please tell me what cost-benefit analysis went into this madness? We are talking about water safety. A sum of €400,000 would cover a significant education programme for all water users, not just those lucky enough to turn up and get a free hat. Will the free hat do much to save lives? I do not believe it will. This organisation is totally out of control. I already mentioned that we are going to pay over €1 billion for our search and rescue helicopters. While the UK gets 12 bases with 18 helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and drones for £1.6 billion sterling, we get five helicopters and top cover for over €1 billion. I believe the cost will be between €1.3 billion and €1.5 billion by the time this is signed off.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is stopping a few sergeants who are valuable to the Defence Forces from being retained. What is the Department doing about the money being spent by the Department of Transport and the Irish Coast Guard? The Irish Coast Guard did away with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, RNLI, life jackets and brought in its own, which were found to be dangerous in 2015 and taken out of service in 2018. Something is wrong with the governance of that organisation. I have spoken on it until I have been blue in the face and I am getting tired of there being no corporate oversight. I mentioned this yesterday. Daniel O'Connell's article at the weekend referred to the lack of oversight and control that politics has over the Civil Service. It is out of control. Each of us has a duty to bring this country back to being one that is governed, not one run by faceless, unelected people.

I thank Senator Craughwell. I will interject briefly before I call Senator Maria Byrne to speak on behalf of the Fine Gael group. I welcome pupils from the Harold School in Glasthule. It is lovely to have them here. It is good that they want to visit the Houses of Parliament. I also welcome their teachers. Without the initiative of their teachers, they would not be here. This type of visit is central to good civic education and developing citizenship. They are very welcome. I am a former teacher so I appreciate what is involved. It is lovely to have them all here.

Hear, hear.