I welcome my neighbours to the Gallery from the Ballyheane and Ballintubber area, including Fianna Fáil members and my dad Michael. It is great to have them all here. I thank them for coming up.

The Order of Business is No. 2, motion regarding Planning and Development (Section 181) Regulations 2023, referral to committee, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business without debate; No. 3, statements on Ireland's application for membership of CERN, to be taken at 4.45 p.m. and to conclude at 5.45 p.m. if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed six minutes, all Senators not to exceed six minutes, and the Minister to be given no less than six minutes to reply to the debate; and No. 4, Finance Bill 2023 - Report and Final Stages, to be taken at 5.45 p.m.

I join the Leader in welcoming the delegation, who are friends of the Leader from Ballyheane and Ballintubber in County Mayo, and from Tarbert in Kerry. I also extend a special welcome to her dad Michael and thank him for allowing us the pleasure of the Leader as a Member of the House. I thank her for the work she is doing. She was in my office earlier. It is great to have her here. We have a brother of former Senator Dan Kiely with us too. He is very welcome to the House this afternoon. I know that Senator Mark Daly has special friends in the House. With the indulgence of the House, I ask Senator Daly to welcome the friends of Congressman Richie Neal from Springfield, Massachusetts. I have great friends from Springfield in Massachusetts. Michael Carney and the Zorzis are great friends of mine in Springfield. They are very welcome to the House. I call the Leas-Chathaoirleach.

I think all colleagues would join with me in welcoming great friends of Richie Neal here tonight, including Dave, Christina, Pat and Stephen Keeney. The Keeneys are from Springfield but they have the distinction of having the first ever fundraiser for Richie Neal when he was running for city council.

Everyone is your friend when you are at the very top but when you are starting out, it is very hard to find friends. The Keeneys were Richie Neal's supporters when he ran for city council, became the mayor of Springfield, and became a member of Congress. He has, as we all know, been very supportive of Ireland all the way through the peace process 25 years ago and up until today. I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to welcome the group to Seanad Éireann for this occasion. I wish them all the best on their visit here to Ireland and thank them for being here.

I concur with the Leas-Chathaoirleach that Congressman Neal has been a very good friend of Ireland and not just in recent times. The hallmark of a politician is that in his local base in Springfield, when you talk to people from Springfield, they had the same regard for Congressman Neal then as they have now. I thank the group for coming here. Enjoy your visit to Ireland today.

I welcome the Leader. I welcome all the delegates from various parts of the country and the world to the Chamber.

I will start on a positive note. Last Friday, we had a great occasion in Athenry, County Galway, with the news announced by Dexcom of a major investment in County Galway and the west with the creation of 1,000 jobs over five years plus 500 construction jobs on an IDA Ireland site located at Newford, Athenry. Dexcom is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of continuous glucose monitoring systems for the management of diabetes. The new facility will be Dexcom's first production plant in Europe.

As we know, we effectively have full employment in this country but these things do not happen by accident. The work done by IDA Ireland, in particular over a long number of years and throughout the recession in terms of continuous investment in this country, has been tremendous. A new facility does not just arrive and it takes a network of engagement over a long number of years to deliver a project like the one at Newford, and in grave secrecy until a project is over the line. The €300 million investment is a boost for Athenry, County Galway and the west of Ireland. It would be worthwhile if the Leader could arrange a debate on IDA Ireland and continuous investment in this country. A debate would be an opportunity to herald this good news story and emphasise the tremendous job done by IDA Ireland.

The site in Athenry is on IDA land at the intersection of two motorways, one from Galway to Dublin and the other from Limerick to Tuam, as well as two railway lines. The facility is an added stimulus for the extension of the railway to Tuam and Claremorris. I believe that the case for an extension has already been proven but the fact that this major plant is due to locate in the west is a further indication of the positivity of reopening the railway.

On another matter, we both attended a very important meeting in Galway last night on the provision of cancer care services. Last week, I asked for a debate on the capital plan, the delivery of the national development plan and how we can fast-track and streamline it. Cancer services in the west of Ireland are below where they are in other parts of the country and that is not good enough. It is not good enough for the west of Ireland because the people of the region deserve the same services as every other part of the country. We are not getting the services, not because of the people involved but because the current facilities are not appropriate. Basically, the people who seek cancer treatment are in competition with other people in terms of beds in University Hospital Galway. I seek a debate on cancer services.