Senator Mary Seery-Kearney

I welcome the Bill and support its provisions generally. I will deal first with the two clarifications provided for in section 3 in respect of qualification for carer's benefit, carer's allowance and the carer's respite care grant.

Brian Hayes MEP today (Wednesday) said that the European Banking Authority's decision not to run stress tests on banks is a big risk to the financial stability of the European banking system.

Fine Gael Senator for Sligo Leitrim, Michael Comiskey, has welcomed the announcement by the Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring, that the Government will provide €43, 500 to support festivals in Sligo this year. This follows the announcement that funding of €564,000 has been approved by Fáilte Ireland to support 187 regional festivals and events taking place this year. Today’s news follows earlier announcements of almost €2.3m for 27 large national festivals throughout Ireland in 2015.

Fine Gael Senator for Kerry and Government Chief Whip in the Seanad, Paul Coghlan, speaking in the Seanad today, has highlighted the increased risk of online gambling as a result of recent interruptions to the National Lottery services.

“The Live Register has fallen for the 32nd consecutive month and now stands at 10.1%, but the real good news is the drop by almost 10% in the long-term unemployed and a decrease of just under 20% in the number of people under 25 who are signing on”, says Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, Fine Gael TD for Laois/Offaly and Chair of the Oireachtas Jobs Committee.

Fine Gael TD for Limerick, Party Chairperson and founder of the Irish Suicidology Association, Dan Neville, this week in Dáil Éireann raised the very important issue of Lyme disease with the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar TD.

Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, has advised Billy Kelleher TD to consider his own party’s lack of focus on drugs, before throwing cheap shots at Government policy and trying to politicise an area involving the most vulnerable patients.

Fine Gael Waterford Minister Paudie Coffey has today (Monday) met with residents of Blenheim Estate in Waterford City to discuss septic tank issues that are affecting homes in the area.

Speaking at the British Irish Chamber of Commerce Conference last Friday, Brian Hayes, Fine Gael MEP for Dublin said that Britain and Ireland could lead the way in Europe with the formation of a British-Irish Competitiveness Council.