I have received notice from Senator Darragh O'Brien that, on the motion for the Adjournment of the House today, he proposes to raise the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Education and Skills to provide enhanced safety measures for pupils in schools accessed by roads that have not been taken in charge by local authorities.
I have also received notice from Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to clarify the current and envisaged legal position for seaweed cutters and those extracting material from the foreshore around the country under the Foreshore Act 1933 and subsequent Acts, regardless of whether they have private title to the foreshore.
I have also received notice from Senator John Whelan of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to outline if he has concerns about the lax oversight and light touch regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency of the ongoing and long-running unlicensed, unregulated and potentially harmful and hazardous open-vent emissions from the Enva waste oil recycling plant in Portlaoise, despite a litany of public complaints dating back over 14 years.
I have also received notice from Senator Colm Burke of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Social Protection to review the current procedure that applies to the payment of maternity benefit for those who are self-employed and, in particular, the current practice whereby benefit is not paid when the child is born in the first six months of the year.
I regard the matters raised by the Senators as suitable for discussion on the Adjournment and they will be taken at the conclusion of business.
Before the commencement of the Order of Business, I take the opportunity to wish Ms Jody Blake, Clerk Assistant of the Seanad and native of Golden, County Tipperary, a very happy retirement. Jody began her career in the then Department of Fisheries and Food in 1975 and transferred to the Houses of the Oireachtas in 1978. She worked in various sections, including the interparliamentary unit, personnel, the committees and the Questions Office, before being appointed Clerk Assistant of the Seanad in 1991. There are not many Members who were here at that time, other than the Leas-Chathaoirleach and Senators David Norris and Paschal Mooney. Senator Paul Bradford was a Member of the other House. Jody was the expert on Private Bills and the Standing Orders relating to them. She was a great person to whom to go for advice and we all very much appreciate the work she has done for the past 23 years. We wish her well in her retirement. She will be sadly missed in the Houses of the Oireachtas.