Before Senator Doherty announces the Order of Business, I welcome our guests in the Visitors Gallery. It is lovely to have them here.
An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the proposal for a Council decision on adding the violation of Union restrictive measures to the areas of crime laid down in Article 83(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to be taken without debate on the conclusion of the Order of Business; No. 2, Institutional Burials Bill 2022 - Committee Stage, to be taken at 2.45 p.m. or on conclusion of No. 1, whichever is the later, and to adjourn after three hours, if not previously concluded; No. 3, the Higher Education Authority Bill 2022 - Second Stage, to be taken at 5.45 p.m. or on the conclusion of No. 2, whichever is the later, and to conclude after two hours, if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, the contributions of group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes each and those of other Senators not to exceed five minutes each and the Minister to be given no less than ten minutes to reply to the debate; and No. 4, the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022 - Report and Final Stages, to be taken at 7.45 p.m. or on the conclusion of No. 3, whichever is the later, and the proceedings thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to conclusion after two hours by the putting of one question from the Chair which shall with regard to amendments include only those set down or accepted by the Government.
I start by condemning in the strongest possible terms the latest attack on the poor Ukrainian people in the city of Kremenchuk. Imagine being out with a member of one's family in a shopping centre in Dublin to pick up the basic foods or clothes one wants and these missiles suddenly hitting, with people dead and injured. It is utterly outrageous and monstrous carry-on. Every Member, including the Leader and you, a Leas-Chathaoirligh, will join me in condemning this blatant and outrageous attack on people. There seems to be no end of it from Russia, with innocent people being hit down in this way. It is so tragic.
It was appalling to listen to the news reports last night, to see the destruction and to see bodies and people being taken out of a building that had been completely destroyed. It is just too bad, and it is important that all countries, including ours, condemn such actions by Russia. They are being perpetrated by Russia, regardless of what it says.
I welcome the Government's plan to tackle domestic and gender violence.
It is very important this is done. I welcome the statement by the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, and the Government. We hope that will progress very quickly. I know it is something the Leader has a major interest in. We do not have a refuge in County Roscommon. I am glad to see the Government will move to ensure that every county will have a refuge.
On another good note, I am glad to see that Irish workers are the most productive in the world, according to the Central Statistics Office. According to that body, workers in the Republic added an average of €95.76 to the value to the economy for every hour worked in 2020. We should laud all our workers and commend them because the Irish have a good work ethic. It is lovely to see that bit of good news. I wanted to note that today.
I will very briefly refer to the fact that the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, this morning announced an extra 1,000 college places. That will be very important to our student population as regards the points race. The places will be in IT, architecture, education, engineering and other areas. That is important. I am glad to see the Minister and the Government have acted on that.
I understand the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, brought legislation to Cabinet this morning with the publication of the Health (Exemption for Children from Public In-Patient Charges) Bill 2022. As Members know, this will pave the way for the abolition of overnight and day case inpatient charges for children aged under 16 in all public hospitals. That will be very much welcomed by many people. I hope the Bill passes quickly.
While I have no difficulty agreeing with everything the Senator raised, I will refer only to his remarks regarding the events in Kyiv. We all stand in horror at that. It is subhuman and blights humanity.
I would like to be associated with the remarks of the Leas-Chathaoirleach and those of Senator Murphy on the latest atrocities in Ukraine. It is heartbreaking for all involved.
We all know that the cost of living is an issue that has come to the fore with rising inflation and the associated impact of the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Fuel prices are certainly putting people to the pin of their collar. I have met with numerous groups regarding cost-of-living issues. I recently met with people involved in providing home helps, who do a tremendously important job for our loved ones throughout the country. They are feeling the pinch because they have to drive every day to their jobs to meet their patients or the people they have to help. It is putting an undue burden on those workers who are low paid as it is.
I ask the Leader to contact the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, regarding a stipend or additional funding for home helps to cover their increased costs. These home helps also informed me they will not receive the €1,000 pandemic bonus payment, as I understand it, because they are agency staff as opposed to home-care assistants working for the HSE. That is not good enough because they do a tremendously important job. They are on the front line and many of them worked during the Covid period. Those who worked during that period should be entitled to the €1,000 payment. I ask the Leader to raise that with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly.
Chas mé le hoibrithe cúnamh baile le déanaí agus d'ardaigh siad costas breosla, peitreal agus díosal, mar go mbíonn orthu taisteal ó áit go háit chun an tseirbhís a chur ar fáil. Mar is eol don Cheannaire, tá na tithe scaipthe amach óna chéile in a lán áiteanna i gConamara agus bíonn na hoibrithe ag taisteal leathuair an chloig ó theach go teach chun cúram a chur ar fáil. Déanann siad jab fíorthábhachtach ach cosnaíonn sé níos mó an jab a dhéanamh mar gheall ar an ngéarchéim agus mar gheall ar an ardú praghsanna. Freisin, ní bheidh siad i dteideal don €1,000 a bheidh oibrithe ón HSE ag fáil. Níl sé seo féaráilte dóibh siúd a chuir na seirbhísí seo ar fáil le linn na tréimhse Covid. Ba chóir an t-aitheantas céanna a thabhairt dóibh.
There are many rural constituencies in particular where home helps have to travel, whether it is for 20 minutes or half an hour, to get from house to house. These houses are spread out from one another.
It is difficult for the people who provide the services to get to those houses at the best of times. Given that fuel prices have doubled recently, it is putting an undue burden on home help providers. I ask the Leader to raise the issue with the Minister.
First, I welcome the fact that the Minister for Justice will formally unveil her plans to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV, later today. That is important. I wish to acknowledge the speed at which the Minister and her officials have progressed the work from the last time she was in the House talking about the package of measures. Central to the strategy is the Government's focus on tackling the issue of service provision. That is to be welcomed. While we do not know the exact detail of the measures, some details have been provided in various briefings today. We know that there will be a five-year plan to tackle DSGBV and that €363 million in resources will be provided for the strategy. That is an important step. It would be important that the Minister come to the House when she is available to continue the conversation she started. There was major engagement on the issue when she was last in the House. When I was travelling to Leinster House in the car earlier, I heard a representative of one of the women's advocacy groups speaking on "Morning Ireland" and saying that zero tolerance is the destination. I think that sums it up clearly in a simple message. Zero tolerance is the destination. I thank the Minister and her team for the work they have done. I look forward to hearing the details of the strategy later today. I hope that at some stage we will have some engagement on the matter in the House.
On healthcare, I and many other Senators asked for a debate on health services. I ask the Leader to outline how her office's engagement with the Minister for Health is progressing. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, issued a statement this week highlighting that there is a shortfall of ten nurses in every emergency department. HIQA recently published a damning report on the emergency department at University Hospital Limerick, UHL. It makes for shocking reading. The issue was covered by many media outlets over the weekend. The Central Mental Hospital is still not open, yet the €1.7 million state-of-the-art facility has been built. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is deeply unhappy about the situation and has issued statements to that effect. There is uncertainty around the emergency department, the ICU and the provision of emergency care in Our Lady's Hospital in Navan. Last week we had a debate on the shortage of neurological nurses. Therefore, there are many issues around health services. I ask for an opportunity, if it is possible, to focus on those issues in the House and keep the pressure on those responsible. I am not personally attacking the Minister for Health or anyone else. However, there is a will on all sides of this House to focus and crystallise on the importance of healthcare. We must set out the short-, medium- and long-term measures that we can put in place to address the issues. I ask the Leader to provide an update on the progress of her engagement with the Minister of Health in respect of this matter.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach agus leis an gCeannaire. I want to begin by reading into the record a quotation from the G7 leaders' communiqué:
We, the Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7), met in Elmau on 26-28 June 2022, at a critical juncture for the global community, to make progress towards an equitable world. As open democracies adhering to the rule of law, we are driven by shared values and bound by our commitment to the rules-based multilateral order and to universal human rights.
As the Leader is aware, Boris Johnson and the British Government are co-signatories to that communiqué. Currently, in Dublin, Belfast and London people are gathering to protest against the British Government's Bill of shame, the legacy legislation which will grant its forces an amnesty. It is legislation that causes deep concern domestically and internationally in respect of how it flies in the face of conventional understandings, and indeed, in its impact upon victims. We also know that currently, the British Government is legislating to break international law with its Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. I want to take the opportunity to reiterate our opposition to, and reassert the dangers and threats posed by, both pieces of legislation to peace, progress and the rule of law.
While I understand it may be difficult to facilitate an update before the recess, maybe shortly after that it would be timely to have an update from the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on the all-island strategic rail review. We all know the importance of greater connectivity and, in the context of the climate emergency, greater investment in public transportation infrastructure has never been more important. We all have seen the maps online of the devastation caused to rail networks and rail links all around Ireland. Consequently, it would be timely and important to have input from the Minister on how the review is progressing and how the Seanad can play a role in assisting that work.
In the limited time afforded to me, I will mention an issue to which I may return and on which other colleagues will also touch, namely, the agreement by the Cabinet to train Defence Force members to carry out security duties at Dublin Airport. Such an initiative is a shocking indictment of where we are at and would again ask the Defence Forces to effectively become security guards at Dublin Airport.
Hear, hear. Well said.
The Senator, without interruption.
This is what happens when you slash the number of workers and do not incentivise them in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis to come back work with a good, decent job. Members from all corners of this Chamber have articulated the difficulties faced by the members of the Defence Forces at the moment. To expect them, in that context, to take this work on board is ridiculous and I am sure I will return to this issue in a couple of days' time.
I thank Senator Ó Donnghaile. The fact that I indicated time had nothing to do with the content of his speech.
The Leas-Chathaoirleach is very good and I understand.
I ask that the Minister for Transport comes to this House to facilitate a debate on the plans for Dublin Airport. Senator Ó Donnghaile has been slightly alarmist with what he said. The members of the Defence Forces are not going to work as security guards but will support and augment the work that is being done by the staff of the Dublin Airport Authority.
Employ workers, Senator Buttimer.
It would be more in the Senator's line to support the workers than play politics with the issue in here. The reality is that the prevalence of Covid-19 is increasing, staff are missing, airlines across the world and in Europe are cancelling flights every day and there are strikes in parts of the world. I applaud the Dublin Airport Authority for being proactive, notwithstanding the difficulties it does have. I take the point the Senator made about taking staff welfare on board, and how you look after workers is a fundamental point to which we should come back. I hope the Minister for Transport or the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, or whichever Minister the Leader can get will come to this House for a debate on the plans to make sure that the travelling public are not discommoded in this summer season.
I rise primarily to mention the celebration of Dublin Pride last Saturday. I thank the Leader and the Leas-Chathaoirleach for their presence at Dublin Pride last Saturday along with so many other Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas across political parties, staff from Departments and the staff here in Leinster House. It was a wonderful day but, sadly, it was marked by the news that two people were killed in Oslo that morning, which was an attack based on religious grounds against members of the LGBT community.
June is Pride month. Let us consider how far Pride has come, from where it began to where it was last Saturday. It is important that we do not let the month of June pass without calling for a debate on diversity and equality to be arranged before the summer recess. I ask for that debate conscious that we had a peaceful and celebratory Pride march and events last Saturday, for which I thank the organisers of Dublin Pride and all who participated on that wonderful day. As I am very conscious that two people were killed in Oslo that night, I recognise that as a society, we have come on a journey but have more to do. Today, in the Upper House of the Oireachtas, I wish to remember the two people who were killed in Oslo while celebrating Pride and acknowledge that we could walk safely and without fear in Dublin last Saturday afternoon.
I wish to be associated with the words expressed by the Senator about the ghastly event in Oslo. I also congratulate everybody who was involved in organising Pride and participating in what was a hugely successful and uplifting occasion.
I concur with the comments made by the Leas-Chathaoirleach and the previous speaker.
Today marks the first world newborn screening day. To mark the occasion I wish to draw attention to the delay in adding spinal muscular atrophy to the newborn heel-prick test. Each year in this country six babies are born with the condition, which is known as SMA. The degenerative condition means that most affected children will never walk.
Left untreated, 95% of children with the severest form do not live beyond 24 months.
We can be thankful that there have been significant advances in the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, SMA, with drugs over recent years. Those drugs are eligible for reimbursement, which is something we all can be proud of. There is proof that the earlier a child receives treatment for SMA, the better the outcome will be. Many children born with the disease do not present with symptoms until 12 months after birth. Later diagnosis can result in significant damage being done.
However, as the Leas-Chathaoirleach will know, there is a simple PCR test that can diagnose SMA with near perfect accuracy from a spot of blood. Each year, approximately 60,000 babies are born in this country. Each child receives the heel prick test for a very small number of serious medical conditions. I am told it is possible to add SMA to this list for as little as €5 per individual.
The representative group for people affected by SMA has written to the newborn screening advisory committee to ask that SMA be added to the heel prick test schedule. I understand that submission was accepted but, unfortunately, no progress has been made six months later. This means that children are not being diagnosed at the earliest possible opportunity and that vital time is being lost. As I have said, the drugs are very effective but time is of the essence. Addressing this delay is of vital importance to the families concerned. I respectfully ask that the Leader communicate with the Minister to seek an update on the current position with regard to this matter. I look forward to the response.
With respect to the use of the Defence Forces at Dublin Airport, once again, when this country is in crisis, we fall back on the Defence Forces, whose members will not be paid the national minimum wage for the hours they work. They are the lowest paid public servants. Many of them will be dragged to Dublin from all over the country to provide these services.
I appreciate that Dublin Airport is in crisis. I was out there at 2 o'clock this morning and I saw the queues and the crowds. I have to compliment the staff. My two granddaughters, tiny little girls, were standing in the queue for over 40 minutes and a Dublin Airport Authority official came over and said that it was not fair to have those little girls standing in a queue and brought them straight to the top to check in. I compliment the people because that is not an easy thing to do when there are long queues of people. I understand that they did the same for many children.
Whenever there is a crisis, whether floods, Covid, fires or anything else, the Army is brought in. Some of these guys and girls will be asked to work 24-hour shifts and they will not be paid the standard overtime that any other employee in the State would get. It is wrong in every sense of the word. On the pay policy being pursued by the Government at the moment, I agree that the low-paid have to be compensated, but when one gives a low-paid person €500 in a national pay round, one damages the differentials that exist. It is now the case that non-commissioned officers who are being monitored by commissioned officers are earning slightly more than those officers because of the differential that has come about.
I visited McKee Barracks for veterans' day and there was great anger that no Minister showed up at the barracks for the day. I again had the issue of the 2016 medal thrown in my face. People who served for 40 years were not given the 2016 medal but people who served for one day in 2016 were. It is not about the medals but about respect, loyalty and why we look to the military in every circumstance.
We have had the commission report for five months but absolutely nothing has been done about it. Many things could have been done at the stroke of a pen, particularly in the area of pay. I cannot understand it. Germany became aware of a problem in its defence forces and threw €100 million at it in a matter of days. Other countries around Europe are doing the exact same thing while we have been sitting on this report for five months, waiting for a memo to Cabinet in the dying days of this Government. I should have said "dying days of this term", although who knows?
I call on the out-of-breath Senator Sherlock.
I raise the statement of the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, last week regarding four schools. I think it is fair to say this was a stunt designed to cover up the failures within the Department of Education. The hurt and negative aspersions that have been cast over the four schools have been very damaging. One of the schools, St. Gabriel's National School in Stoneybatter, has a great record and reputation for providing for children with additional needs. This September, it will have eight class teachers and six support teachers, while a special class for those with moderate difficulties was established in 2016. That says a lot about the commitment of the school to pupils with additional needs, yet last week the Minister of State sought to portray it as uncaring and as failing to provide any resource or support to children with additional needs, which could not have been further from the truth.
The truth is that that school has been working for the past year on putting in place a new autism spectrum disorder, ASD, unit for September 2023 and working with the architects engaged by the Department of Education itself to renovate two classrooms, yet that did not seem to matter when a letter was sent from the Department to the archbishop at 7.30 p.m. on Friday, 17 June. You could not have made it up. The email to the archbishop was cc'd to the school. The Department did not even have the grace to send it directly to the school and instead effectively put a gun to its head and said that if it did not engage, its name would be published. The school engaged and replied, yet that did not matter when the Minister of State made her statement last week.
She has done severe damage to schools that are trying really hard, and it is important that any of us who knows those schools speaks up. The school I know, St. Gabriel's, has a great record and reputation and it wants to continue doing that work. The Minister of State needs to get on with her work of ensuring there are more special places, as opposed to seeking to cast blame. I have come to know that St. Gabriel's is putting in a new ASD unit because a preschool will have to leave that school building over the next 12 months and the area will lose a very precious and important preschool facility because it is located within that primary school. It is a complete nonsense to say the school has not been engaging.
Separately, the public sector pay talks have been off the radar for the past two weeks, since their collapse, and we have not heard any meaningful or substantial offer from the Government. We are hearing from public sector workers that they are looking for a pay deal and the Government has not yet come to the table. We need to see it happen.
That was a quiet opening to this week's proceedings. To respond to Senator Sherlock, I think I heard the Tánaiste clearly state that our public servants deserve a pay rise. The offer made was very generous, although the talks stalled insofar as it was rejected. I think it would be expected that any union would reject the first offer. We all know how these negotiations play out and I assure the Senator they will end very shortly in a productive pay increase for all our public servants.
With regard to the announcement by the Minister of State with responsibility for special education, this is the first time in the history of the State that there has been a Minister of State with that sole responsibility. We have never spent more money on providing special education for all our children who need it. As the numbers have grown over recent years, there has been an increase in the number of special needs assistants to levels our Garda force does not even enjoy, so we know and recognise how great an issue it is to provide services in a timely manner. We have all experienced frustrations with the Department over the years in regard to schools we have represented, but to be fair to the Minister of State, her announcement on Friday evening was as a result of many months of frustration with regard not just to the four schools she mentioned but to many schools throughout the country that see this as a negotiation. They think that if they have to do something on behalf of the Department to serve the needs of their pupils, they will make sure they will get something else. That is a really frustrating place to be, not least when parents and children need the provision of services from the State, and we all know how critical we are of the State when it does not provide those services. To be fair, the delivery of the services is incumbent not just on the Department of Education, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, or anybody else who is responsible for special needs services but also on every vested interest to ensure we will work in a timely manner to serve the children we know need the additional resources.
The Minister of State's statement was born out of frustration more than anything else. What I really welcome is the newfound renewed capacity to be able to work with the Department to make sure we do deliver not just for the children of Stoneybatter but also for the children of Coolock and all the other children around the country who need special education and extra resources.
Senators Craughwell, Buttimer and Ó Donnghaile spoke about the announcement by the Department of Defence and the Minister for Defence of the sanctioning of our Defence Forces to help out with Dublin Airport, particularly around security issues we know we have seen over the past few weeks but expect to probably be exacerbated because of the rise of Covid in the coming weeks. While Senator Craughwell makes very valid points regarding the stipend that will be paid to our Defence Forces, I must say that I am very proud that we have Defence Forces who are willing to stand up in any and every emergency in this country because they never let us down.
Despite all the difficulties with regard to recruitment, pay and conditions - everything we have spoken about for the past number of years - they never let the State down so they are to be commended. This is not to say that Dublin Airport should not be reminded of the fact that the reason we are in this mess is because it miscalculated, let 1,000 people go and offered a paltry and precarious contract in recent weeks looking for people to work 20 hours but to be available for 40 hours for buttons. It has nobody to blame but itself for being in this situation. Thankfully, after recent years, which were absolutely crap, people are going on their holidays again, which is wonderful to see. I want to put on the record that I am immensely grateful to our Defence Forces, who consistently stand up and help us when we find ourselves in the breach. Senator Craughwell also raised the 2016 medal. I will follow up with the Minister for Defence and come back to him.
Senator Gallagher reminded us that today is International Neonatal Screening Day and asked me to send a letter to the Minister for Health to find out when spinal muscular atrophy will be included in our national screening programme. I am very happy to do that.
Senator Buttimer spoke about the lovely, happy, warm and fun feeling we all experienced on the streets of our capital city on Saturday. It really was an enormous pleasure to be there, to support and to be an ally but also just to enjoy the fun and experience the joy that our friends, neighbours, cousins and colleagues - our citizens - expressed on the streets on Saturday. The Senator is right to remind us all that certain things happen to certain minority communities not just in Ireland but all over the world. I add my condolences to those of the Senator for the two gentlemen whose lives were taken so cruelly in Oslo on Saturday and remind everybody that we all need to be allies for every single minority and diverse community in Ireland because they suffer an awful lot of things we might not even be conscious of. I remind everybody to be an ally not just for the month of June but for every month.
Senator Ó Donnghaile asked that the Minister for Transport come to the House to give us an update on the all-Ireland rail review. Senator Buttimer looked for an update on the Dublin Airport plans. I think both Senators are aware that we are very stretched for the next couple of weeks but I will do my best to try to get it in as quickly as possible.
Senator Boyhan had previously asked for time to be set aside for a rolling debate on health. This request was made to the Minister for Health last week. I regret to say that the only access I have to the Minister for the final two weeks of this term is to debate the Bill Senator Murphy spoke about this morning that will remove charges for children under the age 16 in public hospitals. I will organise a debate on the issues highlighted by Senator Boyhan this morning as soon as the Minister's diary allows and if it is not possible in this term, I will organise one to take place as quickly as possible when we come back after the summer recess.
Senator Kyne spoke about the impact of fuel prices on home help carers who are agency staff and asked me to raise the issue with the Minister for Health, which I will do. He also spoke about the €1,000 Covid payment that, unfortunately, has been ring-fenced only for HSE staff instead of for all staff.
Senator Murphy welcomed the third domestic violence strategy, which will be announced in full detail by the Minister for Justice this afternoon, and commended the fact that we will now have a refuge centre for victims of domestic violence in every county.
We are going to double the number of places and double the sentences. It is all very welcome. There are 144 specific actions in the plan and €363 million to make sure every single Department, because this is a cross-Government response to domestic violence, has the money and resources needed to make sure the plan is enacted. The Senator also welcomed the 1,000 new college places announced by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science this morning and the new legislation by the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly.
Senators Murphy, Kyne and others talked about what can only be described as the act of terrorism in Kyiv yesterday, where the Russians bombed, maimed and murdered people going about their daily business when buying clothes, food and other items in a shopping centre. They were trying to live their normal lives. I sometimes wonder about the justification of war and the arguments some people or territories and countries put forward to justify that war and, indeed, talk about the rules of engagement and how some things are allowed and some are not. In any circumstances, bombing people who are going about their normal lives in a shopping centre could not be called anything other than terrorism. People in shopping centres going about their business are not what adversaries could describe as strategic sites. I add my words of abhorrence to what can only be described as an act of terror.
Finally, although nobody brought it up today, on behalf of this House but definitely on my own behalf, I thank Mr. Paul Reid, chairperson and CEO of the HSE, for his three and a half years' service, which probably felt like ten years, God love him, and the amount of work and effort he put into running the HSE. He looked after us as a country and made sure the services that needed to be available were available and stood over one of the world-class deliveries of a vaccine, which has kept us mostly safe in this country. I thank him for his public service. I really wish him well. He has seen very little of his beautiful family and his two new grandchildren over recent years. I thank him for his service and wish him every happiness in whatever he chooses to do.
Tréaslaím go mór leis sin. I thank the Leader for her comprehensive response.
Order of Business agreed to.