I have received notice from Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill that, on the motion for the Commencement of the House today, he proposes to raise the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the progress made to date in the roll-out of a new support payment for sheep farmers.
I have also received notice from Senator Michelle Mulherin of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to address the delay in the delivery of new rural group water schemes to communities without a proper supply which have been in limbo since the abolition of the CLÁR programme in 2010 and to set out how capital for group water schemes will be funded and domestic consumers included in group water schemes will be billed.
I have also received notice from Senators Marie-Louise O’Donnell and Michael McDowell of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Justice and Equality to implement the as yet uncommenced sections of the Charities Act 2009 dealing with regulation and enforcement.
I have also received notice from Senator Denis Landy of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Health to state if he will provide an up-to-date report on the proposals to provide 21 step-down beds at Our Lady's Hospital, Cashel, as previously committed to in order to assist in reducing the overcrowding at South Tipperary General Hospital in Clonmel.
I have also received notice from Senator Colm Burke of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to seek a review by the European Commission of the tariff on fertiliser imported from outside the European Union.
I have also received notice from Senator Gerard P. Craughwell of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to put in place measures that will not require farmers to withdraw an animal for sale at a mart because one tag has been displaced from one of its ears while in transit between the farm and the mart in view of the fact that the current procedure is costing farmers up to €75 every time this is done.
I have also received notice from Senator Maura Hopkins of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to provide an update on the N5, Ballaghaderreen to Scramogue Road, project, the estimated timeframe for delivery of the project and the interim measures required to address current identified road safety issues on the existing N5 route, particularly between Frenchpark and Tulsk.
I have also received notice from Senator Kieran O’Donnell of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on plans for the provision of two new secondary schools at Castletroy and Mungret in Limerick.
I have also received notice from Senator Kevin Humphreys of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to inform the Seanad of the progress made in the delivery of 500 modular housing units to alleviate the housing crisis.
I have also received notice from Senator Máire Devine of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Justice and Equality to respond to the grave concerns about the proposed 50% cut in the number of night nursing staff at Cloverhill Prison.
I have also received notice from Senator Paul Gavan of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to state if he approved the landing or transit through Irish airspace of certain US military aircraft and, if so, why, given that the presence of these aircraft belonging to a belligerent state in or over Irish territory is in clear breach of Ireland's international obligations as a neutral state.
I have also received notice from Senator Paddy Burke of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to review the Government’s policy on the Road Safety Authority's tender process for driving licences to allow post offices to act as agents in co-ordinating and processing applications.
I have also received notice from Senator Aidan Davitt of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to give an update on plans to assist the 90 staff of Imperial Tobacco, Mullingar, which is due to close, in sourcing new employment and to ensure IDA Ireland will replace these jobs in Mullingar.
I have also received notice from Senator Lynn Ruane of the following matter:
The need for the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health services and older people to indicate whether she is aware of concerns raised by the Mental Health Commission in its 2015 annual report that people with severe mental health difficulties are living in HSE-run 24-hour staffed community residences around the country that are too large, have poor physical infrastructure, lack individualised care plans and, in effect, do not qualify as community care facilities as they are institutional in nature; to advise how many such residences there are; to state if she will extend the remit of the Mental Health Commission to empower it to regulate community-based services, as recommended in the review of the Mental Health Act 2001; and whether she will require the Office of the Inspector of Mental Health Services to conduct annual inspections of all 24-hour staffed community residences.
I have also received notice from Senator Pádraig Mac Lochlainn of the following matter:
The need for the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to seek a presidential decree for the release of the young Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa who has been imprisoned in Egyptian jails for the past three years, following the latest postponement of his trial until October.
I regard the matters raised by Senators Brian Ó Domhnaill, Michelle Mulherin, Marie-Louise O’Donnell and Michael McDowell, Denis Landy, Colm Burke, Gerard P. Craughwell, Maura Hopkins, Kieran O’Donnell, Kevin Humphreys, Máire Devine, Paul Gavan, Paddy Burke, Aidan Davitt and Lynn Ruane as suitable for discussion. I have selected the matters raised by Senators Brian Ó Domhnaill, Michelle Mulherin, Marie-Louise O’Donnell and Michael McDowell and Denis Landy and they will be taken now. Senators Colm Burke, Gerard P. Craughwell, Maura Hopkins, Kieran O’Donnell, Kevin Humphreys, Máire Devine, Paul Gavan, Paddy Burke, Aidan Davitt and Lynn Ruane may give notice on another day of the matters they wish to raise.
I regret that I have had to rule out of order the matter raised by Senator Pádraig Mac Lochlainn on the grounds that it involves a repeat of statements on the Ibrahim Halawa case.