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Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 10 Feb 2022

Vol. 282 No. 11

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

Today's Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the address to Seanad Éireann by MEPs representing the European Parliament South constituency, to be taken on the conclusion of the Order of Business, without debate; and No. 2, Private Members' business, Safe Access to Termination of Pregnancy Services Bill 2021 - Committee Stage, to be taken at 1.15 p.m. and to adjourn after two hours if not previously concluded.

I support the Order of Business as outlined by the Leader.

There is a lot of excitement and pent up anticipation among politicians in these Houses today about the imminent announcement of sports capital funding for our sports clubs, which will allow for much-needed development. Such is the excitement one would think guys in here will be donning tracksuits and showing their own sporting prowess. I am confident that the Minister of State with responsibility for sport, Deputy Chambers, will don his Santy costume and deliver handsomely for sports clubs.

When the euphoria from this dies down, however, we will require a reappraisal of the funding models we apply and how best to use the resources we have at our disposal. We have the crazy scenario in towns and villages across the country of GAA, soccer and rugby clubs all trying to develop facilities independently. They are fundraising among the same local people who probably have kids in two or three of the clubs. The concept of municipal sports grounds, so prevalent across Europe, including just across the water in England, is considered alien here. It is almost as if we cannot even consider it. Of course, that is due mainly to historical reasons, including the application of a ban by the GAA on people competing in other sports and on the use of facilities by other sports. We have got past that, however. I have made this point before and have been told by sporting commentators that I am crazy and so forth, but for 20 years I stood as a sports supporter on the sidelines and I have seen some really bad facilities. I have seen really good ones as well.

I believe it is not too late, especially when clubs are growing, in particular in the sphere of ladies' sport, whether soccer, GAA or rugby. The concept of municipal sports grounds should still be embraced and developed, especially given that we will see huge population growth in certain areas. We should have a proper debate in this Chamber on the whole model of sports funding and how best to apply it. As I have said before, sports get discussed in these Houses only if there is a major announcement or a bad news story. We should embrace sports and discuss how best to use the resources. I look forward to the announcement by the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, this week about sports capital funding. I congratulate all those who will be in receipt of this funding. I hope they get the best use out of it to deliver for our children and adults, but I think we can do even more in how we look at it.

Today the Cabinet is meeting to discuss what will happen in the inflationary situation in which we find ourselves as a country. This is not just an Irish problem; it is an international problem. I want to see the squeezed middle as well as the most vulnerable in society benefit.

I was talking yesterday to a person who has a very large mortgage and who told me that childcare is extremely expensive, that the cost of filling the car with diesel to go to work has increased by a third and that they find it very difficult to make ends meet. I welcome the electricity bonus or rebate that is due and hope that it is significantly increased, but we need to look at doing something in the areas of childcare, transport and fuel.

I also call on the financial institutions to be flexible with people, to give them breaks in their mortgages if they need them and to facilitate them with interest-only repayments for a period. We all hope that what is happening at the moment with our economy and the inflationary situation in which we find ourselves is temporary. The Government certainly will do its bit, but no matter what it does, I have no doubt but that it will not be enough and will not be welcomed. All other stakeholders, including utility providers and financial institutions, need to step up to the plate as well.

I have raised in this House before the issue of the cost of public transport in rural Ireland versus the cost of public transport in urban Ireland. It is an awful lot cheaper to get the train from Maynooth to Dublin than it is to get the train from Ennis to Galway or Limerick. There needs to be a fundamental rethink of the cost of public transport. It should be equal throughout the country. The people living in Ennis who commute to work in Limerick or Galway should have equal access and should not pay any more than the people in Maynooth who work in Dublin. I would like a debate on the cost of public transport at some stage because I believe that the intentions are good. We see what is happening with greenways, investment in public transport and upgrading of the train and bus fleets. The improvements that have been made to the Bus Éireann timetables in recent years have been fantastic, but there is an inequality there and it needs to be addressed.

I agree with Senator Cassells about the sports capital grants. We need a fundamental debate on the methodology used in respect of the grants. For every club that gets a sports capital grant, there should be an audit of its accessibility for people with disabilities in using its services. If the State is funding projects and programmes in clubs around the country, they should be accessible to everybody.

Yesterday we had a very interesting engagement in this House with three Galway Senators all sitting along the same bench, which was interesting in itself, as was the dynamic of the debate. The issue was engagement. Senator Pauline O'Reilly talked about Galway and the bypass road. What provoked me to think more about it was that I saw "Oireachtas Report" last night and An Taoiseach engaging in the Dáil Chamber on people's record of objections. We need to clarify this once and for all.

In today's edition of The Irish Times there are two major stories. In one, Project East Meath Limited is pursuing a planning issue through the High Court. Then there is a story about Drogheda SouthGate Shopping Centre. Then we have Balbriggan Community Council seeking to overturn approval for 95 apartments. Then we had Government Members opposing wind energy in County Clare. I make the point that they are entitled to do that. Today's edition of The Irish Times carries another story of a Cork city apartment scheme on Lower Friars Walk, which five county councillors are opposing. I agree that they have a right to engage. I support that absolutely. By the way, the opposition comes from all political parties and none.

On one hand, we are hearing some criticism of people engaging. All of us are representatives. We represent communities. I sound a note of caution. The Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, is coming to the House with legislation and I fully accept that. I am supportive of reform of the planning process in terms of making it faster but I am not in support of anything that would curtail the right of our citizens or elected representatives to make representations regarding planning. There is a subtle difference. We want a faster process but there is a mood out there that citizens, Deputies, Senators and city and county councillors are somehow objecting to housing for the sake of it so we need to be clear about it. I went to the trouble of looking on the board and saw that various Government Ministers are putting in objections. I have no problem with that either. We need to be clear. We do not need to talk out of both sides of our mouths. The point I am trying to make is that we must enable and encourage our citizens to participate in the planning process. I look forward to the new legislation but the focus must be on a faster system. We must have due regard for everyone's opinion.

This morning, the Minister for Agriculture announced the launch of a tender process for the management of co-operation projects as part of the CAP's agri-environmental scheme. That all sounds like a bit of a mouthful but what it actually means is that we are on the cusp of doing things in a different way - a way I believe will be hugely beneficial to the environment, land and farmers.

Members may all be familiar with the term "EIP", which stands for European innovation partnership. Over the past few years, many farmers in Ireland have been involved in EIPs. They include projects like the Burren, hen harrier, pearl mussel and Duncannon EIPs. These are projects in which a landscape-level approach is taken and farmers work collectively to deliver whatever that land, the rivers that flow through their land or the species common to their land require. Thanks to the knowledge, buy-in and belief of those farmers, these projects developed local solutions to local problems. Our EIPs are hugely successful. Indeed in Europe, they are hailed as ground-breaking.

I am really proud of the fact that we are extending this locally-led approach in the upcoming CAP. Eight areas have been identified as having a particular environmental characteristic. Farmers in those areas will be invited to engage in a new agri-environmental scheme through the co-operation project teams. The tender announced this morning is to put those teams in place. It is a large undertaking so I thank all those involved. I encourage farmers in the relevant areas to engage in the coming months.

This week also represented a positive week for Offaly tourism. Fáilte Ireland announced yesterday that it has expanded its footprint for Ireland's Hidden Heartlands to include Offaly along with Cavan, Westmeath and part of Tipperary. The Hidden Heartlands brand is centred around Ireland's natural rural beauty, untouched heritage and outdoor activities - things Ireland's hidden gem Offaly has in abundance.

I am delighted Offaly is being recognised for all it has to offer. At the Slieve Bloom Mountains, the most unspoiled and uncontested in the country, people will find a walking trial to suit every ability as well as 35 km of mountain bike trails and forest roads. At Lough Boora Discovery Park, a wealth of floral displays and wildlife can be spotted among the grasslands, lakes and wetlands. One can explore the 50 km of trails and see the natural recolonisation and pasturelands in the Midlands Bog and see how it provides a new habitat for the park's biodiversity. Offaly has an abundance of bogs. While we all know the importance of preserving our bogs in the battle against climate change, they also offer a unique habitat for wildlife and biodiversity. At the raised bog in Clara, one can walk the boardwalk and experience 10,000 years of history in 10 sq. km. Where else holds such an honour? While this is just a snapshot, I hope I have raised awareness of this beautiful region and shown what Offaly, a county with nature and communities at its heart, has to offer.

The first issue I would like to raise is a request for the Leader to schedule time for the Amnesty International report on apartheid in Israel. The findings of this report will come as no surprise to those of us who have visited the country. The Seanad should be afforded the time to debate the findings of that report.

The main issue I wish to raise is related to the cost of living. Something we often lose sight of is the cost borne by schools, which are also feeling the pinch through the rising cost of electricity. Unfortunately, we know there is a "no brainer" solution to helping schools cover the costs of their electricity, that is, allowing them to generate their own electricity with solar panels on roofs. A simple change in the regulations exempting schools from the need to apply for planning permission for solar panels would unleash massive demand that is currently blocked with unnecessary red tape and planning costs. I know there was a commitment in the climate action plan that by quarter 1 of this year, we would have those planning regulations but the latest parliamentary question response in January is now setting a timeline later in 2022. We are already seeing slippage in the climate action plan, the annexe of which was launched in December.

This morning, we opened The Irish Times to see that the Dublin Airport Authority is lodging an application for planning permission for a new solar panel farm. Any of us who have been following the solar panels on school debacle are bewildered and dismayed because the excuse the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has given to schools about why they cannot be exempted from having to apply for planning permission was that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage needed to carry out a study to make sure the solar panels would not interfere with planes flying into airports. They then reached a compromise and said we would get interim regulations that would allow schools to put solar panels on their roofs once the schools were nowhere near airports while they worked on this airport study. The interim regulations have taken longer than the full regulations would take and in the intervening period, Dublin Airport Authority is now applying for permission to build a solar panel farm. Members can see where I am going. It is farcical. Schools are crying out for the ability to put up solar panels without spending thousands of euro on applying for planning permission. They want to be part of the transition to a decarbonised future.

It also does not bode well for the implementation of the climate action plan if the Government cannot get the simple things right. This is low-hanging fruit. These are simple win-win measures so what hope do we have of halving our emissions by 2030 if we cannot get this sort of stuff over the line? The national climate action delivery board whose role is to hold each Department and public body accountable for the delivery of actions set out in the climate action plan did not even meet in 2020 despite a commitment that it would meet on a quarterly basis. Could the Leader write to the Taoiseach to explore what action can be taken and for heads to be banged together to remove these unnecessary blockages and allow schools to generate their own electricity? I also ask that she give consideration to scheduling time for a debate on the Amnesty International report on Israel.

I welcome the long-awaited report by the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces, which was published yesterday. I welcome the emphasis on personnel. It is vital that the Minister for Defence immediately agrees with the recommendation in the report that the representative associations be allowed affiliate with ICTU, an outcome that I, on behalf of the Labour Party, have been calling for in this House over the past number of years. This should be the first important step in delivering the outcomes of this report and can be done immediately.

The recommendation of the commission that the blanket exclusion of the Defence Forces from the Organisation of Working Time Act be removed is also to be welcomed. For serving members, getting rid of what many describe as free labour by rigorously enforcing the working time directive with appropriate compensation for those who work longer hours would be welcomed. I also welcome the emphasis placed on women and indeed men who want flexible and remote working opportunities. The bottom line is that in order to build our Defence Forces, we must retain the expertise and skills that exist in the Defence Forces and in doing so, pay, allowances and flexible work practices must be the first outcome of this new report. I would have liked to see more emphasis on accommodation for those who enlist and serve. This is an issue of retention of those who serve given the housing crisis.

We in the Labour Party welcome the report. I look forward to discussing its findings with the Minister, as previously indicated. There is a need to look at how this report will be implemented. I believe, as does my party, that we must ensure that the Minister of State is at the head or driving this report forward such is its importance and how critical it is to the future of our national security. Government must consider releasing him from other important jobs he has. Given the serious workload of the senior Minister, we believe this is critical. We cannot allow this report to sit on the shelf. This must be the watershed moment about which the Minister spoke when he was in the Seanad last week. There can be no turning back. We must invest in our Defence Forces and, critically, the representative associations of those who serve must be front and centre of the implementation of this report.

I welcome the report on gambling that was published yesterday by the Health Research Board. It is essential that we see the promised Government legislation on gambling. The report in question highlights that we could have 137,000 people on the gambling spectrum, and 12,000 problem gamblers. It also states that this figure may be an underestimate in light of the lack of responses from young males. Whatever the true figure, we cannot allow those estimated 137,000 people to continue to be at risk of gambling addiction and to have the potential for 120,000 of them to develop an even more serious habit. This is a public health issue and those affected need help. They also need legislation straight away.

I wish to raise the issue of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland's report into the collusion of state forces and unionist gangs in the murder of innocent people only 100 miles from here. The report by the ombudsman details how informers were retained even after they were suspected by the RUC of having been involved in murder. The use of murder gangs by the British was a tactic in many of their colonies, so it should not be surprising there was a policy of state collusion with loyalist gangs. The report states, "police prioritised intelligence gathering and protection of sources, over the detection of serious crime and their obligation to bring the perpetrators of those crimes to justice".

The ombudsman's investigation identified eight Ulster Defence Association-Ulster Freedom Fighters members who were linked, through intelligence, to the murders or attempted murders of 27 people. All eight of these individuals were found to be police informants. Weapons were donated to these killers by the British Army and police gave weapons back to these killers after they were confiscated. Another very worrying finding of the report is that the police did not warn people of real and imminent threats when doing so may have saved lives. The report shows that the state colluded in the murder of innocent people and there was routine destruction of evidence and documentation, as well as failure by the RUC special branch to share information on murder suspects. It is devastating and horrific. The report demonstrates just how rotten the actions of RUC special branch, and, without doubt, the British Army force research unit and MI5, were in terms of the use of murder gangs to carry out the assassination of innocent people.

It is now apparent why the British Government is proposing a Troubles amnesty. This must be opposed and the demands of the families that someone is held accountable for the murders of their loved ones must be upheld. It is not only the perpetrators of these crimes who must be held accountable, but the people at the highest level who sanctioned these murders. My heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones and who now realise the very police who were supposed to be investigating these murders were actually colluding with those responsible and even supplying them with weapons. I would like the Minister to comment on the report.

Like my colleague, Senator Boylan, I reiterate my call for a debate on Israeli apartheid in light of the publication last week of the report on the matter by Amnesty International. This week, Michael Ben-Yair, a former Israeli Attorney General, also concluded that the government he previously served is an apartheid regime. We cannot allow for the sting to be taken out of Amnesty's declaration and we must acknowledge the role we can play in keeping this issue front and centre of the work in this House.

I did not get a chance to speak in the debate on the matter on Tuesday, but I wish to highlight and congratulate the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the new scheme permitting the planting of up to 1 ha of native Irish trees without a licence. Anyone who knows me is aware of my absolute grá for native Irish trees. This is the month of the rowan tree - the mountain ash - which provides protection for one's home, so I recommend that all Senators one. It is a beautiful tree that protects your home. That is the power of native Irish trees.

An issue in the news this morning, and one on which I have previously called for a debate, is hedgerow management and, indeed, the eco-schemes within the new Common Agricultural Policy, CAP. I refer to the power that is vested in hedgerows the length and breadth of the country. The penal laws left a positive legacy in the context of fields and lands having to be walled off with hedgerows. They are biodiversity highways that sequester thousands of units of carbon every single year. There are so many farmers who are carbon neutral because of hedgerows. It is time to start talking about how to manage that and protect it. There is a need to educate farmers to allow them to protect our beautiful hedgerows because there is so much rich biodiversity - flora and fauna - within them. We should harvest that power.

I wish to raise an issue that I bring up quite a bit, namely, childcare. I wish to raise it again because almost every week it is getting worse for childcare on three levels. Parents are at their wits' end because they cannot get childcare for their kids. Parents who have been working from home for the past two years but who are now going back into the workplace and need to get childcare are being told they cannot get it until August at the earliest. Some are being told it will not be available until next February. They are at their wits' end and are panicking. There is also the issue of people who work in childcare deciding to leave it because the money is just not worth it. They cannot be paid enough. These are people who went to college for four years and want to be in childcare and work with young kids and babies but, for financial reasons, they are deciding they have to leave. There is also the fact that management are now at their wits' end because they cannot find replacements for people who are leaving, so the management themselves are deciding to leave.

I acknowledge that the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, is doing a phenomenal amount of work in his Department. He is a fantastic Minister and has made changes. Supports put in place by this Government in the past two years have been recognised and appreciated by the industry. They are clearly not enough, however. Plans that are to be brought forward by next September will dramatically change the childcare sector. That is really important but there are many businesses that will not survive until then. I have spoken to numerous childcare providers and they really do not think they will make it to September. We need emergency funding for the sector to keep them going. It just does not make sense that people cannot get their children in because there are not enough spaces, while people are leaving the industry because they cannot get paid. Until we recognise childcare providers as educators and pay them the correct wage, this issue will not be solved. Every week I see the work done in the Play and Learn crèche in Clonmel, which my child attends. These people are educators. I see my child develop and grow on the back of what they do. They need to be paid a fair wage and management need to be supported to be able to pay them that wage to retain the employment in these businesses.

I rise to ask the Leader to facilitate a debate on the issue raised by my learned colleague, Senator Wall, namely, the recent report on the Defence Forces. It is sad to realise that the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, the Minister and the conclusions of the White Paper all basically acknowledge the serious shortcoming in the Defence Forces. Numbers are declining. The Chief of Staff mentioned this morning that some Naval Service vessels have put to sea without a full complement of men or women. There are declining numbers. The pay situation is poor and there are poor job and promotion opportunities. Morale is very low. We are supposed to have a Naval Service and an Army that might protect our State and coastline but, regrettably, we rank last in the world compared with countries of a similar size and population. That is very sad. Yesterday, I spoke on the issue of penalty points for fishermen and masters of seagoing vessels in the context of fishing infringements, yet not alone is the Naval Service, which is already very compact and relatively small by international standards, obliged to police Irish boats, of which there are many - some of the fishermen say they are over-policed - but there are significant numbers of fishing vessels from Spain, France and Germany coming into Irish waters.

There is no way whatsoever that our relatively small naval fleet can do that work. This matter was raised in a more professional and knowledgeable way by Senator Wall. I want to concur with his remarks. If something is not done shortly about our Defence Forces and Naval Service, morale will suffer and the numbers involved will get smaller and smaller. A significant amount of money will have to be put into this, but I appreciate that the Minister has put his hands up and agreed that what the report says is correct and true. Changes must be made sooner rather than later.

I welcome the announcement in the Dáil from the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, that there will be an independent review at University Hospital Limerick carried out by HIQA. This is very welcome news because it is something I have been looking for for quite some time. I would like the support of the Leader for the publication of the report when it is produced. It is important that HIQA makes unannounced visits to hospitals because once people know it is coming things happen. It is important that it sees the hospital operating under normal circumstances. People are still waiting on trolleys there and the situation is very difficult not just for patients but staff.

Film in Limerick has been involved in the filming of "Smother" and "Hidden Assets". The project has been funded through FÍS and Screen Ireland. This is welcome news because there is in apprenticeship programme under TUS in Limerick. Film in Limerick is also funded by Innovation Limerick. A combination of the local authority and education sector is involved. This shows that Limerick and the mid-west are open to the film industry. Troy Studios, one of the largest film studios in Ireland, is on our doorstep in the old Dell factory. It is good to see funding being provided to local areas and trainees being involved in the making of films of such a high standard. There is an opening in that area. I encourage people to get involved in the industry.

I want to share with the Senators an extraordinary witness contribution at the Joint Committee on Disability Matters, Mr. Craig Kelly, who is president of Ability@Work, which is aligned to the Cope Foundation in Cork. He wants to work with employers and prepare them to employ people with disabilities. He has an intellectual disability but, to use his own words, that does not define him. He submitted applications for jobs. In the course of an interview he declared that he had a disability by speaking about his support worker and could see the faces of the people interviewing him drop. He shared his very personal experience of that. He used that experience to empower him. After more support and work, he worked with employers and his aides and supports and turned that around and was able to say he did not want to work with an employer that did not want to employ people with disabilities. That is very powerful.

We have a duty to ensure that all employers are open to proofing their job descriptions so that people with disabilities realise they can apply for jobs. One example that was given at the committee today was the use of terms in job advertising such as "excellent communicator" or asking for a driver licence when a job does not involve any driving. There are some ridiculous things that prohibit people from even applying for a job. We should turn that on its head to ensure that every job is proofed so that somebody with a disability can apply because we want workplaces to be places of inclusion.

I welcome that we have an opportunity to speak about the cost of disability. People with disabilities face poverty. Anything that aids the pathway to work for a person with a disability is important. Any employer out there should engage Mr. Kelly in order to prepare its workforce to work with people and have a diverse and fantastic workplace.

St. Patrick's Day parades will take place throughout the country in 2022. I have spoken to local parade organisers in Longford, including Ms Fiona Fenelon, the president of the local chamber of commerce, with regard to having a quiet street on the parade for those who cannot or have not been able to go to parades in recent years because of the noise, including sirens and music. I refer in particular to those in the autistic community who are not able to attend such events. Their needs should be taken on board.

Parade organisers in Longford have agreed that this year a section of the parade will have no music or sirens so that families can attend in the knowledge that they will be able to watch the parade at a certain area. I ask that every parade organiser in the country takes this idea on board and has a quiet street or section, and make it known that families can enjoy the parade, something they have waited a couple of years to do.

I also want to raise the issue of family resource centres and the lack of funding for additional centres. In my county, Longford, centres in Granard and Ballymahon have done significant work. They have expanded and been supported by the local authorities. However, Edgeworthstown, the second largest town in County Longford, with a population of 10,000, does not have such a facility. My colleague, Councillor Paul Ross, in Edgeworthstown is working hard to develop such a centre. In the previous round of funding two years ago, funding for 11 additional centres throughout the entire country was announced. I ask that the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, put extra finance in place. If he comes to the Chamber, it is something we should discuss. These centres are invaluable resources in all of our communities across the country.

I want to talk about a serious incident that happened in Blanchardstown a few weeks ago, where two teenagers were involved in a fight and there was a stabbing. Thankfully, the injuries were non-threatening according to reports. In the context of Safer Internet Day, I want to talk about cyberbullying. We are all aware of cyberbullying, and it is to be hoped it comes into focus more when we discuss the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill, part of which addresses the harmful content around cyberbullying, self-harming and eating disorders. We will have a rigorous debate about that. The attack in Blanchardstown shows how bad cyberbullying can get. We have seen the tragedy of bullying.

Social media can become unsocial media very quickly. Things can escalate very quickly. There is a new trend, for want of a better word, on social media forums which is translating into real fights that are filmed and posted on platforms. We have all been in such situations involving relationships, an image and our whole life, and that can impact the rest of our lives. Gardaí are aware of this trend and are engaging with schools in Dublin 15.

Given the severity of the issue, gardaí are trying to get the message out to parents. Gardaí, schools and parents who know about this phenomenon are doing their bit. I hope that under the Bill to which I referred we can strengthen what we can do. There needs to be awareness about this issue. I hope the individual complaints mechanism that is being considered is implemented. Identities need to be verified. There needs to be a step change in online safety. I want to raise awareness of how incidents like this are increasing in frequency.

I welcome the home energy scheme that is being rolled out.

There is going to be 100% support for people in need. That is all across the country. We saw that there were supports being put in place, in particular for just transition areas that were especially vulnerable and affected, maybe, by changes in traditional industries. Now we are going to be seeing this home energy upgrade scheme to reduce costs. When people can put insulation into walls, attics and cavity areas they can reduce costs by two thirds. Under the general scheme, people can get up to €25,000 in grants. Many people are interested, particularly for their parents. I am getting queries about how people can reduce heating costs for their parents. They may be living alone and are older in age. This is particularly the case in the west of Ireland where housing stock is a lot older. It is absolutely wonderful to see it. We are going to see €8 billion invested up to 2030. Of course, we need an apprenticeship scheme in order that we might scale up and have people in place to do this retrofitting.

The second fund I would like to mention is the seed innovation fund, which was announced this week. There will be more than €90 million available through this fund to support early-stage companies. It is basically venture capital for early-stage companies that are more high-risk. We have great talent in Ireland. All across our universities we are seeing campus-based start-ups in fintech, pharma, medtech and so many areas, particularly in green technologies and healthcare. In order for these start-ups to roll out from campuses, we need the support of seed capital. The fund is going to launch later this week and will be managed by Enterprise Ireland. It is part of the European Investment Fund. It seeds matched funding, €30 million from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and another matched fund from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund in conjunction with the European Investment Fund. It is phenomenal to see this injection of money. We have the talent, researchers and entrepreneurs out there. We are seeing all of this coming together and now we have the funds to match it. I look forward to seeing the companies and indigenous start-ups coming from Ireland.

I want to return to the issue of crime against our older people. I am sorry I have to raise this today. Let me at the outset say we are not here to frighten people but we have to deal with the facts. I am just quoting from a piece from today's edition of the Irish Independent about the most recent attack in Kildare:

The incident in Kildare happened at around 9.30 p.m. on Tuesday night when the three-man gang broke into the homeowner’s shed.

He was alerted to the break-in by the sound of his dog barking and was attacked when he confronted them.

It’s understood his wife locked herself into their home for her safety and alerted emergency services.

The Garda is saying that there is an increase in such attacks and that these roaming gangs that did so much damage before are back on the beat. I have confidence in the Garda tackling these gangs again. I know the Minister is concerned about this as we all are. As Oireachtas Members, we all have a job to do. The definition of a civil rights violation is any offence that occurs as a result of the use of force or the threat of force against the victim by the offender. I am sure Senator Ward and others will be able to speak far better about that than I can. We have to stop those attacks. People are frightened.

Even in my own county which is one of the safest counties in the country as per a survey from the Irish Examiner last year, there is a notable frequency of those attacks where a back or side window of a house has been broken and even when older people are sitting down having their tea, their houses are being ransacked. It has to stop. We all have a responsibility here. We cannot allow this to go on. We have a huge duty not just to talk about it.

I urge all community groups to be on alert. They must work within the law. I am not talking about vigilantism here. They must contact the Garda. We have a duty to drive around our areas in the evening time. This is happening at six, seven or eight o'clock in the evening, not late at night or early in the morning. I do not want to lecture people because politicians seen to be lecturing people nowadays get into bother. For God's sake, though, if we are out for the evening in a restaurant of whatever can we stop putting it up on social media? It is letting people know that the house is vacant or whatever. It is not a good thing to be doing.

I wish to comment on Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and how effective it is at delivering projects. A debate is required in the House with the Minister responsible for transport regarding these issues. Bandon in west Cork has had an unfinished bypass for the past few decades. There is currently a process of putting forward proposals for a new extension to this bypass, which is badly needed. I met representatives from TII last Friday to discuss the project. It is at stage 2 of a six-stage process and it could take another five or six years to deliver the project on the ground. In the meantime, Bandon is choked up. Thousands of articulated vehicles go down South Main Street and past my office every day. They are absolutely choking the town. The town wants to breathe and to be part of this vibrant energy that we have in west Cork. Because of the infrastructure we have, it is literally crumbling. Yesterday, one of the articulated lorries on the half-finished bypass lost its load and there was chaos for several hours.

The need for TII to deliver these projects in a more time-efficient manner is urgent. We need to make sure that the legislation is changed, if required, in order that we can have processes that are more effective and appropriate to what is required by society. Society wants these infrastructure projects to be delivered. Nobody wants thousands of articulated vehicles going through the town of Bandon every week. They do no good regarding safety of pedestrians, the toxic fumes they are producing or anything else. Even when it comes to motorists being held up in the gateway of west Cork in Bandon in traffic jams every morning, it makes no logical sense. We need to find a process so that TII can work more effectively. A debate with the Minister would be a healthy start.

I want to raise the issue of hyperemesis. Morning sickness is an unfortunate and unpleasant part of pregnancy for many women but hyperemesis is much more serious. It is a condition that results in very severe sickness and renders women malnourished and dehydrated at times. One in 100 pregnancies will result in hospitalisation of the expectant mother because of hyperemesis. There are drugs available to treat it. People may be aware of the media having covered high-profile cases of celebrities suffering from this condition. In Ireland, those drugs are currently not covered by any scheme. While some expectant mothers may be able to cover the cost of the medication, many cannot. For those who have to pay for it out of their pocket, it creates enormous anxiety and extra stress during pregnancy. For those who cannot, it creates enormous problems with the pregnancy. In all the circumstances that is wrong. It is unfair on the women involved. It endangers their pregnancies. This needs to be addressed.

I understand the medicines management agency has been given the task by the Minister to look at this in some detail. We hope it will come to a conclusion about that. Hyperemesis Ireland is running a campaign with the hashtag #HG2costly to highlight this and put pressure on the appropriate authorities to bring the drugs under a scheme that allows them to be given to women who need them. The House should also be supporting that campaign by perhaps having a debate and bringing the Minister in to help put this front and centre, deal with a real issue and make sure that the women who need the drugs can get them.

On the Commission on the Defence Forces, I wish to thank the 15-member commission and the chair, Aidan O'Driscoll, for their work. It is noteworthy that there were 500 submissions. About 1,000 military personnel were interviewed. The report is going to foster real debate about the Defence Forces that Ireland needs as a modern European country. There are 69 recommendations in the report, many of them very significant changes. The Minister is seeking the views of other stakeholders and will return with an action plan, which absolutely needs to be time bound. However, he should not wait for that to start discussions and engagement with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Without a shadow of a doubt, it is essential that a permanent pay review body for the military is put in place. That must begin here and now, along with the recommendation that those within the Army can affiliate to ICTU and that there is a progression towards proper pay and resources for the Army.

I will mention one other matter. Councillor Michael Sheehan from Gorey contacted me yesterday evening to tell me an horrific story about a young woman from New Ross who put her phone for sale on the donedeal.ie website and was invited to meet a buyer in Castledermot in County Kildare. She was to meet an individual at 7.30 p.m. on a dark evening in a relatively lonely place. Luckily, she brought her boyfriend with her. When she got out of the car, a man jumped out with a hammer and tried to pull her into another vehicle.

There are a number of lessons to be learned from this. The operators of the donedeal.ie website were contacted, along with the Garda, but there was no legitimate phone number for the individual in question. Any community-based organisation such as the donedeal.ie website must do due diligence in this respect. It must ensure it can work on behalf of people. If somebody is selling or exchanging something, they should not do it late at night and in darkness in a place they do not know. There is a lesson for all of us here.

It has probably been mentioned but the one-stop shop element of the announced retrofit programme is even better than I expected. The concept of a one-stop shop in this respect is absolutely incredible, as it will organise and project manage the work. It will carry out an assessment of the home and tell people exactly what is the best type of stuff to go into that home. These people will come back out after the work is completed to ensure the work is up to a very good standard. We are achieving two goals with this retrofit scheme. We are making the process financially attractive and viable for people, which is very important. We are also facilitating ease of access, making it so simple for people to retrofit their home, whether it is a deep retrofit or smaller work. These two characteristics are what make it such a good and attractive scheme.

I have a query on one aspect that I would like to raise with the Minister. It is very important because this is a radical scheme that has been introduced. It will be similar to what happened in the 1960s, when over the space of 15 or 20 years everyone switched from open fires to central heating. This will be a radical programme and it deserves a very detailed debate in the Seanad at some stage. I would like to see that.

On the street where I live in Dundalk, many of the houses are protected structures. They may be 100 years old and we are not talking about ancient buildings. We need a dedicated policy between the appropriate Department and the Heritage Council to deal with how somebody in a protected structure would be able to retrofit a home. It is a section of society that could be forgotten about in a general retrofit scheme. If a person lives in a protected structure, retrofitting can nevertheless happen and it is possible to make that home warmer, but it must be done in a managed way. The sooner we get that guidance published on how to make this happen, the better.

I thank Senators for their comments. Senators McGahon and Dolan spoke about the home energy scheme announced this week and it really is a momentous amount of money being reinvested. It is taxpayers' money and it belongs to all citizens but it is about reinvestment in citizens' lives and making their homes much warmer, cosier and a less costly place in which to live. I am old enough to remember when we went from back boilers in the 1970s to central heating, and it took years for all the houses to make that change. This is really another generational change and I hope it does not take too long, particularly with respect to the houses most in need. We all know older couples in particular who are absolutely perished with the cold in their houses. These are the houses we should start with, as opposed to places that may be less in need. I look forward to the day all of us can get our houses retrofitted. Senator McGahon made a valid point about protected structures and I will contact the Minister to ensure the relevant bodies speak to each other about that.

Senators O'Loughlin, O'Donovan and Wall mentioned the Defence Forces report published yesterday. I have already requested a debate time from the Minister and I have no doubt I will get told that we should wait until the Minister and his departmental officials have the opportunity to consider the report and respond. I genuinely believe very valid points must be made by Members in this House to feed into the Minister's response so I will keep pushing to get that debate on the report.

Senator Ward spoke about the very serious impact that hyperemesis has had on women. It is welcome we are talking about this a bit more. The Senator raised the matter this morning and other colleagues have mentioned it in the past number of weeks, probably as a result of the campaign to ensure it can be included in the medical scheme of drugs acceptable to be paid for. This might seem like a fool's errand because the women who are lucky enough to be able to afford this treatment pay for it and it is very costly. Far fewer women can probably afford it than we might think, and the cost to the State from women who end up in hospital as a result of this condition is probably far in excess of what it would cost to provide the medicine to try to keep the women safe, well and out of hospital in the first place. I support the campaign and thank the Senator for raising the matter.

Senator Lombard mentioned Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the very frustrating multiple-stage processes we have to get any very large infrastructural project done in this country. He spoke about Bandon and the bypass that is only on its second stage, despite the project being years old. We all know such projects. In my constituency we have been talking about metro north for 20 years and we will still be talking about it for another ten or 15 years. It makes no sense that we will spend two and a half years getting planning permission before waiting another two and a half years before we start procuring the products we need. Does anybody really think we are not going to get planning permission for something we have been talking about for 20 years? We must look at these processes. One of the debates we have under Seanad reform is to engage with interested bodies and this might one to look at. Perhaps we will bring it up in the Committee on Procedure and Privileges. It is definitely something to be looked at.

Senator Eugene Murphy spoke this morning about crimes against older people. I do not know if it is just me but since Christmas, all I seem to be reading in the newspapers are stories about violent crimes against young women and really violent crimes against our older generation. I do not know if they have just massively increased in the past number of months or whether my awareness of these incidents has been heightened. I am not really sure. There is a 73-year-old pensioner fighting for his life in hospital and the Senator spoke about a couple this morning. I cannot imagine how frightened that lady must have been to lock herself in her own house with her husband being taken on by three thugs and gurriers in the back garden. We really have a problem where people do not feel safe in their homes or castles. It is not acceptable. Perhaps we need to have another debate or conversation around that. I will get back to the Senator and let him know.

Senator Currie mentioned the new age practice of organising fights so we can get them on video and put them on social media. I do not know what is going on in the world, to be honest. We must reflect on a couple of points. The culture we are living in is changing and perhaps it is because the deterrents are not keeping up with crimes as they move.

On a much nicer note, Senator Carrigy relayed a really lovely suggestion of having quiet spots along the route of the St. Patrick's Day parade. I know we are all welcoming back parades this year because we have not had them for the past number of years. It is a lovely idea to have a quiet spot where families of children with special and extra needs can enjoy what most of us take for granted in a special way. Perhaps we could write to local authorities before they start planning for these parades and make them aware of this idea. I had never heard of it before the Senator mentioned it this morning. It is a lovely idea. We might take it on ourselves, with the Senator's permission, to write to local authority chief executive officers and make them aware that we want to be inclusive and allow everybody to enjoy what is our national holiday. I thank the Senator for bringing this matter up.

Senator Seery Kearney spoke about a young man, Mr. Craig Kelly, who sounds remarkable. He spoke at this morning's meeting of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. I am aware from my days in the Department of Social Protection that there are grants and forms of encouragement for companies to take people of all abilities into the workforce. It does not quite work out as well as it might on paper and this is certainly something we should return to.

Senator Maria Byrne spoke about the independent review into University Hospital Limerick, which is very welcome not just by the Limerick Members in this House but by all the people in the surrounding areas who rely so heavily on University Hospital Limerick. I absolutely agree with the Senator that the report must be issued and published so we can discuss it. It must be acted upon and HIQA must make unannounced visits. We know there is a systemic problem in University Hospital Limerick as the same issues that occur periodically in other hospitals seem to arise daily in Limerick. Something is seriously wrong and we look forward to getting to the bottom of it and maybe fixing that, please God.

Senator Ahearn talked about access to childcare and the fact that there are no places. We changed the industry number of years ago to make level 7 the minimum education requirement but we did not change the funding to pay these women - and they are women. We need to have a debate again on how we value care. The Committee on Gender Equality that was established a number of weeks ago is certainly going to try to implement the recommendations from the Citizens' Assembly. We have a long time been talking about these kind of things and we need to start acting on them.

Senator McGreehan raised the issue of native Irish trees. It is clear from how she talks about them that she has a real grá for them and it reflected on the debate we had this week.

Senator Black brought up the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland report. Marie Anderson was on the radio on Tuesday. She also is a remarkable woman. The word "shocking" is not serious enough to reflect what she is uncovering. What I took solace from is that she said she is only warming up. This certainly will not be the end of what she will try to shine a light upon. I genuinely say that how we reflect on the past obviously reflects on ourselves. There is dignity required for all of the people who died and all of the families who lost loved ones. Sometimes that gets a little bit lost. I thank Senator Black for bringing that up. I have asked for a debate on it, just to let her know. As I have also asked, as Senator Boylan brought up this morning and Senator Black did last week, for a debate on the Amnesty International report. Senator Chambers contacted me this morning to ask for the debate. I suggested to her that I had already done so last week on Senator Black's request, but I will chase up and try to get a debate and a time.

I sit here and think, "Only in Ireland," on certain occasions, such as this one. Senator Boylan also talked about how the ability for schools to put solar panels on their roofs in order that they can provide some of their own electricity and perhaps sell it back is being halted by the obligation to do a report into whether those solar panels will affect the airports around the country, in respect of planes landing and taking off. Yet, Dublin Airport is applying for a solar farm. It beggars belief. I will send a letter highlighting that to the Taoiseach on her request.

Senator Wall, apart from speaking on the report on the Defence Forces, spoke about the gambling report that was issued yesterday. The research being done is very welcome and it will feed into the new regulator office being established. However, I was concerned that people who do a weekly lotto of two lines were included with people with gambling addictions. I thought this was odd. I do not know about everybody else, but I am assuming nearly everybody does the lotto once in a blue moon or on a weekly basis. Therefore, I thought it was odd.

However, what was more concerning was that people who have serious addictions but have money and, therefore, their gambling does not impact on household finances, were not included in the same manner as those who are at risk and needing help. That should be irrelevant. The outcome of the illness would obviously impact people with less income in their households than people with more income. However, if it is an illness, then we need to measure, monitor and help everybody who has the illness, and not just say, "Well, sure, they have loads of money, so they are grand." That was a bit odd. The welcome report and research is timely and it will feed into the establishment of the regulatory body.

The Minister of State, Senator Hackett, talked about the new European innovation partnership, EIP, process in the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, which is still in its infancy. It is very welcome and it will only grow with time.

Senator Boyhan spoke about the ability of people to make observations on and, indeed, object to planning where they think the planning is not suitable or required in their own areas. Obviously, nobody will ever curtail anybody from making observations or, indeed, objecting to bad planning. In the past number of weeks, the Taoiseach has been speaking about how, when there are serial objectors, we have to question what is at the root of the serial objections. We are all aware that there are certain people who do not live anywhere remotely close to something and yet they object. We probably need to find out why and address the issues, as opposed to complaining about it. We certainly will not ever curtail anybody's ability to object to bad planning. We have all seen and experienced bad planning, unfortunately.

Senator Conway asked for a debate on the cost of public transport, which I will certainly do.

Senator Cassells opened our contributions today by talking about something that we will all welcome in spades when we get the clubs' announcement of money and funding in the next couple of days, which is very good. He is absolutely right. Whether a person lives in rural or urban Ireland, we see competing clubs all wanting to have their own Astroturf pitch or dressing rooms. One can say that is a hangover from years gone by and the way clubs used to compete with each other. There is absolutely nothing stopping us from putting in new clauses whereby new Astroturf pitches that go into towns have to be shared facilities and, indeed, as they grow, they become municipal sporting campuses. Where there is a will, there is a way.

What we currently have in the country is everybody trying to compete with everybody else, without having the shared facility and shared mentality of that. The Senator is right. My kids are older now but when they were smaller, I would be running from Billy to Jack and from one club to another. All of our kids play more than one sport and enjoy more than one local activity. We should be funding and putting together schemes that look for best value for money.

Order of Business agreed to.
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