The Order of Business is No. 1, Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022 - Committee and Remaining Stages, to be taken at 3.30 p.m. and to adjourn at 4.55 p.m., if not previously concluded; and No. 2, Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022 - Committee Stage, to be taken at 5 p.m. and to adjourn at 6.15 p.m., if not previously concluded.
An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
I thank the Acting Leader for outlining the Order of Business. One important issue missing from the schedule this week is the substantial debate we should have on the flooding that has taken place over the last week or so. I am sure everybody will join me in expressing solidarity and support to the unfortunate people in Midleton, Waterford and other parts of the country who found that their homes and businesses had been destroyed as a result of floodwater. I commend the Government on putting a substantial and comprehensive package in place. It does everything, including ensuring that people have enough resources to get back up and running. The Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, has announced that he will provide funding to sports clubs and facilities that have been seriously impacted as well. That is welcome and I hope the scheme is flexible, eliminates red tape and can be activated quickly because the people who have been so badly affected need to get back on their feet as quickly as possible. They need money to do that, and they need it fast.
I raise the wider issue of flooding, warnings and weather warnings. Earlier, there was a good discussion on a Commencement matter raised by Senator Cummins on identifying specific locations. For example, where is a yellow weather warning for County Clare, there could perhaps be a red weather warning in specific areas of the county. That needs to happen quickly. It can happen and the technology is there to make it happen.
The money we are spending on flood defences is nowhere near what it should be. I remember Lehinch being destroyed when the sea came in on 3 January 2014. The structures there now are fantastic and while they might not eliminate all of the damage if there was a repeat of what happened in 2014, the town would be in a much better position. We need to do a full inventory throughout the country of what flood relief and flood protection measures are needed. We need to look to Europe for some financial assistance in putting these defences in place. There is technology and there are engineering solutions out there that can, should and do deal with these issues. Maybe when the House returns after mid-term we could have a debate on all of these issues and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage could outline what the Government's short, medium and long-term plans are.
As chair of the Oireachtas cross-party group on cancer, it was great to learn at the weekend that the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, will finally legislate to allow women undergoing cancer treatment during their maternity leave to defer that leave until their treatment ends. I do not need to explain to anyone in this House how important this is or what a huge difference it would make to these mothers, their children and their other family members.
There was a huge public awareness campaign led by the Irish Cancer Society, and it really has to be commended on this campaign, together with its patient advocates. These include women like Erica Tierney, Mary Canavan and Emma McGuinness, who bravely came in and out of this House, day in, day out, and who have been championing this cause that affects 60 women every year in Ireland.
As chair and a member of the cross-party group, I have raised this matter directly with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman in this House and other fora. All members of the cross-party group are determined to see this issue resolved. We have our own Bill in the offing, and we hope we will not need to bring a Private Member's Bill to move this matter forward. We hope that the Minister will publish his legislation as soon as possible in order that we can see this matter fully and finally resolved.
The second issue I want to raise is an absolutely horrendous one. It regards the sexual assault of a 12-year-old boy in a residential facility funded by the HSE. This is every parent's worst nightmare. When a family makes the really difficult decision to leave a child in the care of the HSE, they expect the utmost of standards. They expect the highest standards of care. The details of the sexual assault are quite stark. I do not want to go into it today but it was really shocking. The mother of this boy was not alerted about the incident for three days. Tusla was not contacted for three days, and this facility waited 11 days before An Garda Síochána was contacted. This is not acceptable in this day and age. We need answers for this boy's family. We need to see some sort of consequences for this facility. What actions will the HSE take now with regard to this centre and how is it looking at other centres? How are families expected to trust the HSE when they leave their loved ones in these facilities to care for their children, when they are not getting the 24-hour care they are there for? I hope that for this particular boy, there is a proper support plan in place. The trauma that he has gone through is so hard to fathom. I would love to see what the Minister has to say on this matter.
I wish to raise, by way of update, the situation in respect of Children's Hospital Ireland, CHI, as it impacts on disabled children with scoliosis and other complications arising from having been left on waiting lists for catastrophically long periods of time. I reiterate that the medical device directive at European Union level came into effect around 2018 or 2019, and was then translated into the medical device regulations, MDRs in 2021. As such, it was the sole topic of conversation in surgical units throughout the State.
Around that time, a number of Irish surgeons were sent to Lisbon to attend a conference at which the Utrecht team pioneering the use of springs was presenting. The surgeons involved came home and reported the learnings from this, and later, springs and devices were ordered through clinical engineering in the procurement process overseen by CHI. That all reflects on the credibility of anybody on the board of CHI, whether the CEO, the chief medical officer, or any of the executive clinical directors who said they had no conversations about off-label, in-house or custom-made surgical devices in that context. I also note the lack of urgency with regard to the plight now faced by disabled children on surgical waiting lists in Ireland. In fact, to my knowledge, no orthopaedic surgery is now being carried out on any disabled child in Ireland. I will repeat that: no orthopaedic surgery is being carried out on any disabled children in Ireland. None. I have learned that in the last number of weeks, one child awaiting surgery has become permanently paralysed as a consequence.
Senators probably remember the cave rescue of 12 children in Thailand in 2018, where the whole world mobilised its resources to assist those children. They may remember the children who were trapped in a cable car in Pakistan in recent weeks.
A whole continent mobilised its resources to help those children. For how long have we in Ireland had disabled children on surgical waiting lists who are not receiving the interventions they need? Able-bodied children are being sent abroad under the National Treatment Purchase Fund to places like Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, while disabled children are not. As I have stated previously, it is my lived experience that the reason our disabled children are being left to become permanently impaired is that in this country disabled citizens and children are not valued as human beings to the same extent as others are - for shame. We need to exercise the urgency that is being exercised in mature, caring societies. I call for an urgent debate with the relevant Ministers and the people responsible. We need to start to treat disabled children. They should not be left on these lists.
That is a shocking message from Senator Clonan this morning. It is an indictment of Government failure in relation to the health service.
I have to speak of another consistent failure of the health service in Ireland, namely, University Hospital Limerick where yet another record was set yesterday when 130 patients were left on trolleys. That is the highest number ever recorded in any hospital in the State. It is hard to keep talking about these figures, as I have done for the seven and a half years I have been in the House. Clearly, the Government has not been listening. Things continue to get worse year after year. So far this October, 1,632 people have been treated on trolleys. At the same time last year, the figure was 1,268.
The total number of people treated on trolleys last year - 18,000 - will be exceeded this year. Every year the figures not only get worse; they get far worse. It is an indictment of 12 years of Fine Gael failure and seven years of Fianna Fáil failure, and a particular indictment of the current Minister for Health. He came into office promising so much but has not delivered in University Hospital Limerick.
To show how serious this matter is, according to research, over 1,300 people died unnecessarily in the health service last year as a result of being left on trolleys. The statistics show that for every 82 persons who spend more than six hours on a trolley, one will die in the following 30 days. Imagine how many unnecessary deaths we have had in Limerick because of this consistent Government failure.
It does not help that we have a Minister in denial. Earlier this year, he insisted in this House that there were only six patients on trolleys when the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, was telling us there were 78 patients on trolleys. If the Minister does not even accept the INMO figures for patients on trolleys, how on earth does he have any credibility in understanding the extent and the depth of the crisis in University Hospital Limerick?
It only makes matters worse that the Minister has since been thrown under the bus by the Minister for Finance in respect of a €2 billion shortfall in health spending. One of the key factors in this regard is the recruitment freeze. Right now, it is impossible for University Hospital Limerick to hire healthcare assistants. I know from personal experience that healthcare assistants are choosing to leave the health service because of the impossible working conditions. The staff are performing heroically but some are choosing to leave and the Government is saying the health service cannot replace them. As we head into the winter crisis, we can only see things going from bad to worse and worse again. This is an indictment of the failure of successive Governments, particularly the current Minister.
I call for an urgent debate because we cannot waste another year facing into this crisis with a Minister telling us things are getting better, as the Minister did during the summer months, when, in fact, things continue to get worse. The situation is dire. It is disastrous and a disgraceful reflection of the failures of this Government.
The images we see coming from Gaza this week are horrific. It is difficult to know how to respond to the humanitarian disaster unfolding before our eyes. While we watch in horror, hospitals in Gaza are running out of food, water and electricity are running out and the health system has effectively collapsed.
One area in which Ireland can have influence is by using our influence at an EU level to try to negotiate that anybody who requires urgent medical assistance, including pregnant women and premature babies, gets humanitarian evacuation from Gaza. According to the UN, there are 130 premature infants dependent on incubators that require electricity, which is running out in Gaza hospitals. We do not have time. This is a race against time to save those babies. There are also 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza who are caught up in the conflict, and 5,500 of them are due to deliver in the next 30 days.
We are facing extreme challenges and the weight of those challenges is massive. What we can do is try to ensure, at an immediate level, that people who need urgent access to medical assistance are granted humanitarian evacuation. I ask the Acting Leader, in her capacity as a member of Fianna Fáil and a member of this Government, to speak to the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and ask him to try to raise at EU level the issue of basic humanitarian evacuation for people who need immediate assistance, including those 120 babies who are dependent on incubators.
I thank the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use for its work over the past six months or so, although I kept a close eye on it and gave out every now and again, as you do, just to make sure the agenda was moving along.
I spent the weekend dipping in and out of the hearings. At some stages, I was trying to figure out what was going on and what was being presented. Then, on Monday morning, I went back over the transcripts again to try to understand the votes. The biggest concern for me at the time was they did not mention decriminalisation. Now, on reading the transcripts from the secretariat – I hope we can get more communication from the chair, Paul Reid, and the secretariat as to why they did not – my feeling is they may feel there are some legal issues with decriminalisation because outside of their remit is the problem for stop-and-search powers of An Garda Síochána. An Garda Síochána believes that decriminalisation means its ability to stop and search will be removed. Why would you want to stop and search if the only reason you are stopping and searching is for possession, which would be decriminalised? We need to have a larger conversation on the reasons we stop and search someone. People can still be stopped and searched if they are suspected of selling drugs, are suspected of having a weapon or are suspected of having robbed something. It does not stop.
Reading the recommendations over the weekend, it gave me huge hope and excitement to see what will happen over the next six months. Even though we engage intellectually, theoretically or philosophically over this issue, it was clear from the citizens’ assembly that they do not agree with the status quo. Only 12 to 13 people on each vote voted to uphold the status quo of how we treat people who use drugs. That is a strong message from our citizens and the people of Ireland that they want change in respect of drug decriminalisation.
The next step is for us as an Oireachtas. In the terms of reference for the citizens’ assembly, it stated that it will be sent to the Oireachtas for a committee. It does not specify if it is a special committee. I would welcome it going to the Committee on Justice, which has done work on this in the past six to 12 months. It would be a perfect space to take those recommendations forward and see drug decriminalisation and the end of stigmatisation of people who use drugs in Ireland.
I welcome and look forward to reading the full report. The recommendations have been released but the full report will follow. I hope that in this term of Government, we can move the conversation another step closer. My first Bill, in 2016, was on drug decriminalisation. I will not say I am getting tired, but I may be getting tired. Hopefully we will have some breakthroughs in the next while.
Today in the education committee we heard an update from Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science officials on targets the Department achieved under its performance review.
Over 209,000 people are in higher education and over 32,000 people are in postgraduate education. We know the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has placed a significant focus on increasing places on apprenticeship programmes. Over 26,000 people are doing apprenticeships while nearly 85,000 are doing upskilling or reskilling courses. This shows the impact of this new Department, which has been in operation for three years. The performance update was over two years.
I wish to speak about the expansion of apprenticeship programmes. There are over 70 courses. There are no third level training places in the new constituency of Roscommon-Galway. There is significant demand coming from Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board to provide a centre in Roscommon town to meet the demand for apprenticeship courses. We know that demand is there. We need to be able to offer apprenticeship centres across the country that are accessible to people living in the areas.
Many people see the rising costs of going to college. Everyone can see the opportunities apprenticeships offer to earn and learn. People can get a qualification and go to level 5, 6, 7 or 8, all the way up to postgraduate and PhD qualifications, through doing some apprenticeship programmes. As well as the traditional trades we are used to hearing about in connection with apprenticeships, there are brand-new apprenticeships in biomedicine and auctioneering. They are opening in so many different areas, even farm management. It is great to see this expansion and that apprenticeships are reaching and exceeding their targets, particularly in encouraging more women to do apprenticeship programmes. However, I really want to highlight the key demand from Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board for an apprenticeship centre in Roscommon.
The Acting Leader will have some interest in what I have to say because it concerns the Defence Forces. The Tánaiste and then Taoiseach was flown to Europe in a PC-12 aircraft because the Learjet aircraft, which is 20 years old, is on the ground in need of repair. While he was out there, the PC-12 developed problems and he could not fly back. He was left stranded in Brussels because the aircraft was not available.
Last week at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, the Tánaiste expressed his frustration and annoyance about there being nothing positive from the likes of me and other Members of the Oireachtas with regard to the Defence Forces. How can we be positive when this is what is happening? An extremely dangerous mission was carried out off the south-west coast. I know Army Rangers live in the Acting Leader's geographic area and that she knows the danger they were put in by not having two helicopters available to bring them out to the ship they captured. This is simply not good enough. Rather than expressing concern or frustration at the likes of me raising issues of concern on behalf of the brave men and women who are serving this country day in and day out, the Tánaiste should go out to Baldonnel and have a look at the number of aircraft that are grounded because they are not repairable or there are no people to repair them. He should go down to Haulbowline and look at the €300 million worth of ships tied up along with two new ships that have been brought from New Zealand and are not in service. He should look at the state of the Curragh. I know the Acting Leader has advocated on that housing and raised the disastrous and disgusting state it has been allowed to fall into. I know money is now being made available to upgrade that housing but it is not good enough to blame us.
At the end of the day, the Defence Forces have been let down for the past 15 or 20 years. I made the point that when I served in the Defence Forces, I was happy to get soggy egg sandwiches and cold tea because morale was high. It is no longer high, as the Acting Leader knows better than I do. I ask her to relay those remarks to the Tánaiste.
I call for a debate on large-scale sports facilities similar to the one that took place in Dáil Éireann last week. A debate in this House with the Minister would be very welcome. Dundalk is the biggest town in Ireland, with one of the most successful football teams in the country and, in the case of Dundalk Football Club, a long and proud footballing tradition.
Its stadium at Oriel Park, however, is reminiscent of a football ground in the 1960s or 1970s and that is why I am calling for a debate on large-scale infrastructure. There are sports capital grants, which are very useful and for which Dundalk FC is applying this time around, but we need large-scale financial assistance in the form of millions of euro, similar to the funding of between €3.5 million and €4.5 million received by Finn Harps a few years ago. Dundalk FC has a viable plan, alongside the local authority, but the Government should have that type of scheme to which clubs of all sport and none in situations like this can apply. In this context, such a scheme would be useful because if we can get the stadium to category 3 or category 4, it will be able to host European football. That lifts a whole town, regardless of the area. While I am being parochial and making a case for my town, this affects Gaelic games, rugby and all other sports throughout the country. That level of large-scale financial assistance needs to be considered. It is bigger than the sports capital grant. I would appreciate the Minister of State with responsibility for sport, Deputy Byrne, coming to the House in order that we can put our views to him, discuss the matter and see what we can do to get many of these projects, particularly the redevelopment of Oriel Park, across the line.
In yesterday's edition of the Irish Independent, its environment correspondent, Caroline O'Doherty, wrote about another monumental cock-up in Inland Fisheries Ireland, IFI, which will result in the failure of dozens of prosecutions for fisheries offences throughout the country. This follows on from the discovery of a similar mess-up a few years ago due to a flaw in the 2010 Act that set up IFI which resulted in the abandonment of numerous prosecutions and embarrassment for the protection staff. In the article, Ms O'Doherty wrote:
Prosecutions for fisheries offences are feared to be in doubt because of an error in processing the cases.
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has acknowledged a problem arose in recent days with cases taken before the district court.
It is understood that a number of cases were dismissed or had to be withdrawn after it was discovered that the papers were not appropriately signed off on.
In a statement, IFI said: "A concern has arisen in relation to internal authorisations."
[...]
Initially it was believed the issue was confined to one district court area but there are now fears that upcoming prosecutions right across the country could be affected.
Some dismayed fisheries officers whose frontline work had formed the basis of the prosecutions only found out about the problem when solicitors began ringing offices requesting the return of fishing equipment seized as part of the investigations.
As the Acting Leader is aware, fisheries protection officers put themselves in dangerous, difficult and stressful situations in apprehending illegal fishing and going out to get these prosecutions. It is very difficult for them to learn that these prosecutions are flawed and will not be able to go ahead and, that the return of equipment is being sought. This follows on from a long-running number of issues I have had with IFI. Will the Minister, Deputy Ryan, contact the CEO of IFI and say, to quote Laurel and Hardy, "Another fine mess you've gotten us into"? I ask that the Minister come before the House to discuss this matter at the earliest opportunity.
Members will be aware of the Standing Order relating to making people identifiable without naming them. I ask Members to be conscious of that. It comes under Standing Orders 49A, 49B and 49C. Members may wish to familiarise themselves with those Standing Orders.
I welcome Sinéad Byrne, who is interning with me. She is the daughter of the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, and is up here for the week to learn what we do and what her dad does. She is very welcome and I thank her for her help.
In terms of responding on the items raised on the Order of Business, Senator Conway called for a debate on flooding. He is disappointed that such a debate has not been scheduled for this week and is seeking for it to be held the week after next. The recent flooding has been horrendous. The images on television screens and mobile phones and in newspapers of businesses, roads and family homes that have been destroyed are shocking. Many Ministers, cross-party, have been to the affected areas to show solidarity. There are several schemes available for businesses and homes. As the Senator noted, the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, has spoken about funding available for sports facilities.
That is really important. We obviously want that extended. While Cork and Waterford certainly got the brunt, I was speaking to somebody yesterday from Edenderry Golf Club, who spoke about the flooding there and how, when any sports grounds like that are inoperable, they lose money and it is difficult to make ends meet. I hope that will be extended.
Senator Conway also raised the point about the weather warnings that we need to have, with specific locations identified, and said that we need to have a full inventory of flood defence schemes. Some of them will have engineering solutions. Two weeks ago, we had an announcement of €10 million for flood defences in Athy. That was incredibly welcome by those who will be impacted. Work is ongoing. I know there has been some in Cork too. I agree that we need to get ahead of the game. I will ask that we have a debate with the Minister in the week that we come back after recess.
In response to Senator Ardagh, it was welcome news that the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, announced the extended maternity leave for those suffering from cancer. I thank her and the cross-party group for their work on cancer, which is really important. As chair of the women's caucus, we support it too. It is great to see that. We will absolutely put the pressure on to have the legislation published as soon as possible.
Senator Ardagh also raised the tragic and traumatic situation of a 12-year-old boy who was sexually assaulted in a HSE centre. His parents and Tusla were not informed for three days and the gardaí were not informed for another 11 days. We need to have a full-scale inquiry and assurances from the Minister that this will not happen again. It is dreadful and shocking when we hear of these situations. As the Senator said, we need to ensure there is a good support plan for the young man who has been impacted. We need guarantees and reassurances that this will not happen again.
Senator Clonan spoke about the children's hospital, the impact on children with scoliosis from medical devices, and the procurement process. I think we were all shocked when we heard about that. I understand there is a full inquiry about it. Senator Clonan said that no orthopaedic surgery is being carried out on children with disabilities at the moment. I am not suggesting that that is not true but I do not know if it is true. We need to ask the Minister for Health about that and bring that answer back. We have the treatment abroad scheme, which is excellent. I know many who use it. I do not understand why those with disabilities cannot avail of it. We need to ask questions as opposed to just taking it as fact that they cannot. I commit to this House and Senator Clonan that we will ask those questions. We will look for a debate with the Minister about it.
Senator Gavan spoke about University Hospital Limerick and the 130 patients on trolleys there. I heard the figure yesterday. I acknowledge that it is the highest ever. Obviously, we absolutely have to do better. When the Senator says that nothing positive has happened under the Minister, to be fair, the Senator is wrong. Costs have been cut for patients across the board. Inpatient hospital charges have been minimised. We have had the biggest expansion of access to free general practitioner care in the history of the State. That is part of Sláintecare and supporting primary care. It has been extended to more than 500,000 people in the past three years. The drugs payment scheme threshold has been reduced. Diagnostic scans have been funded. There is free contraception for women up to the age of 30. There is public funding for assisted human reproduction. There has been 22% reduction in patients on waiting lists who have exceeded the Sláintecare waiting time targets since the Covid peak. They are all important, as well as the addition of 22,000 staff since 2020. Some 22,000 staff in the past three years is phenomenal, by any manner or means. I totally take on board what Senator Gavan is saying about the number of people on trolleys, but we have to acknowledge that we also have positive interventions.
Senator Moynihan spoke about Gaza. It must be difficult for someone like Senator Moynihan, who has a very small baby, to think about all the small babies of the same age who, by accident of birth, have been born in Gaza and what they are going through.
I agree that we should raise the case of the 5,500 pregnant women who were due to deliver in 30 days, as well as the 120 babies who are there at present and who are dependent on incubators, on a humanitarian basis. We will write to the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence, Deputy Micheál Martin on the need to try to establish a humanitarian corridor for the 50,000 pregnant women, starting with those who are due to deliver in the next few days.
Senator Ruane spoke about the citizens' assembly. Great thanks are due to Paul Reid, who acted as its chair, and to all the volunteers. The assembly made 36 recommendations. They send a very strong to all of us as legislators that we need a more progressive and comprehensive approach to drugs use in Ireland. The final report will be submitted by the end of the year and then the issue will be back in our court. I take on board Senator Ruane's point that it would be more appropriate for it to go to the justice committee than to set up a special committee in its own right. I think we will make that suggestion. It is sensible.
Senator Dolan spoke on targets in education, the impact on the expansion of apprenticeship courses and the huge demand. Earn as you learn is hugely important. I noticed at the weekend that we had a female winner of the Apprentice of the Year award for the first time, a young lady named Hazel Johnston. I thought that was absolutely fantastic. It is showing the way and is really important. She spoke of the need for an apprenticeship centre or hub in Roscommon and Galway that would work in conjunction with Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board, GRETB. I completely agree. I always make the point, particularly on rural areas, including north-west Kildare, because for ease of access and transport to these places, we need to have it. It is a good call.
Senator Craughwell spoke about the Defence Forces. He was unhappy with the Tánaiste’s response to him at the last committee. As I am not a member of that committee, I was not there but he is wrong to say that nothing positive happens in the Defence Forces. We have a long way to go in supporting them but money has been made available for the housing he spoke of in the Curragh and for more than that in terms of three different training forces within the Curragh, which is the headquarters of our Defence Forces. While I am speaking about the Defence Forces, obviously we must think of the almost 500 soldiers who are abroad in the Middle East. Times are difficult and dangerous over there. I understand the Department and the Tánaiste is keeping a watchful eye. We know they are not in any danger but it is difficult for their parents, friends and communities here who are watching on and hoping and praying for their safety and health. We are thinking of them and we thank them for all the work they do.
Senator McGahon spoke on the need for a debate on large-scale sports facilities and particularly Oriel Park, Dundalk. I agree. We need to have that debate. Those large-scale projects can bring huge investment into our large towns. We will ask the Minister to come in for that debate.
Senator Kyne spoke on flaws in the Act on processing cases around fisheries and the role the fisheries protection officers can do. It seems a difficult situation where there are flawed prosecutions. We need to get that right because wasting people’s time is not appropriate. The fishing of our waters is important and we need to be able to keep a watchful eye on it. The Senator has asked that we ask the Minster to come in and discuss this. I think we should make that request.
Order of Business agreed to.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 2.40 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 3.30 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 2.40 p.m. and resumed at 3.30 p.m.