I thank the Cathaoirleach. Before I respond, I confirm that the time for the group spokespersons on No. 3, statements on the school meals programme, is eight minutes and not five minutes as I mentioned earlier in my opening statement.

Senator O’Loughlin spoke about the Baldonnel Singers and cancer, and awareness regarding FND in Athy. We would welcome a debate this House around FND. I thank Senator O’Loughlin for putting forward this motion. She also spoke about the commuter belt and the budget expenditure per head of €1,152, which is below the national average. It is surprising to see anywhere below the national average, but especially a town like Kildare that is seen as part of the commuter belt for people coming into Dublin.

It is certainly surprising to see it below the national average. I hope that the Minister can bring it above the average in time.

Senator O'Loughlin also discussed a debate on public safety and public representation. Any debate regarding the safety of our councillors and other elected representatives is certainly welcome. The Local Authorities Members Association and the Association of Irish Local Government have done great work on the safety of our councillors over recent years. Making members' addresses open to the public leaves them in danger of attack. We should look at that. Anybody who is elected should have the right to not have his or her private address advertised on any leaflets from the local authority or anywhere else. It is certainly a discussion that needs to be had. I would welcome discussion with the representative bodies, the AILG and LAMA. They might come forward with something that we can address. I thank the Senator for taking the care to bring up the concerns of our local councillors.

Senator Cathal Byrne spoke about Macra na Feirme in Wexford and about the great work that Macra na Feirme does. We saw the wonderful work it does, especially with young people, at the ploughing championships. It encourages young people to get into farming. As we all know, if our young people are not encouraged into farming, we will not have farmers. The Senator said that one in three farmers is over the age of 65. Another stark figure is that one in three is under the age of 35. The figures are alarming to the say the least if we intend to have food security in this country. I hope there will be supports for younger farmers in the new CAP budget. Everybody has lobbied for that. We need a strong CAP budget if we intend to protect our younger farmers and encourage young people into farming.

The Senator also spoke about people retiring after farming land and the supports they will need from Government with regard to pensions and so on. I support his proposals. These people are after giving their lives to the farming sector. We would welcome a debate on generational renewal and where we intend to go with that. I thank the Senator for his comments.

Senator Sharon Keogan spoke about people who were at the protest in Moate last Sunday and about the anger and anxiety in that room. I attended that meeting in Moate and there was certainly frustration. The supports the Minister, Deputy Heydon, has rolled out, including fuel support for another five months, were very much welcomed at that meeting and were acknowledged by the top table. The supports that Government has given to the sector were welcomed and acknowledged by the people at the top table. Everybody knows where we are at this moment in time with regard to the fuel crisis. We had a debate on it here yesterday evening. The problem is not the price of crude oil but refining the oil when you harvest it out of the ground. We see all the damage that has been done to oil refineries all over the world. Unfortunately, this has seen the price of fuel increase all over the world. Ireland is in the bottom ten EU countries with regard to fuel prices. I would like to see supports in respect of home heating oil such as those the Senator spoke about. I hope the upcoming budget will include supports for people who use kerosene for that purpose.

Senators Collins, Lynch, Fitzpatrick, Nelson Murray and Cosgrove all mentioned this morning's walkout and protecting women from violence. Nobody can condone domestic violence. This morning, we saw people from across parties walk out to the front of Leinster House. We certainly have to support this sector. I hope we will see a debate in this House regarding gender-based violence. I thank all the Senators for raising the matter here this morning.

Senator Collins also spoke about CCTV in Limerick and about the €800,000 it costs to fund the CCTV cameras in Limerick city. It is a small amount to protect the citizens of Limerick. She also spoke about the regeneration fund and about the Mayor of Limerick having to put in funding. I suppose this falls under the remit of the Minister for justice. I was not really sure but it falls under his remit. CCTV is very important not only in Limerick, but all over Dublin and in our own towns, including Longford, because it gives everybody in the community a sense of security. It gives our gardaí a back-up so that, when crimes happen, they have something to go to that allows them to deal with the problem sooner rather than later. I certainly welcome that.

Senator Imelda Goldsboro spoke about the power outage in south Tipperary. She thanked the council and the ESB for the way in which they dealt with that outage. We have seen a number of storms, including Storm Éowyn, leading to outages in the past. The Senator spoke about medical supplies and about the vulnerable people in society who will need to be encouraged to take up PV environmental schemes. We are talking about vulnerable people in our communities, especially those who rely on electricity to run air mattresses or to support other health needs. Civil Defence is always available to provide support in an emergency. We encourage any citizen who needs back-up services to avail of them. I hope that funding will be in place to support this community.

Senator Tully also spoke about the walkout. She also spoke about children's shoes. In counties all over Ireland, children's shoes were placed on the steps of courthouses in a protest regarding the family law courts. She spoke about social workers, Tusla and child safety. Of course, child safety is a must. It is certainly not something I am going to delve into today. Everybody knows how I feel regarding child safety. It is certainly something we can discuss in the House going forward.

Senator Kennelly spoke about the Vintners Federation of Ireland and support for rural pubs in the budget. As he said, rural pubs are the lifeblood and soul of rural communities, especially in Kerry and in my hometown in County Longford. We have a rural pub, the 98 Bar. On Thursdays, all our young people come there to play trad music. It is wonderful to see 35 to 50 young people coming on a Thursday night to play trad music, to listen to each other and to embrace each other. It is a special occasion for everybody locally. It is the lifeblood of the community. Everybody looks forward to listening to Irish music on a Thursday evening. The Senator is correct. He spoke about a rural pub in south Kerry that the community bought and took over.

I compliment the people of Kerry for doing that. It is a new initiative that shows us they have belief in their community and they have strength in their community. It is very welcome. It is unfortunate that they had to do that but I am glad to see that they can keep the lights on in a rural pub. That is very important. I wish them well with that. Hopefully the next time I am in Kerry I will call in for a beverage. I look forward to seeing it.

Senator Noel O'Donovan spoke about infrastructure and the investment that Irish Water has done. For once in this House we have somebody coming in here not criticising Irish Water and instead complimenting them on the investment and the infrastructure they are putting into his local community, which is welcome to hear. The positives have to be heard in this House as well as the negatives. I welcome that. I hope going forward that we will hear a lot more of those news stories from other counties regarding Irish Water and the infrastructure.

The Senator also spoke about roads funding and maintenance in County Cork, and the maintenance of our local roads falling back to our local engineers who have knowledge on the ground. Certainly that is something a local engineer would have a level of knowledge and a level of experience of, and would see at first hand what is happening on the ground. There certainly needs to be discussion regarding roads funding and the full allocation coming down, with some of it ring-fenced for maintenance during the winter period. It is a worthwhile motion and something that we should discuss in this House.

Senator Andrews spoke about Seamus Carroll. Along with everyone in the House, I would like to sympathise with all the ushers, Seamus Carroll's family and his close friends. It must be very difficult for all his usher friends and all his work colleagues in this House on this very day. I hope we will have a one-minute silence afterwards if that is possible.

Senator Andrews also spoke about the Irish Wheelchair Association going abroad to play a game against Israel. I think our sentiments in this House have been well discussed regarding where Ireland stands with regard to Israel and sport. Any Irish team that travels abroad and represents our country on a national or international level is certainly welcome, and especially people with disabilities. I believe that we should not stand in anyone's way when sport comes into play and especially when they represent our country. The other night our Irish team spoke with their boots on the ground when it came to the victory in the soccer match. I have enough said on that. If there is any more that Senator Andrews needs to know on that, I will ask the Leader to follow up on it.

Senator Nelson Murray spoke about her two beautiful daughters and the decision on the best school for them to attend. The Senator also spoke about autism. One thing she does not have to worry about, but unfortunately other people in the Meath area have to worry about, is the lack of autism spaces in that county. The Senator spoke of the need for schools to have a calm area in the morning around children with autism and for the Government to provide adequate spaces and units, not only in County Meath but all over Ireland when it comes to autism. I will get the Leader to write to the Minister for education to get an update for Senator Nelson Murray regarding autism places in County Meath.

Senator Cosgrove also had sentiments regarding Seamus Carroll, our usher. The Senator also spoke about the over 100,000 public sector workers in the areas of health, education and local authorities who are being instructed on action today for a work to rule. Nurses, civil servants and school staff are among those taking part in the action over the delay in engaging with new public sector pay deals. I know that the Minister, Deputy Chambers, has been ongoing in negotiations with the workers. I hope that there will be a package in place in the upcoming budget and that we will see this resolved sooner rather than later.

Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about the walkout this morning and the work that the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, has done. She certainly highlighted the work the Minister has done regarding violence against women. The Senator said that there should be no tolerance for anyone who has committed a crime of violence against any woman. It should be welcome in this House that there should be no tolerance regarding any violence against any man or woman. We have seen an increase to the point that ten women have lost their lives this year already. In the papers this morning we see another three suspected cases in Sligo, Galway and Dublin. It is certainly on the increase. It is something that the Minister will have to address and will have to tackle going forward.

Senator Scahill spoke about the PV solar panels, which he raised yesterday evening. He also spoke about the supports for retrofitting, the NSAI, the building regulations and building controls regarding retrofitting of new homes and older homes, and the grants that are available. It was not the grants that the Senator was actually speaking to; it was about the building controls around the regulations. He is fearful that certain fly-by-night companies may have come into the sector for the quick buck while mixing some of these glues with a different mix and using it to stick the Styrofoam to the walls. He is concerned that in years to come, we will end up with another redress scheme. I agree with the Senator's sentiments that we must have proper building regulations and building controls. I hope that they are there. I certainly will ask our Leader to address this with our Minister to make sure that these are in place and that every company fitting insulation is registered and using the right materials for the climate we have in this country.

Senator Flynn also spoke about Seamus Carroll, our usher, as "the life and soul of Leinster House". She knew him on a personal level. The Senator also spoke about the walkout this morning for women in domestic violence and the Courts Service. When it comes to sensitivity around the courts, families going to court and the break-up of families, it is a very sensitive issue for anybody to stand up in this House and speak about families breaking up and one thing and another. I hope our Leader might get back to Senator Flynn with the information she asked about regarding how she can readdress the courts and the court system. I would not like to make a comment here today on that as I would be afraid to give the wrong comment.

Senator Sarah O'Reilly spoke about buildings being lit up in Dublin for certain communities and for certain organisations.

Some people have agreed with it and some have not. I will ask the Leader to give an update. I was not sure what buildings have been lit up. She said the Mansion House and other buildings had been lit up in the last number of days. I will ask the Leader to give her a full response tomorrow at the earliest convenience.

Senator Mark Duffy spoke about pensions for former An Post workers. An Post workers have been the link to rural communities. The person delivering the post may be the only person some of our elderly people living down boreens and lanes ever see on a daily basis. The Senator spoke about the 1984 dissolution of the then Department into An Post. I will call for a debate regarding that. I would hope that all pensions from that time would be brought up to the same level. I would be hopeful that we may be able to have a discussion in this House on that. I would openly welcome that debate.

Senator Craughwell-----

He congratulated Fine Gael on the training.

Senator Craughwell spoke about the taxi service and some companies owning 20 licences or more and hiring them out for €6,000. He also looked for a debate on the ownership of the taxis and why some companies owned 20-plus licences. He spoke about sole traders and the need for a debate regarding sole traders, taxi regulation and taxi services. Certainly, I would welcome a debate on this.

Senator Rabbitte spoke about solar farms. I am delighted that somebody has raised solar farms again. There has been no regulation of solar farms. England has a tiered system from 1 to 5 regarding agricultural land and peat land, with 1 being agricultural land of the highest use and 5 being peat land of the least use. It is not devaluing the land but pointing out that agricultural land has the most value for agriculture and not for generating electricity. Certainly, we should have a debate and look at that in this country. We cannot have vast amounts of good land given over to solar panels. We have seen it in County Longford and the Senator has also spoken about it in Galway. There is certainly a need for regulation of solar panels as well as a debate on funding of community-led initiatives from farmers regarding solar panels. If we got our electricity grid up to standard, the farming community could produce a lot of energy from solar panels on sheds.

I hope I have not missed anybody and if I have, I am very sorry. Senators will forgive me; it is my first day doing this.

Well done.

The Acting Leader has proposed a minute's silence to mark the passing of Seamus Carroll, a great friend of everybody in this House.