I thank all 19 Senators who contributed on this afternoon's Order of Business. We started with Senator Maria Byrne. Along with everyone else who spoke this afternoon, Senator Byrne paid great tribute to our former colleague Brian Crowley and extended sympathies to his family, to the Cathaoirleach, who had a very strong personal relationship with Brian, and to the Fianna Fáil family. It is very much appreciated. I know that his family certainly appreciate all of that.

Senator Byrne also spoke about the Academy Award-nominated Ruth Negga, an incredible actress who is inviting people to get involved in a film festival in Limerick. That festival is going to be about gender equality and inclusion. The deadline is 16 February. Senator Byrne wanted to highlight that and to encourage amateur filmmakers all around the country to get involved. We echo and support that.

Along with many of our other contributors, Senator Dee Ryan spoke about the tragic death of Grace Lynch on Sunday. We all extend our very deepest sympathies to Grace's family and friends and to her school community. We have all had a number of emails from the community and from her school friends. The first one I received was from a teacher who said she had been teaching Grace in class the day before. We are all incredibly shocked by that horrific tragedy. While I know An Garda Síochána has already made an arrest, it will obviously need to continue its investigation. It is probably inappropriate to comment on specific aspects of the case because of that ongoing investigation but watching her heartbroken mum on television last night as people gathered to finish the walk Grace set out to take to meet her boyfriend and hearing that plea from the heart moved every one of us.

I thank the Senator for organising that meeting this morning. It is important to note that An Garda Síochána already has significant powers under legislation to combat antisocial and dangerous use of scramblers and e-scooters. That legislation was signed into law in 2023 and brings this under the remit of the Minister for Transport. It includes provision to tackle the dangerous use of vehicles, including e-scooters and scramblers, granting An Garda Síochána new seizure powers. In 2024, 124 scramblers and 32 quad bikes were seized. Up to the end of October 2025, the Garda had seized 113 scramblers and 22 quad bikes. Also in 2025, 958 fixed-charge penalty notices were issued for e-scooter-related offences and 817 e-scooters were seized and detained. That is an incredible number. It shows us how big the problem is. We should not think that nothing is happening and that gardaí are not doing their jobs because they are. If An Garda Síochána needs more supports, we should certainly look for them. I know that will not make any difference to Grace's family. We extend our sympathies and we will look for a debate with the Minister. We will ask him to come in. Senator Scahill, whose contribution I will come to, gave us statistics on road traffic deaths and incidents and they were shocking. We will ask the Minister to come here to speak about road traffic deaths, what can be done about them, and e-scooters and quad bikes.

Senator Ryan also spoke about the 300 workers who have just started work on what is going to be Limerick's tallest building. It is an OPW building for the Revenue Commissioners and is part of the regeneration and revitalisation of Limerick.

That is great to see.

Senator Boyhan spoke about the work Brian Crowley did with dogs for the disabled and quoted him talking about independent dignity and mobility with respect. That just sums up Brian. He also spoke about Tailte Éireann, which is responsible for property registration, property valuation and national mapping. He expressed his concerns about how Tailte Éireann is operating. We should look for a debate. It has an important function. I know that it is sometimes difficult to get any response from it. We should ask for a debate on that with the relevant Minister. Senator Boyhan also spoke about rural planning guidelines not being fit for purpose, and I think we all agree with that.

Senator Andrews spoke about the challenges that renters have and the difficulties in getting a place to rent that is suitable, affordable and appropriate for somebody's needs. It is particularly difficult for single people. I rented for 16 years and can attest to that. He also mentioned difficulties with apartments. Landlords are absolutely responsible for the upkeep of apartments. The RTB is there to protect renters as well as landlords. We should encourage people, where there are problems with their apartments, to contact the RTB. I know the Minister is doing all he can to try to ensure renters get a fair deal and have affordable options. He introduced new legislation yesterday at Cabinet in relation to that. We will ask for a debate.

Senator Comyn also spoke about Grace Lynch and mentioned Jason Monks, who lost his life in a similar way. She looked for a debate with the Minister of State, Deputy Canney.

Senator Nelson Murray spoke about the horrific racial attack on a Fine Gael councillor in Navan. I have met Yemi a few times. She is a fabulous advocate and a wonderful public representative. It is hard enough to go through elections. I know that from my colleague, Uruemu, in Longford, who has endured this awful racial abuse. To be spat at following a meeting, and after a tirade of racial abuse, is absolutely shocking. The Senator asked about the consequences for the individual. I do not know whether she has identified who the individual is. I certainly hope she has made a report to the local Garda. I know that is a difficult thing to do. It has to be of huge concern to everybody who values democracy that one of our public representatives would be treated in such a way. For anybody to be treated in such a way is absolutely shocking. I am thinking of Yemi.

Senator Craughwell spoke of meeting with uniformed personnel in the fire services, An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces about the post-2013 pension. I am sure the Senator will recall that the motion Fianna Fáil proposed the week before last mentioned this specifically as a recommendation from us. It is an important element that needs to be resolved. We will look for another debate with the Minister. To be fair, she was here during that debate and gave a relatively positive response. However, we can ask again about that specific issue.

Senator Curley spoke about the SEC publishing guidelines for extra time for exams. I think they were published this morning. This issue was the subject of a Fianna Fáil Private Members' motion just before Christmas. While we welcome that there was a consideration given, it is regrettable that consideration only amounted to an extra ten minutes across the board. Some exams are three and a half hours long, so what does ten minutes really mean?

In the UK at a minimum, those who are identified as having an extra need in relation to scribing time get an extra 25%. This extra ten minutes only amounts to about 5%. To be honest, it really does seem like tokenism. We do need to have another debate with the Minister and we certainly will look for that.

Senator Manus Boyle looked for information on the new marine committee under the chairperson of Michael Berkery and asked when that is going to be set up. I texted the Minister of State with responsibility for the marine, Deputy Dooley, during order of business and he assures me it is going to be set up in two weeks and that they are just finalising the terms of reference at this point. I am sure Senator Boyle will be glad to hear that. I thank him for his interest and his support in relation to an important issue.

Senator Keogan and spoke about the USC. When that was first introduced, it was a temporary measure. As we often see when a temporary measure has come in, unfortunately it becomes a practically permanent one. We would all like to see the abolition of the USC. The Senator mentioned that she felt that Ministers who were here when that was brought in should be giving some money back. I think there are very few Ministers from that time here. I do understand that all Ministers at present are gifting back a certain amount of their salary.

Senator Fitzpatrick also extended condolences to the family of Grace Lynch and wanted to acknowledge that the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan did meet this morning. The Senator is absolutely right, we need to do more, but we will look for that debate with the Minister for Transport.

Senator Scahill again spoke about Grace and about an email from her classmate, Ella. He is correct that we need to talk to the Garda to see how we can support them in the enforcement of the laws that were introduced in 2023. The Senator spoke about the 8% increase in road deaths last year. Quite frighteningly, 22% were pedestrians, 14% pedal cyclists and three deaths were attributed to e-scooters. It shows those who are not in a car are very vulnerable. In terms of safe routes to school, the Senator is right. We cannot have pupils crossing the roads now. We need to make sure that the safe routes to school takes that. We will ask to have the Minister here about that.

Senator Sarah O'Reilly spoke about FDI and about how the economy is very reliant on FDI. The fact that we have 80% corporation tax coming from FDI does put our economy in a precarious situation. We should look for the Minister for enterprise to come to this House to have a debate about how we support indigenous industries. Local enterprise offices are doing a lot of absolutely excellent work with local enterprises but we absolutely need to do more. We need to do more to support those that are in bricks-and-mortar buildings, not online. It really pains me when I see so many people shopping online and not giving consideration to the fact that family members, neighbours and their community are reliant on those jobs within bricks-and-mortar businesses, and the wider community in terms of looking for prizes to support every type of dinner dance, school walk, everything. We all need to do more to fully support our local businesses. We absolutely will look for the Minister to come and have a debate on that.

Senator Duffy spoke about a really tough situation in Ballina where somebody who was convicted for murder has been relocated. They did not have any input whatsoever and, it would seem, did not have any family in Ballina, but started to live in Ballina. The same individual, apart from being convicted in court, was connected with eight separate incidents in prison. The person deemed to be at risk of causing harm to others so obviously this did cause consternation on the particular estate in the Parkside area. Within a very short time, one of the social workers who was involved was actually assaulted.

That is shocking. The individual has now been removed, but there needs to be a wider debate about how we deal with people who come from prison. We do need to have step-down facilities. Everybody deserves to feel safe in their own estate and their own community.

Senator Eileen Lynch spoke about the current restrictions on controlled burning, which is a well-established method of control. Now, unfortunately, there is an inability to burn, which is causing many challenges. The Senator spoke about a farmer making an application in August. It still has not been acknowledged, which is not good. We need the Minister to work with farmers and environmental organisations to come up with a system that will be fair to everybody. We will look for the Minister to come to the House to talk about that.

Senator McCarthy spoke about two different events. I was at the ITBA event myself. It was wonderful to see small horse breeders being recognised in such a positive way. It was an incredible night. It was great to see Joe Osborne, one of the very well-known Osborne family, getting an accolade for his contribution to the industry. He is still a young man. He is certainly not retired. I know he will go on to wonderful things within the equestrian world. He is also an alumnus of Newbridge College, where my own father and brothers went to school. It is a terrific school and it is great to see the alumni working together in a positive way.

Senator Cosgrove also spoke about Ursuline College Sligo. I got a chance to say hello to them briefly while I was waiting for this. It is awful to hear they have been waiting 11 years. The Senator noted that the planning permission will be running out soon. We certainly would hope that the Minister, when she receives the petition, will listen and ensure that is addressed. The Senator might table a Commencement matter on the subject over the coming weeks.

Senator Tully spoke about the importance of family resource centres. She mentioned three, in Cavan, Killashandra and Monaghan. Any of us who works with family resource centres know the excellent work they do, particularly for people who have challenges in their lives. The Senator is looking for capital funding, particularly for the one in Cavan. I recommend that she table a Commencement matter in relation to that. Four new family resource centres were set up last year and they got capital funding, and I understand there are going to be more this year. The centre in Cavan may well be one of the lucky ones, we would hope.

Senator Conway spoke about the fact that the Minister, Deputy Browne, has ensured that the derelict sites levy will be collected by Revenue instead of by the local authorities. Local authorities are missing out on that revenue coming in, as the Senator rightly pointed out, in terms of that 7%. He mentioned a hotel in Tramore that has been derelict for 12 years. It is shocking to see these buildings. There are lost opportunities for so many. It is good to see this move being made, however, and we certainly hope it will make a difference.

Senator Cathal Byrne has just come in, slightly too late for the Order of Business, but I just want to say I heard him and the Minister, Deputy Browne, on the 1 o'clock news earlier. As he knows, I have family in Enniscorthy as well. It is just shocking what has developed with the Slaney bursting. As he said himself, it is everybody's worst dreams come true. He has raised it here a number of times. A total of €55 million is being kept to bring in the alleviation scheme. I am thinking of everybody in Enniscorthy. We hope that second bridge will be built soon. We hope that, between the council, environmental agencies and the Government, we will see progress because it is needed badly.