I also welcome family members of Senator Bradley to the Distinguished Visitors Gallery: her fiancé, Jóvan Bredell from South Africa, who is cheering loudly since last Saturday but who it is hoped will not be cheering next Saturday, her mum, Jacqui Bradley, her dad, Vincent, her sister, Hazel, and her uncle, Kenneth. They are all very welcome. I extend a céad míle fáilte to them. I hope they enjoy their day.

I thank Councillor Luke Corkery for being one of the liaison people for Senator Bradley. I also thank him for looking after her today and yesterday.

On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, I welcome Senator Bradley. She is incredibly welcome. It is a great honour to be nominated to the Seanad Chamber. It is lovely to see her family and fiancé with her. When we became Members of this Seanad it was during Covid and we were in the Convention Centre Dublin. We could not have family or friends with us. I urge Senator Bradley to cherish the day. We look forward to working with her. I have no doubt she has a lot to offer and to give us during the Seanad proceedings.

On Tuesday morning, I raised the National Transport Authority, NTA, and the fact that there was a very strong possibility that the fairer fares that had been committed to for those within the 50 km zone outside of Dublin, which includes Newbridge and Kildare in the constituency in which I live, parts of north County Dublin, Wicklow, Meath and Louth, would be deferred until 2025.

Since then I have had a number of meetings. The NTA appeared before the transport committee yesterday and I thank Senator Dooley for allowing me attend in his place. At that meeting I said very clearly that while it seemed that there were technical reasons for this delay, that is simply not good enough for the people that I and others represent. It has been a really long battle to get to this point. Many people who commute from my area of Newbridge and Kildare were promised a fare decrease. It was promised because of the unfair strategy that had been in place. We must have that reduction in place in September. If there is an issue with the technology, it should be done in some other way while we are waiting for the new technology to come onstream.

I had the opportunity to meet with the Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, yesterday evening. He informed me that when he got my call on Tuesday, he spoke to departmental officials who were not aware of this. They thought that it must be a mistake because the NTA had not informed them. They had to contact the NTA then for clarification. Clearly the NTA had not told the Department of Transport or the Minister's office. It is simply not good enough for the organisation to act like that. It is really stymieing Government policy in trying to make public transport accessible, affordable and integrated. I call for a debate in this House on this issue as soon as possible.

Finally, I must mention that we have reached a very difficult milestone, with 100 people having died on our roads this year. The 100th person was tragically killed during the week and most of these fatalities are down to driver behaviour. We have to put out an appeal in that regard. We also need more surveillance, Garda patrols and so on. I call for a debate after the recess on road safety.

First, I welcome our new colleague, Senator Nikki Bradley, to the House. I understand that she is a motivational speaker. Maybe we can put her in touch with the Spanish football team before Sunday. On a serious note, she is very welcome and I look forward to working with her.

The first issue I wish to raise relates to the seven Sinn Féin MPs who were on the plinth earlier this morning. It is great to have them here. We are now the largest party in local government, in the Assembly and in Westminster. Looking at the timeline over the past 20 years, one will see a fundamental change in terms of the Six Counties and politics. As Michelle O'Neill said, it is time for a constitutional conversation. Indeed, it is already happening. I pay tribute to Deputy Leo Varadkar's very positive contribution to the Ireland's Future debate just a few weeks ago, and those of others. All of us need to think about how we can make a more inclusive Ireland as part of that conversation. One particular way we can do that is to give our MPs in the North, of all persuasions, speaking rights here in the Oireachtas. The former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, committed to doing that a couple of decades ago and we need to see that happening. I would appreciate all-party support in that regard. It is something that I may revisit in September. None of us should be afraid of giving speaking rights in this Oireachtas to politicians who have been democratically elected across Ireland. If we are serious about building a united Ireland, we should start right there.

The second issue I raise relates to the occupation of Palestine and the ongoing genocide there. We found out this week that the IDF occupation forces used the so-called Hannibal directive on 7 October. This was reported in Haaretz, a very credible Israeli newspaper. In essence, what that means is that hundreds of people who died that day in the horrific action by Hamas were actually killed by Israeli forces. That has become clear this week and we need to very cognisant of that. According to The Lancet, a very credible medical journal based in Britain, the real death toll is likely to be 186,000 or 8% of the Palestinian population. Let us be absolutely clear that what we are witnessing is genocide and it is ongoing as we speak this morning. I detailed last week the huge role the US military plays in supplying thousands of cluster bombs, munitions and rockets that enable Israel to keep going. What we need to address now is Shannon Airport's role in this. We really need to address it because there have been 11 direct flights to and from Israel since 7 October and 85 additional US military flights to distribution points across the Middle East. We all know the role of the US in this. I have said for years that there should be no room for the US military in Shannon. This is not a new position; it is the position that Sinn Féin has adopted for decades. I call for an urgent debate on this matter. We cannot on the one hand say we are against genocide and then, on the other, turn a blind eye to the US military's role through our civilian airport in Shannon in supporting that genocide. It is not good enough. We need to do more. We need to see sanctions against the Israeli state, real action on the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 and we need to stand by the Palestinian people much more than we have done.

I have so much that I want to say but I have only three minutes. For a Donegal woman, three minutes is not a long time. As we all know, we like to talk. First and foremost, I thank everybody in this room. I have been welcomed warmly, as have my family who are here today. I am so honoured to see them here, including my fiancé. We have been given the warmest welcome and I thank everyone for that. I also thank the Taoiseach because without his nomination, obviously I would not be here. This is an incredible personal honour for me.

Once the madness dies down, I am genuinely so excited to actually get to work. What I have been working towards over the past number of years is to be an advocate and a voice for people like me with disabilities and their families. I have been through quite a few things myself but I have learned from them and have grown to become quite resilient as a result. I want to be able to pass that knowledge and experience on to other people. I want to improve services for everybody within the disability community. There are some smaller issues I would like to work on such as a universal access key that will stop the misuse of disabled toilets by those who should not use them. These smaller issues are ones that other people might overlook but they can impact a disabled person's daily life and reduce their quality of life. I am determined to tackle those smaller issues as much as the wider ones.

Being from Donegal, there is no getting away from the defective blocks issue. We have all seen it. We have personal experience with it. Some of my friends have lost their homes. We have seen the devastation. I have had conversations with the Taoiseach and various members of the Government in Donegal as to what we can do to try to improve the situation for the families affected.

Another area I really want to focus on is young people. They are the decision-makers of tomorrow. I want to encourage more young people to use their vote. I also want to encourage fully able young people as well as those with reduced mobility to look at sport because there is a direct correlation between a positive mental attitude and sport. It is important for young people to get outside into the open air and enjoy what our country has to offer. These are some of the many things, off the top of my head, that I am thinking about and I am so looking forward to working with everyone here. Once again, thanks so much for the opportunity.

I welcome Senator Bradley to the House and congratulate her on her appointment. She can trust in me for any advice she needs about the place. I am one of the few independent voices in here.

The Cathaoirleach will recall that during the passage of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023 through this House a number of questions were put to the Minister with respect to the participation of members of local authorities. One of the bugbears at the time, which will interest most Members, was about local authority members chairing community policing committees. Indeed, my colleague, Senator Boyhan, tabled an amendment to ensure that the chair of a community policing committee would be a councillor. We were told that it could not go into the Bill but that nothing would prohibit a councillor from becoming the chair. I understand councillors have to apply for membership of the committee but, more importantly, I understand that local authorities are being advised that there would be a conflict of interest to have a councillor as chair. That is simply not on. We were told one thing here and if an instruction of that nature has gone out to the local authorities we need to know about it and we need to know what has changed since the Bill passed through the House. This is one of the dangers when a Minister who is bringing a Bill through the House makes a statement.

When it is not written into the legislation, there is no way of ensuring that it is followed through on. If there is a prohibition on members of local authorities becoming members of this committee, we need to know about it. I ask the Deputy Leader to use his good offices to inquire about that. Galway County Council recently advertised for its chair. I know the Deputy Leader will not be too happy if county councillors are prohibited from applying nor will most Members of this House. We should follow up on that and get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible.

I congratulate Senator Nikki Bradley on her appointment to the Seanad. It is a very proud day for her and for her family, who are from Milford and whom I met on the way in. From the Senator's contribution, I can see that she is going to hit the ground running. I can claim to be a neighbour of the Senator's. My home patch is not a million miles away from hers in Milford. It is a very proud day for all of the family and for the Senator's fiancé, who is from South Africa. I hope they have a great day. It is one day in their lives they certainly will not forget. I have no doubt that the Senator will hit the ground running.

I fully concur with Senator Craughwell's comments on the policing Act. I took it from the Minister's contribution that day that there was no impediment to an elected member of a local authority becoming chair of that organisation. I too will be seeking clarity from the Minister in that regard. Sin é uilig.

I welcome Senator Nikki Bradley to Seanad Éireann. As somebody with a disability who has been a proud member of this House for the past 13 years, I am no longer a lone voice. I commend and congratulate the Senator. What better champion could we have than somebody like her? I met the Senator for the first time about a year ago when Fine Gael launched a document on diversity and inclusion here in Leinster House. I commend an Taoiseach, Deputy Harris, because the first thing he did on becoming Taoiseach was to establish a Cabinet subcommittee on disability. That is all good and we sincerely hope it will deliver results but actions speak louder than words and an Taoiseach's action in appointing Senator Bradley to Seanad Éireann speaks louder than any voice. It really does augur well for what we can achieve as a country and for what Fine Gael is achieving as a party. The two people with disabilities in this Oireachtas happen to be from Fine Gael. We are in a good place and can achieve an awful lot. We want to see the optional protocol adopted but, more than anything else, what we want to see is a level playing pitch. I hope that Senator Bradley and I will prove to the people of Ireland that, when people with disabilities are given a chance, when the pitch is level and when there is fairness, people with disabilities can compete, perform and achieve at the highest level in any walk of life, whether business, sport, public service or politics. Today is a great day for Seanad Éireann and for people with disabilities throughout this country. Well done, Nikki. Enjoy it.

As the leader of the Independent Group in Seanad Éireann, I warmly welcome and congratulate Senator Bradley on her appointment. A great honour and privilege has been bestowed on her by the Taoiseach, which is his prerogative. All Senators are equal in this Chamber at all times. That is important. I do not give a lot of advice but I have loved every day since I came here eight years ago. I do not see myself as a politician; I see myself as an advocate. If any one of us, including Senator Bradley, can simply be an advocate, a voice bringing issues from outside the gates of Leinster House to the centre of parliamentary democracy, he or she will achieve great things. I wish the Senator every happiness and every enjoyment. It is a great honour. From having heard a little bit of what she said earlier on, I have no doubt that she will hit the ground running and that she is the right choice. I commend the Taoiseach on making that choice. I also warmly welcome the Senator's family. It is a great honour for them but it is also a great honour for the Senator to be here and to have this accolade and position bestowed on her, as is right. I wish her well and I wish her every happiness.

Two weeks ago, I referred to a letter the Ceann Comhairle wrote to the leaders of all of the different groups, dated 25 June 2024. I am glad that I did because I subsequently received loads of queries on it from the media and from Members of both Houses. I will make one reference to it. It relates to that enormous planning and development Bill. I draw the House's attention to the second item on the second page of the letter, which relates to the grouping of the amendments. The Ceann Comhairle tells us that:

The Bills Office will not be in a position to group amendments for debate, as is the usual practice. The Department [that is, the Department sponsoring the Bill] has agreed to group the amendments and will advise the Bills Office of the proposed groupings for inclusion in the Chair's brief.

I am not looking for debate on the matter. I only ask whether the Deputy Leader, along with the powers-that-be, the Seanad Office, the Bills Office and the Leader's office, can facilitate us seeing those groupings tomorrow so that we can prepare for the mammoth task facing us on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Seanadóir Bradley. Is lá an-speisialta é di agus dá clann. The Taoiseach has made a very positive statement in appointing the Senator to Seanad Éireann. I came in as she was coming to the conclusion of her address. Rather than offering her any advice, I am likely to be seeking advice from her because she is very grounded and is focusing on the very important things in life. I welcome that.

I return to the issue of crime not only in our urban areas, but in our rural areas. It is not only the Minister for Justice who has responsibility in this area. All legislators do. As the Deputy Leader will know, the number of robberies in parts of counties Galway and Roscommon is quite concerning. It is also happening in other rural areas. The Garda is doing its best in trying to deal with this but it is stretched at times. There are a lot of questions that must be asked. I have been trying to get an answer to a question I am being asked by the public. Are drones being used to help with these robberies? It is a very serious issue that we will have to face. Is there information coming from local sources? I have heard that before. I cannot prove it; I do not know. It is really frightening for people to see two or three people coming to their house to carry out a robbery. In most cases, when they see an individual, they move away but nobody should take any chances. People should not leave their doors or windows open. Another really terrible thing is that, when people are out at a restaurant or are out for the day, they put it up on social media, telling the whole world that the house is vacant. I would like a debate with the Minister, although not to have a go at her. As I have said, as Oireachtas Members, we all have a responsibility here. I would like to see a debate, perhaps when we come back in September.

I congratulate our new colleague, Senator Bradley. I could not be more thrilled to see her here. I am very proud of the Taoiseach for recognising her sheer talent and skill and elevating her to the Seanad. I also welcome the Senator's family. It is a really big day. I was emotional seeing her walking in. Her family can be very proud of her. As her colleague, I am very proud of her. There is nothing like lived experience speaking on the floor of this House. It is much more compelling and insightful. There are Senators here who bring very specific lived experience to their roles. It makes for a more human reflection.

Leinster House should really reflect the people of our State and none more so than people with disabilities. I serve on the disability matters committee and every Thursday morning after the meeting I come in here to raise on the Order of Business what has gone on there and state we need to debate issues and advance the position of people with disabilities so that everybody can lead their best life. There is nothing better than this being modelled by one of our Senators. We already have Senator Conway and for him to be joined by Senator Bradley is fantastic. We have a large body of work to do. We need to ratify the optional protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD. We need to ensure every child in our State has the greatest opportunity and an equality of opportunity so they can live their best life and have equality of education, access to services and access to disability supports. We have a lot of work to do. I am very pleased the Taoiseach is driving this, along with the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, who has been brilliant in recent weeks, especially in meetings we have had with her. There is a determination and focus in Fine Gael and I am very proud to be part of it. I am delighted to have Senator Bradley here.

I congratulate my new colleague, Senator Bradley. I am delighted to see her here. I also congratulate her family. It is an honour to walk into the Chamber and an honour to walk in the front door of Leinster House every day. We are here to serve the people. As Senator Seery Kearney said, numerous Senators bring a lived experience and that is what we need on the floor of the House. It is how we can drive change. Every day I come in the door and look at the Proclamation, which is on the left-hand side as we come in. It speaks about the people of 1916 wanting to treat every child of the nation equally. We could honestly say in 2024 we have not done this, particularly with regard to children and people with needs and disabilities. As has been said, a renewed focus has been put on this by the Taoiseach. We have a Cabinet subcommittee focused on disabilities. The appointment of Senator Bradley is a pivotal moment for the State, whereby we will make big changes and provide supports to make sure every child in the nation is treated equally and, in particular, that every child has an opportunity to be their very best and get the same chance in life. I welcome Senator Bradley and I look forward to working with her to make sure we make these changes, which we will.

Longford was one of the trial counties for community safety partnerships. It was extremely successful. Public representatives who put themselves forward to be the chairperson of a committee and are the right person for the job should be put in the role. There should be no impediment to that. I fully support it and it should be the case. I see the roles have been advertised and I support public representatives taking up the roles.

I welcome our new colleague, Senator Bradley. It is lovely to see her again. We met several months ago when she made a presentation in Leinster House. She was very impressive on that day and I look forward to working with her. She will hit the ground running. She is very welcome. My office is on the same floor as hers so she will see a lot more of me.

An issue I have been raising for quite a while is medical cards for cancer patients and people with chronic diseases. People diagnosed with cancer should have automatic entitlement to a medical card until their treatment finishes. I have seen the pain that many people have gone through in terms of filling out forms and being refused and having to appeal. People have enough going on in their lives when they receive a diagnosis of a very serious illness. I will keep raising this issue because it needs to be looked at. I met the Irish Cancer Society during the week. It showed me a reduced form for people with certain illnesses but not every category is covered. The full form is 22 pages long. I would like support in this regard for people who have a diagnosis of cancer.

I welcome Senator Nikki Bradley. Your first day in the House is always very special so enjoy it, and get the run of the place, as they say. We look forward to Senator Bradley's contribution for however long the House will continue to sit. We are continually told it will probably be until March of next year. That is the official line.

I am a member of the Oireachtas media committee. Yesterday, we had a very useful discussion on the question of journalists reporting in conflict zones and the threats posed to journalists in the real and online worlds. One of the issues raised by the National Union of Journalists was the September 2001 case of Martin O'Hagan, an investigative journalist. Until the death of Lyra McKee a few years ago, he was the only journalist killed during the Troubles. Martin O'Hagan's death clearly marked out a very sad chapter in journalism on this island. There have long been calls, including by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, for an investigation into his death. Now that a new British Government is in place, I ask the Leader, on behalf of the House, to contact the Tánaiste to ask him to seek a full investigation into the death of Martin O'Hagan. Journalists provide a very important insight. They speak truth to power. It is important for us in a democracy to stand up and protect the work they do. The full story of Martin O'Hagan's death has never emerged. With a new Labour Government and a new Secretary of State in the North, we might find there will be a full investigation.

I acknowledge our new Senator and I wish her the very best of luck. I acknowledge her family. It is a wonderful day and a wonderful occasion. I hope she enjoys the experience. It is wonderful to be here. Senator Bradley will do very well. It is great to have a new colleague on these benches.

I raise the issue of school transportation. Two school transportation pilot schemes have been announced by the Department of Education, one in Limerick-Shannon and one in Roscommon-Athlone. In 52 days' time, approximately 160,000 children will be going to school on buses. The majority of them do not have tickets at present. A ticket system is up and running but there is confusion about the criteria to be used regarding the children looking to get the tickets. Every September we have debates in the House about the issue. We speak constantly about trying to make sure we can get the people who need school buses onto them. There are large gaps in my part of the world. There is confusion at present about whether the system will be changed to ensure everyone can go on the bus and what will be the criteria.

In the report published by the Minister she said major changes would happen between now and 2030. That is ridiculous with regard to what we need to see happening. We need to see immediate changes to the school transport scheme. Capacity is an issue. We need to make sure bus drivers aged over 70 who can do private runs can also do the runs for Bus Éireann, which is the principal operator of the school transport system. This is a timebomb. In 50 days' time, school transport will be a plague on all our houses. Parents as well as students will be on to us about this issue. We will be trying to deal with a scenario in which we will be getting very little response from the Department. We need to contact the Minister and the Department on putting in place a plan so we do not have the same scenario we had last September, the September before that and the one before that. We know there will be an issue and we need to get clarity from the Minister. The clock is ticking and unless she moves now, unfortunately, every Member of the two Houses will be trying to deal with this issue next September.

As we conclude, I acknowledge that our colleague and friend, Senator Lynn Boylan, is leaving us to take up her seat in the European Parliament, as is Regina Doherty. We wish both of them well. Senator Boylan was a fine Member of the House who served here with distinction. We thank her for her service. Our colleague and friend, former Senator John O'Mahony, is being laid to his eternal reward. We wish him a safe journey back to our Lord and we thank him for his public service.

I am sorry I am late. I welcome Senator Bradley to the Chamber. We met before on International Women's Day in the University of Limerick. I think it was just before Covid started. I had the privilege of hearing some of her life's journey and incredible achievements. I am delighted to see her here and to meet her again. When I heard the news, I thought it was a really great appointment. I think she will make a significant contribution to this Chamber, wider society and our culture. Again, I am sorry I am late. I thank the Cathaoirleach for giving me that opportunity.

I congratulate Senator Bradley on her appointment and wonderful maiden speech. I again welcome her family to Leinster House. The Senator comes with lived experience, and a wealth of knowledge, passion and commitment. We all look forward to working with you. Enjoy your term in Leinster House. As Senator Boyhan said, it is a privilege. Very few of us have the privilege when one looks at the wider population of Ireland.