Niall Blaney
Agricultural Panel · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I particularly acknowledge Daniel and Jordan Coyle from Derry and international event rider, Susie Berry, from Down, who were all nominated in the world championships, as well as Jessica Kürten from Antrim, who leads a high-performance jumping programme.”
“Many of our national secondary routes have a lower annual average of daily traffic than some of our regional routes. I ask that we examine the top five or ten routes. The local authorities have the daily traffic data for all of these other regional routes.”
“I welcome the Minister of State. I will address a few of the issues raised by other speakers, although perhaps not the last one, because I did not hear any ideas in that speech. I very much welcome the national planning strategy and what is contained in this Bill.”
“When we go to an architect or engineer and ask them to design a new house to build, we trust the architect or engineer to design the house. More recently, we have given them powers to ensure that vision lines are sufficient.”
“Many of those workers are from rural Ireland. Many of those workers are in the GAA. If we really want to support rural Ireland, we need to get real about what we need to support and want to support. There are two issues that I want to address with the Minister of State in the short time that I have.”
“I want to refer to the work of Horse Sport Ireland and to wish Team Ireland every success as it prepares for the world championships in Aachen, Germany, which commence on 11 August. Horse Sport Ireland is the national governing body for equestrian sport.”
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“They are designing the system to the standards set down. We are putting our trust in them. When they sign off on a house, they are signing off on the system and the vision lines. The responsibility lies with them. That is what their insurance covers them for. That is the way to approach this because it will safeguard us in relation to wastewater systems into the future, whether they are Puraflo or septic tank systems. I believe that would be the smart way forward.”
“When we go to an architect or engineer and ask them to design a new house to build, we trust the architect or engineer to design the house. More recently, we have given them powers to ensure that vision lines are sufficient. Moreover, the architect has to sign off on the development, sign off on the vision lines and ensure the building is done according to what was in their plans. Otherwise, their reputation comes into question. We need to deal with that issue regarding wastewater systems. Local authorities are spending too much time dealing with them. We need to start giving authority to the professionals - the engineers and the architects. When they design a system, rather than having this decided by people in planning offices who are not qualified to say "Yes" or "No", we should put the onus back on the engineers.”
“Many of our national secondary routes have a lower annual average of daily traffic than some of our regional routes. I ask that we examine the top five or ten routes. The local authorities have the daily traffic data for all of these other regional routes. If we take the top five or ten regional routes, get the annual average for daily traffic and set it as a bar, we can compare that with the national secondary routes that drop below that bar. The N56 runs from Letterkenny to Creeslough and on to Donegal town. The N59 starts in Sligo and runs through Mayo before coming into Galway. There are many parts of those routes that have low average traffic. We should allow planning to take place on those routes. That is the avenue to do it. It is a safe way of doing it, and it needs to be done. The second issue concerns wastewater systems.”
“Many of those workers are from rural Ireland. Many of those workers are in the GAA. If we really want to support rural Ireland, we need to get real about what we need to support and want to support. There are two issues that I want to address with the Minister of State in the short time that I have. I have been harping on about these two issues for some time, but I feel they can and should be addressed, and that it is in our interest to address them. The first concerns national secondary roads. For planning purposes, I accept it cannot be addressed under this Bill, but it is work that the Department and the Minister, Deputy Browne, need to look at. National secondary routes are treated the same as national primary routes from the point of view of planning and the restrictions that are applied.”
“I welcome the Minister of State. I will address a few of the issues raised by other speakers, although perhaps not the last one, because I did not hear any ideas in that speech. I very much welcome the national planning strategy and what is contained in this Bill. As someone from rural Ireland and a coastal region, I believe the ideas behind this Bill are very welcome and will help to sustain rural Ireland. I listened to the Sinn Féin representative talk about the GAA and rural housing. I have never heard Sinn Féin welcome the national planning strategy. I was in the Chamber a number of months ago when Senator McCormack asked the Minister, Deputy Calleary, not to work with Tata Consultancy Services in relation to the auto-enrolment scheme, which I thought was disgraceful. It has created and supports 1,000 jobs in Donegal.”
“I recognise the commitment of the management, board and staff of Horse Sport Ireland. They work behind the scenes supporting athletes, developing high-performance programmes, administering breeding and coaching initiatives and a world-class studbook and promoting Irish equestrian sport nationally and internationally. They are fundamental to the success we see in the arena. I congratulate Horse Sport Ireland on all it continues to achieve. I wish the organisation every success with its upcoming international events. Above all, I wish Team Ireland every success in Germany as it begins its journey towards Los Angeles 2028.”
“I particularly acknowledge Daniel and Jordan Coyle from Derry and international event rider, Susie Berry, from Down, who were all nominated in the world championships, as well as Jessica Kürten from Antrim, who leads a high-performance jumping programme. Together, they reflect the strength of our 32-county equestrian community and the international reach of Irish sport. As Ireland holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, Horse Sport Ireland will welcome international equestrian delegates to Dublin by hosting the European Equestrian Federation’s general assembly in September and the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses’ general assembly in October. These events will bring leading organisations from across Europe and the world to Ireland, showcasing our international standing in equestrian sporting and breeding.”
“They will represent Ireland at the highest level in one of the world’s primary equestrian competitions. Equestrian sport is one of the few Olympic sports in which men and women compete together on equal terms and where athletes from across generations compete at the highest level. Ireland punches above its weight internationally in this regard, reflecting the quality of our athletes, horses, owners, breeders, coaches and support teams. Horse Sport Ireland is one of the finest examples of practical, all-island co-operation in Irish sport. Working in partnership with Sport Ireland and Sport NI, it supports athletes from every part of the island, as well as Irish riders across the world, who come together proudly as Team Ireland.”
“I want to refer to the work of Horse Sport Ireland and to wish Team Ireland every success as it prepares for the world championships in Aachen, Germany, which commence on 11 August. Horse Sport Ireland is the national governing body for equestrian sport. It is responsible for every aspect of the sport, from riding centres where thousands learn to ride horses for the first time each year to Olympian and Paralympian teams competing in showjumping, eventing, dressage and para-dressage. These upcoming world championships offer the first opportunity for Ireland’s equestrian athletes to qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. This is a significant milestone in the Olympic cycle. I extend my best wishes to our teams competing in showjumping, dressage, eventing and para-dressage.”
“That architect is trusted with the build of that house but the planning decider can turn around and say they do not accept that design for the effluent system. That is wrong. The architects are trusted to build the house; they should be trusted to put in the system that is designed. If they do not, it is on them. The architect is responsible for that house build. They also should be responsible for the septic tank. It is a simple measure. If we could trust the architects for that, we should be able to trust them to put in the proper system as well.”
“Then, whenever we go below that volume on a national secondary, we should start allowing some opening of the planning system to areas of low traffic volume and with fewer road safety difficulties, such as large portions of the N56 in Donegal, the N59 across Sligo, Mayo and into Galway, and many more examples across the country. It is a simple thing to do but it would be massively helpful to many rural parts of Ireland that are suffering decline and where people cannot get planning for themselves and their families, and businesses alike. The second issue is a simple matter in relation to planning when it comes to dealing with effluent from the average house. Currently, planners make a decision based on a design that is given by an architect.”
“I welcome the Minister of State and I will get straight to it. I have two points to make. As someone with a civil engineering background who used to draw up plans, the first issue I wish to raise is in relation to national secondary routes. I believe they should not be dealt with in the same manner as national primaries, particularly those that have a low annual daily traffic volume. Regional roads that have high traffic volumes need to be looked at in relation to this set of guidelines. We should take a rough average of perhaps the top 20 and get a figure for the annualised average daily traffic from those.”
“We really need a reinvestigation of our numbers on the Border and the workload they are carrying. Finally, to be more parochial, our county town is Lifford but our principal town is Letterkenny. We have a Garda station with 140 to 150 gardaí and it is no longer fit for purpose. I ask the Minister of State to start examining their needs. Whether it be through a new station or an extension, the process needs to start. I would appreciate if he could take a look at that. I thank him for his time.”
“The situation now is that resources in Northern Ireland are so low that the PSNI is asking colleagues from the Border counties to take on investigation of cross-Border crime because it does not have the resources. Some of those who come in here and tell us how to run the police services have the opportunity in Northern Ireland and they are not stepping up. However, there are real issues on the ground, particularly in the Border counties. Senator Joe O'Reilly raised this as well. There are much greater issues now with cross-Border crime but also with the cross-Border drug trade, whether that be on the ground, by air and on the coast. It is a very serious problem now. If ever there was a greater need to increase numbers again on the Border, it is now. Gardaí are dealing with a colossal amount of work.”
“Moreover, as others have said, the presence of An Garda Síochána over the past year and more on our streets and in our rural areas has been welcome. This response says it all about the mood between Government, the Commissioner and An Garda Síochána. We can have all the numbers we want, but if we do not have relations right and structures working properly, it is not going to be a good day for the policing of our country. I come from a county along the border with Northern Ireland. Recently, I have been having discussions with gardaí on the beat and senior gardaí in Donegal. We are probably in an unusual situation, given over the years there was so much heavy policing in the Border, whether it be in Northern Ireland or the Border region.”
“We must show a little bit of respect to those people who took those decisions because that was heavy lifting. Sometimes, as politicians, that must be done in order to move forward. Thankfully, as a result of those tough decisions that were taken, Fine Gael was in a position to move things on, and it did. We continue on that road today. A number of things have been alluded to. I am particularly pleased that during the tenure of the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, and his Fine Gael colleague, Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, along with the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, the mood within An Garda Síochána has transformed. It is not that long ago that we had a Garda Commissioner whereby the mood was different. That recruitment and approach have changed the mood in An Garda Síochána. It has to be commended on that.”
“I thank colleagues for bringing forward this motion. It is a very extensive and welcome motion. Like Senator McDowell, I too was a backbencher back in the late 2000s when we went through the Celtic tiger. It was a time when banks took decisions in this country that were not subject to policy we introduced, and they wrecked the economy. I was one of those backbenchers who took decisions that one of my colleagues alluded to a while ago. We took hard decisions, such as closing Templemore Garda College in 2008 to 2014. As a representative back in those days, along with 59 of my colleagues who lost their seats, we made those decisions knowing it would threaten our seats, but our policy was country first. That is part of the reason that we, as a party, are back today as the largest party in the State.”
“The Omagh bombing was one of the most tragic incidents on this island. It is important that we are transparent and open and have a proper investigation into these matters. We support the Minister with this Bill and look forward to deliberations starting in September.”
“Such things as the ownership of constituency offices should be investigated in this country because there are people of a certain party who seem to own all their constituency offices or the directors of Sinn Féin own them on their behalf. As for where those moneys have come from over the years-----”
“I also believe the relationship between Sinn Féin and some of the actors in the Real IRA who are being investigated also needs to be looked at. Its relationship with some of those actors needs consideration in relation to this inquiry. Another part of all of this is the relationship between Sinn Féin and the IRA over many decades, probably since the 1970s. Moreover, should we look-----”
“As the Minister outlined: The formal decision taken by the Government on 9 July 2024 to assist the inquiry, and to authorise officials to engage with the inquiry to explore mechanisms for working together, was taken in recognition of the importance of the inquiry for families and survivors and their quest for truth and justice. The programme for Government also clearly reiterates our commitment, stating that we will play our full part in legacy processes, including facilitating and supporting the Omagh inquiry. Those words are very important. I am pleased that a memorandum of understanding was agreed last April. The Minister set out the interesting fact that 29,000 pages have already been disclosed. That is quite a volume of work. That is very welcome. The Real IRA needs an awful lot more investigation.”
“The Minister is very welcome. I thank him for bringing the Bill to the House today. He has very much listened to our concerns. As Northern Ireland spokesperson for the Fianna Fáil Party, I am aware that people closely involved with the inquiry and the bombing in Omagh hold real concerns about the openness of the Irish Government to date in disclosing information and receiving evidence. This is the smartest approach because anybody would be nervous going across the Border to Omagh to give evidence. The Bill even addresses for the first time some of the concerns raised by Senator Clonan. He raised other issues today that need further consideration. The Bill, which honours the Government's commitment, is very welcome.”
“As the Senator from Mayo, Senator Mark Duffy, just said, we should have more devolved funding to local authorities. I agree with Senator Duffy on that. Ireland currently has much more centralised funding per capita than any other member state in the EU. This is a great opportunity to give extra funds to local authorities. They know where the accident black spots are. Councillors are well aware of where they are. They prioritise them month in and month out, raising motions and asking questions. Small moneys can go a long way to reduce the number of accidents and deaths. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and I commend it to the House.”
“As an immediate measure, it is proposed to amend regulations to increase the fees that accrue in respect of a seized vehicle each day in order to reduce the number of scramblers ending up back on the roads. We call on all scrambler users to obey the laws that are designed to ensure the safety of everyone. We ask family members to speak with those in their lives who might ride scramblers illegally and talk sense to them. There are a number of other things that we could do. E-scooters and scooters generally have very much become a factor in our lives, particularly in towns. We need to introduce a range of regulations and measures with regard to the use of scooters. Surgeons have highlighted that scooters are one of the biggest causes of brain injury. We need to take a serious look at that in terms of the current Act.”
“Following the tragic death that was alluded to earlier, namely the untimely death of Grace Lynch on 25 January - the Minister met Grace's family very recently - our focus is rightly on scramblers. We owe it to Grace, her family and her friends to introduce regulations to further restrict the inappropriate use of scramblers in public places as a matter of urgency. An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, has made it clear that there is no need for scramblers on public roads and that they should not be on public roads. Regulations are being prepared to explicitly prohibit the use of scramblers in any place where the public might be present and to make the mere use of scramblers in these prescribed locations an offence. These regulations will be made as a matter of urgency. The process is expected to conclude in a matter of weeks.”
“I call on the Minister of State and the Government to roll out expenditure in respect of the all-island rail programme on a timed basis. That would have a greater impact in reducing the number of road deaths than taking more cars off the roads because it would give workers an alternative. That is not say that other alternatives are not needed when it comes to our roads. Road safety is a key priority for Fianna Fáil. Our approach is about saving lives and preventing serious injuries for all road users. The starting point lies in recognising that road deaths and injuries should not be the price to pay for mobility. The current road safety strategy aims to achieve a 50% reduction in the number of serious injuries and fatalities on roads by 2030 and reach vision zero, which means zero deaths and injuries, on our roads by 2050.”
“More people are working, more people are on the move and more people are car owners. The answer is not always to increase the number of penalty points or take measures against drivers. The reality is that when there are more cars on the roads. it takes longer to get places. For example, it is more difficult for family members to get to work and to get their children to school and transport them from A to B in the evenings to participate in various activities. The reality is that people have to spend more time in their cars. That is something the Government and the Minister of State have to take into consideration. One of the best means of alleviating the volume of traffic on the roads would be by means of the delivery of more rail services.”
“I very much welcome the Minister of State, particularly in view of the announcements relating to roads funding that have come our way. It was good to see those announcements being made. I very much welcome the debate on this matter being brought to the floor of the House by my Fine Gael colleagues. I very much support, as do my Fianna Fáil colleagues, every aspect of the motion. There are a number of ways of looking at road safety and how to counter all the difficulties we have with road deaths. I disagree with Senator Joe Conway and his ideas in this regard. I acknowledge, however, that nobody has all the answers. In the past year or two, there was been more traffic on the roads than ever before. A big part of the reason for that is the fact that we have full employment.”
“Despite all that has been said in the lower House this scheme, which is not perfect yet, is a long way from where we were six or seven years ago. A lot of families are getting a resolution here and I commend the Bill to the House.”
“We need something similar for the market in Donegal and eventually across the other counties as well. If we do not, the market is in real bother. I ask the Minister to have a look at the information I put in there when he gets the opportunity. I also welcome the Bill’s treatment of conjoined dwellings. With my engineering hat on, the obvious thing with all these houses is that for whatever reason the south-west side of a house is the side affected first and the side that is affected the most. Where you have a conjoined house it is the house on the south-west side that is affected and the north-east side is least affected, so it is practical and very welcome. We have come a long way with this scheme. There has been a lot of emotion and a lot of difficult nights spent in houses across Donegal.”
“The issue raising its head is that if I want to sell my house in Donegal tomorrow I am required to get it tested. If it is tested and it shows sulphates that are above the levels, and in some cases well above the levels, but there is enough cement that the sulphates are not acting – meaning the house is not showing any signs of cracking because there was enough cement in my blocks – I still will not be able to sell my house because I am above the limits. Apparently something similar happened in Wales decades ago. I have sent examples of it to the Minister’s Department. There, a sliding scale was put in where apart from just the science and engineering, physical inspections would take place on a sliding scale where the determination of an engineer would say whether a house was good to go.”
“and I can probably get my house built and there are cases of it in Donegal. Despite what some said in the other House last night, there are houses of 2,500 sq. ft. getting built with 100% grants in Donegal. Whether I am at 1,000 sq. ft. or 1,500 sq. ft., if I had to reduce my house to 2,500 sq. ft. from, say, 3,500 sq. ft. or 4,500 sq. ft. I am still paying the mortgage for the 4,500 sq. ft. house and am expected to live in a house of 2,500 sq. ft. There is a disadvantage there. External walls and the boundaries of houses and garages are not included in the scheme but the same issues pertain. I would like the Minister to also have a look at those situations. The other situation arising relates to the mortgageability and the insurability of the houses.”
“I hope we have enough flexibility to make sure that for all these people something as simple as a doctor or occupational therapist’s recommendation will get them through the hoops and get them qualified for the scheme. That is a massive piece of work for those who are in an awful situation of not having a house to occupy while their new house is being built. There are still some outstanding issues and it would be remiss of me not to mention them. There are people who built very big houses and if they want the 100% scheme they will have to downsize. They are still paying mortgages for the large house they built originally. They are at a loss. It is a difficult call but it is something I ask the Minister to take into consideration again. They are at a loss and are as entitled to 100% as anybody else. With me it is 2,500 sq. ft.”
“That said, there are still issues with the scheme. Some of those I have brought to the Minister’s attention and I am delighted he is dealing with them, especially for those disabled families. I know a number of them in Donegal. One of them very close to me is Seán Gibbons and Louise, his disabled child. Due to the recommendations the Minister has in this part of the legislation they will in the new year be able to move on and build their house side by side. That is very welcome. I hope there is enough flexibility there for all the vulnerable families. Some fathers will take their children upstairs at night and one boy got adaptations and that.”
“The 229 houses in Donegal that are completed would not have been started. Thanks to those who stood by in government and stayed with the journey we took, and to the Ministers and officials, there are 229 families in Donegal who are getting ready for Christmas in brand new houses and are very happy in that position. Most of them got 100% redress. That has to go on the record strongly because you are constantly challenged in government and rightly so, but sometimes the spoof that is spun out of these Houses is a little hard to take. If some of the spoofers had their way, there would be a whole lot of people in Donegal sitting in crumbling houses that might even have fallen on them on at this stage. Thanks to the efforts and work that has gone on thus far, there is real progress in Donegal we can report.”
“The Minister is very welcome to the House. I thank him and his officials for all the work that has gone into the scheme. A lot of work was done in the last term under the previous Minister and now I welcome the changes the Minister is announcing today. It is worthwhile having a refresher on the journey we have come on in dealing with this issue on the ground. We all took an awful lot of flak in this House and the other House, especially in Donegal. We had many Oireachtas Members calling for the scheme to be scrapped as it was a waste of time. If we had taken their advice, those 3,511 online registrations would not be started today. Those 812 commencements that have been notified to homeowners would not be started today. Those 583 houses that are now on their way in Donegal would not be started today.”
“We all need to work together more. As I said, I welcome this tone tonight. Let us start working together. Let us not start applying deadlines. In terms of the legacy, we had a good dinner with the British ambassador. We had a good discussion. It is right that we do not conflate the legacy issues that we are now dealing with and this question. If we deal with legacy in the proper manner, we can help to build more trust. By building more trust, you gain respect. All that works to Irish unity. Putting dates ahead of us is not helpful. I welcome the motion and the opportunity to speak on it.”
“The people in Derry and Tyrone do not have a penny for their houses with mica or defective concrete blocks. We all have a job to do. We have stood in these Chambers, taken the flack, made the changes and delivered a scheme. Who is advocating for the people in Derry, Fermanagh and Tyrone? I do not know if there are also problems in Armagh but I know there are in the three counties I have mentioned because I have seen it. Who is advocating for the people there? If we want to share the island and we want to be all-island parties, it is time we all had an honest conversation with ourselves. I think of people such as Paul Quinn. When I think of the disappeared, I think we all still have work to do. We all have to step up to the plate to do our piece because not all questions are being answered. We all have work to do.”
“That is about bringing all the island together. It is about making sure that everywhere on the island has the same chances as everywhere else. It is important that the project gets over the line in a few weeks' time. It is about everybody pulling their weight and putting their shoulders to the wheel. We cannot afford for that project to be opposed any further. It must move forward. I listened to last night's debate in the Lower House about defective concrete blocks. I listened to some of Senator Murphy's colleagues, such as Deputies Doherty and Mac Lochlainn. They were jumping up and down about a scheme that is now in place. We stood by to ensure we got the changes that were needed. They were jumping up and down and saying that the scheme has done no good.”
“Stormont, up and down, did not help our strides for Irish unity. We all have a job to do. As politicians on the north and south of the island, we all have work to do. That sentiment of the Good Friday Agreement is something we do not reflect on enough. It is about building reconciliation and trust. It is also about building respect. It is about the next generations. We all could do more. I have been constantly raising the issue of the building of the A5, which probably affects the North more than most in the South. It affects us in Donegal particularly badly. We could have had that built back in 2016 when Senator Conor Murphy was at the helm and Stormont was brought down. We are now back again, we are providing funding to build it. We all need to work together to deliver this project. We cannot have any more obstruction.”
“be achieved through a sustained focus on and investment in reconciliation". We all need to spend some time reflecting on the part of that sentence which got us to the Good Friday Agreement, which was "reconciliation". Fianna Fáil has been very clear. We are determined to use Government to move reconciliation on this island from being empty words to being a defining element of what Government does. I believe that more plans, following on from the work of the shared island unit and the different projects that were put in place, will now move forward as well. I back the request to Government to do so. Looking back over the past ten years or so, one might get frustrated with the strides that have been made. Brexit certainly did not help our goals in relation to sharing this island or unity.”
“In recent decades, our party created the conditions for the ceasefires and showed incredible leadership in bringing about the Good Friday Agreement and securing its ratification. We are committed to harnessing the agreement’s full potential to work together across all communities for a shared and reconciled future. We welcome this debate and we will not be opposing the motion. Everyone on the island has the right to make the case for the constitutional future they wish to see, whether nationalist, unionist or neither. The approach of the Irish Government in relation to unity is guided by Article 3 of the Constitution, as amended by the people in 1998 to incorporate the framework set out in the Good Friday Agreement. As the programme for Government states, we are "committed to the unity of the Irish people and [believe] that this can ...”
“I very much welcome the tone of the debate here tonight so far. It has been quite constructive. It is very important because this issue is too important not to be constructive on at this stage. I think this should be our objective across the floor of the House. It is a fundamental objective of Fianna Fáil to secure, in peace and harmony, the unity of Ireland and all its people, including those who have chosen to make Ireland their home, harnessing the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement and building consensus around a shared island. Peace, reconciliation and unity by consent are core values for Fianna Fáil. We are proud of our record in achieving an unmatched series of historic breakthroughs.”
“That is another day’s work, but they play an important part in the fishing sector. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House today.”
“It is a tradition that is, in some way, in dire need of Government attention. I know we are giving that attention now with the appointment of the Minister of State to this role but we have a job on our hands. Even if you just take the mackerel quota, there is strain there. These third countries are posing an awful problem for us. At both EU and international level, we will stand up for fisheries in quota negotiations in order to return the maximum yield while maintaining stock levels according to the latest scientific evidence. I will finish with the point I made regarding the overfishing by third countries. It is important that we use whatever mechanisms we can find at EU level to stop countries like Norway overfishing. In the context of fishing, it is important that we do not forget our inshore fishermen and how are important they are.”
“This funding will continue to provide supports to key capital infrastructure projects in our fishery harbour centres, the seafood development programme and the important work carried out by our marine agencies. The recommendations of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea on 2026 fish stocks poses a significant challenge. At EU level, the Council of Ministers is expected to vote on the annual total allowable catches, TAC, and quotas regulation on 12 and 13 December 2025. Fianna Fáil is committed to continue to support our fishing communities and agriculture sectors. I grew up in Donegal and visited places like Killybegs and Greencastle. I was also a member on the council with Senator Boyle’s father. I have seen how deeply people have fought over the years for the rights of fishermen and fish stocks.”
“The one part of the motion I wish to highlight the most is where it calls on the Government to oppose any further concessions that allow third countries disproportionate access to Irish waters while showing disregard for the scientific advice of ICES. That is really the key point at the moment, considering negotiations that the Minister of State is in the middle of and those that will take place over the next month or two. It is a pertinent part of the motion. I wish the Minister of State well in his negotiations. We have now re-established the role of the Minister of State. He is in place and has secured a significant budget of €157.7 million to support the fisheries sector for 2026. That has to be welcomed.”
“First, I am delighted to support my Donegal colleague’s motion on sea fisheries I congratulate him on bringing it forward. Fianna Fáil welcomes this debate and will not be opposing the motion. I am delighted that the Minister of State is here. That he has his key officials with him shows the importance he is offering to the motion put in front of the House today. I commend him on being here. Ireland’s waters are one of our most valuable natural resources. Our coastline of 7,500 km is one of the longest in the EU. Fianna Fáil deeply values the role of fisheries in the future of our country and those who rely on this activity for their livelihood.”
“-----to show their voices and put them behind the project. They have been silent. It is not like them to be silent. We need them to stand up, show they are with us and that they want the project to be delivered as well. It is important for their political tenure that they be vociferous about this project. With the indulgence of the Leas-Chathaoirleach, my last point is that my colleague, Senator Gallagher, asked that we also ask the Minister for funding for the southern end of the road to ensure the Castleblayney to Ardee end is funded, we get the design done for it and the project under way as well.”
“We cannot afford for another muck-up in this project. We need delivery. I again ask my colleagues in Sinn Féin to work with us. They have to do their damnedest on this occasion. I ask the three colleagues I mentioned, Deputies Doherty and Mac Lochlainn and their colleague in Monaghan-----”