The Order of Business is No. 54, motion 1, a Private Members' motion regarding a shingles vaccination programme, to be taken at 12.15 p.m., with the time allocated to this debate not to exceed two hours.

I welcome the Government's decision this week to introduce Grace's law - a complete and utter ban on scramblers in public spaces. Legislation was introduced in 2023. Regulations should have been introduced sooner. My deepest sympathies go to Grace Lynch's family and friends but also to every other victim of scramblers in our communities. People have lost their lives, people have suffered life-altering injuries and every day scramblers have been used to distribute illegal substances - drugs and other paraphernalia. I welcome the Government's decision to move with immediate effect to introduce Grace's law and ban the use of scramblers in all public spaces.

It is lashing rain again outside. I think it is the fourth flood risk warning in ten days. Front-line services are put to the pin of their collar at this stage. I wish them well. I hope everybody can stay dry.

Anyone who is in Dublin over the next few days and looking for a bit of a laugh, could an awful worse than to go to The Gate theatre at the top of O'Connell Street, on Parnell Square. The contemporary sharp comedy, Eureka Day, opened last night. It was its Irish première following a successful run in London and on Broadway. I commend Colm, Róisín and all the team at The Gate on bringing this contemporary sharp comedy. It pokes fun at slacktivism and woke politics. Those who do not take themselves too seriously, want a bit of a laugh and want to stay out of the rain in Dublin could do an awful lot worse than to go to The Gate and watch Eureka Day.

It is no surprise I am again speaking on defence and defence issues. The first issue I want to speak about is that of drones and the purchase of that equipment. We have had Ministers speaking on television about how three months is plenty of time to have the Defence Forces up and ready for Ireland's Presidency of the European Union. Can any of those Ministers tell me what knowledge or expertise they have in the training and implementation of anti-drone equipment? We need to be honest with the public. We need to be straight with the public and not spin yarns that we have no empirical evidence to support. From that point of view, I ask those who are speaking on issues with respect to the defence of this country when it comes to the EU Presidency to go and inform themselves with the proper authorities before they speak.

We are about to have a call for cadets for the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service. It is a wonderful career. The entry age is from 18 up to 39 years of age but the salary is €25,000 a year. The Government continuously adverts to the qualified salary. Once you are qualified and commissioned, you will have a salary of between €45,000 and €50,000 a year. For a 39-year-old, let us be honest about it, €25,000 a year is nonsense. Recruits joining to become enlisted personnel are being paid €42,000 a year. The Government has done a good job with respect to entry level for the enlisted ranks. It is time to look at the cadet salaries and increase the salary to what it should be. Even an 18-year-old could go and work in one of the supermarkets packing shelves for €25,000 and have a better life on it. I note that the Leader comes from a military town and has an interest in these issues. I ask him to bring it up at his own parliamentary party meeting. Let us have an honest discussion on cadet pay. Let us make sure that they are being paid a salary that is commensurate. We are training the future leaders of the country. Let us give them a decent start in life where they can at least live and have some life.

Those who go into the cadets, are expected to dress in a particular way. When they are not on duty, they are expected to behave in a particular way. We saw that when we visited the enlisted guys out in Gormanston. They work from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. They get a weekend pass into the local village but are not allowed to partake in alcohol or anything like that. The training is quite strict. Let us give them a decent start in life and a decent start to their career.

I want to congratulate Senator Fitzpatrick on her work in the area of scramblers and the abusive use of mobility devices such as scramblers and scooters. I have to congratulate the Senator on it. I should put it on the floor of the House and thank the Senator for that work.

I want to highlight an unfairness and double standard that goes on in this country. The head of CIÉ got a bumper pay increase of €35,000, the head of Bus Éireann a bumper pay increase of €50,000, Irish Rail €75,000, the National Stud €60,000 and the head of Uisce Éireann a bumper of €100,000, and we have boil-water notices throughout this country. We have towns and villages where there is not enough infrastructure within the treatment plant to put any more businesses or houses on the scheme. I cannot fathom it. It came out a few weeks ago that ten Ministers had been overpaid. It was only in the media for a day, which was shocking considering no payment plan had been announced. They did not get letters, as the family carers who are struggling every day got a few weeks ago where Revenue were coming back to them stating they owed this much money. We have pensioners, carers and families at home who cannot afford their electricity bills. They cannot afford groceries. Some of them cannot afford to heat their homes with home-heating oil yet the State can afford to give these bumper pay increases to CEOs who are already on huge salaries. A lot of them are not doing what they need to be doing. A lot of these companies are not doing what they need to be doing. I cannot understand how these CEOs can get a pay increase when there are boil-water notices in towns and villages and while houses cannot be put into an area because of a lack of infrastructure at the treatment plant. I would love to have a debate in this House on the wastage of public money and how it can be used for the good of the people of Ireland and not for these CEOs. Some of them are doing a great job, but some of their companies are not being run the way they should be. If they were private companies, those CEOs would be gone.

I have done a bit of work over the last couple of days on the Garda division figures in County Donegal. At present, we have 365 gardaí plus supervisors. That is a total of 436. Since 2023, there are been seven confirmed resignations. According to parliamentary data that I could get, total departures, from 2020 to 2024, inclusive, number 61. New Garda postings came out recently. We got three in 2024 and two in 2025. I want the Minister to have a focus on Donegal - it is seen as such a large county for recruitment - to see if there is anything we can do. The figures are not justified, given the size of County Donegal. Will the Minister have a look at the figures in Donegal and see if we can try to get another lot of gardaí up there?

While I am on my feet, I thank the gardaí who are on the beat in Donegal, and the superintendents.

In fairness, since I came to this House, whenever I have asked or looked for anything they have been very helpful. Perhaps the Minister would come in and give us an update on what we could do to get the figures up in Donegal.

I raise the issue of the Galway city ring road and the urgent need for clarity on whether it will be granted planning permission. As Members will be aware, this saga has been going on for decades, during which time the other major cities of the country have all seen significant upgrades to their roads infrastructure. Galway remains reliant on the same limited road network it relied on 40 years ago, which results in gridlock across the city on a daily basis.

The most recent revised planning application was made in 2023. It is now 2026 and we are being told that a decision can be expected in the coming months. It is absolute insanity that a major infrastructural priority has been stuck in the planning process since 2023. I know the Government has prioritised reform in the area. Clearly it is needed because how long this process is taking and how much frustration it is causing for all stakeholders involved beggars belief.

The Galway Chamber of Commerce this week said that the continuing traffic gridlock is limiting the growth of Galway and threatening further inward investment. That would certainly be my understanding and I believe it has done that for some time, particularly with regard to multinationals establishing a base in Ireland for the first time. I am led to believe that Galway's traffic chaos has been a significant negative in such cases over the last number of years and other cities have benefited as a result.

I do not think anyone is saying that the ring road alone will solve all our traffic woes, but it is a significant and much-needed part of the solution. As I have said more broadly, it is unacceptable that such major infrastructural projects are stuck in the planning system for years. I ask the Leader of the House to raise the issue with Ministers and ask them to come to the House to discuss how planning reform will change that.

This year is the International Year of the Woman Farmer. It is a celebration and a call to action to improve visibility, opportunity and leadership for women in agriculture. Only approximately 13% of farm holders in Ireland are female, yet they make up approximately 34% of the agricultural workforce. This shows that many women work in significant roles on Irish farms, but that is not reflected in the ownership statistics. Where farmers have identified successors, over 80% of the identified successors are male. The cycle will continue.

I would like to ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Heydon, to come into the Chamber to talk about how he intends to celebrate the women in farming year and to have a debate on women in farming in general. I am not knocking male farmers at all. More power to them. However, women are playing a far more significant role than statistics are showing. Something needs to improve.

I ask the Leader for a debate on the future of retail in Ireland. We saw overnight and yesterday the sad news that another retail outlet, EuroGiant, has gone into liquidation. I offer my sympathy and solidarity to the 600-plus workers in the business and the founder, who obviously did not want to be in this position. I understand he put €2.5 million into the company in recent times to try to keep it afloat, but, sadly, that did not work.

The whole retail space in Ireland has changed. As somebody who worked in retail in a previous life, I think that elements of retail are under threat. We cannot change the whole online culture. That is here to stay and it would be foolhardy to think we could change it. However, we can be innovative by creating a retail experience as opposed to having people shop in retail outlets. There is going to have to be more creative thinking. When somebody goes shopping, it should be a leisurely afternoon of enjoyment where they are not necessarily as price conscious. People who are price conscious regularly have predetermined their shopping in discount stores or online.

The future of retail is important. The last thing we want is more dereliction in our towns and villages across the country. There is a EuroGiant store on The Height in Ennis. If that becomes vacant, it is not going to look good in the centre of the town, given the fact that millions have been spent on the paving in the town.

We need to be creative and to think outside the box. We need targeted supports for the retail sector in this country. I would like a debate on the future of retail with the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment in due course.

The Irish Dental Association has described the dental situation in Limerick as in a state of total collapse. At a recent Oireachtas health committee meeting, and indeed on our local media in Limerick, the Irish Dental Association CEO, Mr. Fintan Hourihan, has said that if the figures he is seeing are accurate, less than one in five children in Limerick is getting the preventative visits to which they are entitled.

Government policy is, as Members will know, that primary school children should be seen by a dentist in second, fourth and six classes. However, in 2023 in Limerick, out of 8,500 children eligible, only 1,600 were seen. That is less than one in five.

I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Health to come to the Chamber for a discussion and debate on the dental health system throughout the country, with a particular focus on the state of the system in Limerick. I would like the Minister to update the House on the strategies she will be deploying to address this challenge.

I raise a concern about the high number of disabled citizens, especially those with autism or an intellectual disability, who are often waiting the longest on our social housing lists. There are significant delays in providing suitable housing options for people. Some are still living at home with elderly parents who are no longer capable of caring for the individual. Others are still living in congregated settings, which were supposed to be phased out years ago. Others are still being inappropriately placed in nursing homes.

There is a lack of vision and planning. The Housing for All strategy was launched during the term of the previous Government. There was supposed to be co-operation between the HSE and the county council in every area to provide suitable housing options but that is not happening. I do not blame the local authorities in this case. They are prepared to provide the housing. Sometimes the house is just a regular house and there is no need for any sort of adaptations or anything like that but the person concerned may require some form of care or support within that house. That is not being provided by the HSE. Some of the cases are complex and others are not. It is unfair on people who are not being treated equally as citizens of this country. Their fair share of housing options is not being provided.

It often ends up in an emergency situation. When a parent or carer passes away, the individual is placed in a residential setting, often in a completely different county from where he or she grew up. It is very unfair. We need a discussion on housing options for our disabled citizens to ensure they are treated properly.

We have a massive issue with planning in this country. If a minor mistake is made or any information is missing from a planning application, the whole thing has to be resubmitted. We are delaying much-needed infrastructure because the Government will not develop a process that means information can be added or changed, as opposed to having to submit an entirely new application. Numerous families have contacted me about the lack of respite services in Monaghan. It now seems that because of an error in the HSE's planning application, there will be further delays in providing a site for respite care.

The HSE planned to demolish an existing building and replace it with a facility designed for up to five children at a time. It now seems that the application was considered incomplete and will have to be resubmitted.

The only thing missing from the application was a description of the nature and extent of the building. Works were expected to be completed this year, but who knows now when that building will even be started. I have submitted questions to the Ministers for education and disability on behalf of Special Needs Active Parents Monaghan in light of the urgent need for respite services in the area. Parents have been asking for those services for probably 15 years. I ask that the Minister for disability arrange a meeting with Special Needs Active Parents Monaghan at the earliest opportunity.

I call an Ceannaire to respond.

I thank all Senators for their contributions. Senator Fitzpatrick started by welcoming the recent Cabinet decision on Grace's law, which will ban the use of scramblers in public places. She acknowledged that the Minister for Transport will propose regulations to implement a total ban on scrambler use in public places and strengthen the existing enforcement powers of An Garda Síochána, with the intention of closing off any cases where scrambler use may previously have been legal outside appropriate off-road settings and to enhance powers of seizure to reduce the number of seized vehicles that end up back on the roads. We will have an opportunity in the coming months, following the publication of the legislation, to debate that matter.

Senator Fitzpatrick also referred to the weather we are having and commented that those in Dublin who want to get out of the rain may wish to go to the premiere of Eureka Day at the Gate Theatre. Róisín McBrinn, Colm O'Callaghan and the team at the Gate are to be commended on this play, which is being performed here following successful hit runs in London and on Broadway.

Senator Craughwell again raised the issue of defence and defence funding. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is due in the House on 25 February to discuss matters relating to defence. The Senator also raised concerns about cadet pay. He acknowledged that the Government has increased qualified entry pay for enlisted ranks. As a result, there is certainly a better career trajectory than there was a number of years ago.

Senator Collins referred to the decision to increase the pay of some of our CEOs and called for a debate on the waste of public money. I will request that. The Taoiseach is on record as saying that salaries for CEOs are set by an independent body and reflect recruitment challenges and the need to retain talent.

Senator Boyle referred to Garda numbers in Donegal and is looking for the Minister to come in. I am conscious that deployment is a matter for the Garda Commissioner, but, obviously, resourcing in that regard is a matter for the Government. I will request that the Minister come to the House to discuss policing in general. If the Senator wishes to have a debate on Donegal specifically, he may wish to table a Commencement matter.

Senator Crowe alluded to the ongoing saga of the Galway city ring road. The Senator is a strong advocate for the project and has spoken on many occasions about the need for that road, as have I and a majority - I will not say all - of the politicians from the city and county. The local authority has been a strong advocate as well. As the Senator knows, this is not just a road; it is part of the overall transportation strategy. The previous bypass was just a road project, but this is a transportation project. It includes the additions that have either been put in place and that are in progress in Galway, including BusConnects and a number of other initiatives. Now that the additional information has been submitted by Galway County Council on behalf of the city and the county and as a result of the fact that An Coimisiún Pleanála has decided not to request an oral hearing, we can have a decision on the ring road soon. I acknowledge the message from Karen Ronan, the CEO of Galway Chamber, on this matter during the week.

Senator Murphy O'Mahony raised the issue of women in farming. I acknowledge both her interest in this matter and the important role women play in their own right and as part of the family structure as well. In most cases, farming is not just about farmers themselves, be they male or female, because there is the structure of a family around that. Not everyone has that, perhaps, be they male or female, and we have spoken before about the issue of loneliness and things like that, although it is slightly different. I acknowledge the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026. I hope to see advocacy for, and promotion of, the role of women in farming and the agricultural sector.

Senator Martin Conway called for a debate on the future of retail. I will request that the Minister, Deputy Burke, come before us for such a debate.

The Senator commented on the sad news about the liquidation of EuroGiant and the loss of employment for 600-plus individuals. I hope they find employment close to home.

Senator Dee Ryan referred to the comments of the Irish Dental Association's CEO, Fintan Hourihan, at the health committee and outlined her particular concerns regarding Limerick. I am a former member of that committee. We have had a number of debates in this House on this matter over the past five years. There certainly are issues. I have suggested that recently retired dentists who may not wish to perform procedures could be encouraged - and paid, obviously - to perform checks in schools and highlight dental issues. The Minister spoke recently at a dental forum and mentioned encouraging people who have recently graduated to spend a period working in this country. I will again request a debate on this hugely important matter.

Senator Tully referred to housing and co-operation with the HSE and local authorities in respect of the housing waiting list, especially regarding disabled citizens, those with autism, etc. Sometimes, people end up being housed in different counties, which is hugely upsetting for them and their families. I will request a debate with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, on his plans for housing for the elderly in particular.

Senator Sarah O'Reilly raised the issue of planning delays. There is a process that once a planning application goes in, a check is carried out to ensure it is valid. In general, such checks can identify immediate problems. It is unfortunate that an error or omission was not picked up in this case. I do not know how much time was lost but I am sure the HSE will be in a position to resubmit that application very quickly. There is a validation process, an approval process and a period for submissions, etc. There could be issues if we allow a system whereby it is too easy for an applicant, be it the HSE or a private entity, to put in additional information. There has to be a statutory process. I hope that on this occasion the HSE is able to resubmit quickly and get that project moving.