The Order of Business is No.1, Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person (Amendment) Bill 2024 - First Stage, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business, without debate; No. 2, motion regarding the arrangements for the address to the Seanad by Mr. Kazumi Matsui, Mayor of Hiroshima, on Wednesday, 23 October 2024, to be taken on conclusion of No. 1, without debate; No. 3, Family Courts Bill 2022 - Report and Final Stages, to be taken at 11.45 a.m. and to adjourn at 12.45 p.m., if not previously concluded; and No. 4, Agriculture Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2024 - Second Stage, to be taken at 12.45 p.m. or on conclusion of No. 3, whichever is later, with the time allocated to the opening remarks by the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, groups' spokespersons not to exceed ten minutes, all other Senators not to exceed five minutes and with the Minister to be given no less than ten minutes to reply to the debate. Time may be shared.

I want to start by offering my condolences to the family and friends of Liam Payne. It was very sad news overnight and I extend my condolences.

I welcome the update from the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Deputy Martin, on the work he and his Department are doing as part of UNIFIL to support our troops deployed in the Middle East and Lebanon. The Minister is working with 16 other countries to ensure they are protected and supported to carry out and complete their peacekeeping tasks. They are providing an important and international service. We are thinking of all the troops and their families at this time. I know it is a very stressful and upsetting time for the families but I hope they are assured that the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence is acting on behalf of Government with our partners in UNIFIL to monitor the situation closely and ensure all steps are taken to protect our brave and courageous troops.

Finally, I wish to speak to, and make reference to the report earlier this week about, the continuing rise of house prices. It is a real concern for anybody trying to get on the property ladder and hoping to own their own home. The report indicates that property prices continue to rise due to a number of factors, such as significant construction inflation. This has been largely caused by the supply-side shortages as a result of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and Brexit. All these factors contributed to supply-side shortages which increased construction prices. This is an incredibly important point that underlines the need for continuance of Government supports to help people afford their own homes.

The Seanad passed legislation this week to increase funding to the Land Development Agency, LDA, in excess of €6 billion, so that it can use State-owned lands to reduce the cost and provide affordable homes. Very importantly, an extension to the help-to-buy scheme, which is a tax refund of up to €30,000 for first-time buyers to buy their own home, was put in the budget. That is a significant financial support from the State to help first-time buyers buy their own home, as well as the continuance of the first home scheme where we are seeing record numbers of first-time buyers availing of both of those schemes. It is critical that those schemes providing immediate financial support to first-time buyers to buy their own home in an environment where construction costs are driving prices beyond the reach of too many people, are maintained and supported.

It is really encouraging to see that the last report from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland showed that in every week in August, more than 650 first-time buyers were approved for a mortgage. That is a very encouraging sign and great news for those 650 individuals and families who secured their mortgage each week in August. We need to continue to support first-time buyers and people who want to own their own homes.

If ever there was a stark example of how the misallocation of resources caused by the Irish asylum industry is eating our State alive, it is detailed in this week's report by the Irish Penal Reform Trust on overcrowding. Our prison service, just like our education and health services, is swamped and the Department of Justice is doing everything in its power to cover up this reality as it considers the ghastly prospect of early release for convicts.

According to the report, community services could come to replace many aspects of penal servitude with even those convicted of sexual crimes to be potentially released in the hope that a simple ankle tag will prevent them from reoffending. Would you trust a simple ankle tag to prevent a convicted rapist from reoffending should they be released back into the community? I certainly would not for my family, which is why I worry about the prioritisation of international protection applicants over keeping Irish prisons operational. Thornton Hall, which was previously earmarked as a new custom prison to cater for an overflow from Mountjoy, is instead now designated to become an asylum megacentre providing tented accommodation for potentially thousands of international applicants.

While Irish prisons struggle with a spike in drug deaths, there is rampant crime and a growing wave of dysfunction in the Department of Justice, which is eager to trade away valuable development sites to provide for disproportionately bogus asylum applicants. There is a genuine, compassionate argument for an increase in non-custodial sentences or vocational programmes to replace penal servitude, something for which many reformers have advocated for years. This is, however, no argument for the implementation of reckless early release schemes to feed an asylum system that continues to mutate out of control.

Ireland's prison population has seen one of the fastest growth rates in Europe, with a 12% increase in the incarceration rate between 2022 and 2023. It stands to reason that we desperately need every acre of prison space we can get to grapple with this issue. Ideally, this would free up a prime site at Mountjoy for eventual development. The French author Victor Hugo once wrote "he who opens a school door, closes a prison." Perhaps a modern Irish variation would be closing a prison to open an asylum centre.

I will say this before I ask the Leader to respond on the Order of Business. In 1843, brothers Patrick, Michael and James arrived in Canada. They ended up in a place called Mount St. Patrick, appropriate for Irish immigrants, which is in the heart of the Ottawa Valley. One of their descendants is here in the Gallery today. I am delighted to welcome James Maloney from our Canada-Ireland Interparliamentary Group who is here with us today, along with some distinguished colleagues from Canada. Once upon a time, some of the cities in Canada had more Irish people living in them than Irish cities had themselves. James has led the friendship group in Canada for many years. It celebrates St. Patrick's Day. I did not realise that Newfoundland and Labrador celebrates St. Patrick's Day as one of its holidays; "national holidays" is not quite correct but it is close enough. Only ourselves, that province and Montserrat in the Caribbean, for all sorts of different reasons, celebrate St. Patrick's Day as a national holiday. Of course, Canada celebrates St. Patrick's Day like many countries around the world.

We celebrate the ongoing links in trade and education, but also the role of General de Chastelain in the peace process. We remember the quiet work of a Canadian who in many senses managed to put guns beyond use in Northern Ireland, which many people believed was impossible. We fondly remember the work carried out with distinction by General de Chastelain in the service of peace in Ireland. Mr. Maloney's presence here today is part of that ongoing link. One of the many legacies of the emigrants who went to Canada was the building of St. Patrick's Basilica in Montreal, where former Prime Minister Mulroney's funeral mass took place earlier this year. It was fitting and appropriate that the song "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" was sung there by his granddaughter.

While we are here to discuss trade and ongoing engagement, we are very conscious of your contribution in the past, the present and the future. I thank Mr. Maloney and the whole delegation for being here for what I can honestly say is the shortest Order of Business in the history of the Seanad. We have heard from two Senators, in addition to the Leader and myself. The delegation being here has doubled the length of time of the Order of Business. Never in my 17-year history in the Seanad have I seen just two contributions. My contribution is now longer than the entire contribution of everybody else, which is quite an achievement.

As we glance back, we look forward to the ongoing relationship. Mr. Maloney said that as a result of the trade agreements we have made, Ireland is a gateway to Europe for Canadian companies and a place for Canadian citizens to come and be most welcome. I thank them for being here today. I now ask the Leader to respond on the Order of Business.

I certainly was not expecting to be standing as early as I am. It is probably somewhat connected to the upcoming general election which we think-----

There is no election coming. What election?

Perhaps the length of the Order of Business has been somewhat impacted by the Tánaiste's comments yesterday and the Taoiseach's comments this morning, which have sent Members flying to constituencies to start knocking on doors. It is not surprising in some ways. Mr. Maloney and the Canadian delegation are very welcome to the Chamber. It is lovely to have them here and to hear the history that has been outlined by Senator Daly, our Leas-Chathaoirleach, of the long-standing connection between Canada and Ireland and the friendship we have. My sister lives in Vancouver and my other sister is just back from Vancouver, having lived there for a number of years. There are very close connections between Canada and the Irish people. The members of the delegation are most welcome. I hope they enjoy their visit to the Houses of the Oireachtas. I am sure they have other meetings today as well. I hope they enjoy the hospitality for which Ireland is quite famous.

I wish to make one slight adjustment or correction to the Order of Business: No. 3, Family Courts Bill 2022 - Report and Final Stages, will be taken at 11.45 a.m. and No. 4, Agriculture Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2024 - Second Stage will begin directly thereafter at 12.45 p.m.

I thank both Senators for their contributions here this morning. Senator Mary Fitzpatrick extended sympathies to the family of Liam Payne, the One Direction artist. It is really shocking and I believe there was a lot of pressure online in recent times. We do not know the full details but we extend our condolences and sympathies to his family, his child and all of his community.

Senator Fitzpatrick also spoke about the ongoing work of our Minister for Defence, the Tánaiste, Deputy Martin, in relation to the Irish UNIFIL troops who are serving in Lebanon in very precarious and dangerous circumstances between Lebanon and Israel. We know from the Minister for Defence that there is an ongoing, continuous assessment of the situation on the ground there. Obviously, Irish troops have been there for decades. It is one of the longest-standing posts to which we send troops. It is obviously of deep concern to families here. Other members of our Defence Forces are waiting to travel to UNIFIL locations as part of their work. Our thoughts are with the families and those serving right now in UNIFIL. It is utterly disgraceful to see the Israel Defense Forces firing on UNIFIL sites. It is a flagrant breach of international law. It demonstrates that there is somebody at the helm of the Israeli Government who is intent on doing whatever he wants and likes without adhering to international law, to which we all have to adhere. If the rules are broken by one country, where is the incentive for others to abide by the rules that we hold very dear? I am thinking particularly of the values we hold here such as the rule of law, the protection of human rights and democracy.

I wish our troops well as they continue in very perilous conditions with UNIFIL.

The Senator also spoke about the rise in house prices. We have had recent reports and the rise in the past few months has been quite significant. The Senator is right to point out that there have been significant Government supports to assist people getting on the property ladder, particularly first-time buyers. There are very targeted supports, such as the first home scheme and the help-to-buy scheme which have helped and continue to help many thousands of people to get their first home. That is very important. The additional funding made available to the Land Development Agency in the recent budget is evidence of this Government's strong commitment to continue to build homes and to deliver on housing. It is a top priority for the Government.

Senator Keogan spoke about the Irish Penal Reform Trust and overcrowding in prisons. It is a significant issue. Almost all our prisons, particularly our women's prisons, are way above capacity, meaning that conditions are poor. This can be dangerous not just for the inmates but also for the Prison Service staff working in those prisons. It is really important that the capacity is adhered to and that overcrowding is addressed.

I recall two visits to Mountjoy with colleagues from the House. We met with the governor who has worked on the front line of the Prison Service for many years. He made the very interesting point that people coming in and spending less than a year in prison often - I am slightly paraphrasing - do not really rehabilitate during that period. There is no access to services during that period. We are sending people back out into the community. What are the chances that they will not reoffend or that there is an improvement in the situation for society? That needs to be looked at.

There is no point bringing people in on a constant rotation where there is no benefit to society if it is just a continuing revolving door of people coming in and out. It is important that we address overcrowding but we also need to look at the benefits to society around how we deal with people who are breaking the law. Rehabilitation is part of it. Ultimately, we want to stop people reoffending because if they reoffend there are more victims. It makes sense to try to prevent that from happening. People going out on early release is a particularly sensitive area because we always have to think about the victims of those crimes and how that works in that context. That needs to be considered.

A Leas-Chathaoirligh, I am conscious that another Member has come into the Chamber. Given the short Order of Business we have had, I am happy to take the Member's contribution before I conclude if that is acceptable.

Yes.