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Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 26 May 2022

Vol. 285 No. 9

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

The ambassador is very welcome. I thank him for being with us to celebrate Croatia's day of independence.

The young people in the Gallery are pupils and teachers from Pope John Paul II National School in Malahide. They are very welcome. It is lovely to see young faces all around Leinster House these days.

The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the extension of period of operation of sections 1 to 7, inclusive, and 9 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business, without debate; No. 2, Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022 - Committee Stage (Resumed), to be taken at 1.15 p.m. and to adjourn at 4.15 p.m., if not previously concluded; and No. 3, Competition (Amendment) Bill 2022 – Second Stage, to be taken at 4.15 p.m., with the time allocated for the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes, all other Senators not to exceed five minutes, and the Minister to be given no less than ten minutes to reply to the debate.

I add my voice to the welcome for the Croatian ambassador and the pupils from Malahide.

They are all very welcome in this distinguished Chamber. I wish to raise a number of items. The first is on the decision announced last night regarding the provision of special education regional centres, seemingly across Dublin. I was surprised and shocked when I read the level of detail that was available. I appreciate that more is still to come. This would involve taking children from their communities, segregating them, bringing them into the region away from their communities. We all know that segregation is the very opposite of inclusion. Over the past 20 to 25 years, the whole educational process for children with additional and special needs has been towards integration in order that they can learn with their siblings, neighbours and friends within the community. The fact that this approach has been announced is a retrograde step. As Inclusion Ireland – The National Association for People with an Intellectual Disability said, it is ten steps back on the path to inclusive education. I believe it is a wrong decision. I appreciate that the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, has said that she would act on section 37 to make sure that local schools would provide adequate places. The Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, and I worked hard in the last Dáil on the then Joint Committee on Education and Skills to make sure that was put in place. I think that process has been initiated too late. In terms of school planning I cannot understand why places must be looked for so late in the day. We need to have a debate in this regard.

I also want to raise the new professional body for early childhood and school age professionals, Professional Educators and Managers Ireland, PEMI. It was officially launched yesterday in Buswells Hotel by the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman. It is important and represents a significant milestone in the drive to professionalise the early childhood and school age profession. All professions have a professional body that can represent members and act as stakeholders. This is first time for those in early education. It is a positive move and I look forward to further engagement with PEMI.

Finally I welcome the commitment of almost €7 million to County Kildare from the Minister for Health. That will go in particular to Monasterevin for the re-establishment of the day care centre; to St. Vincent’s Hospital, Athy, to a 95-bed unit for older people; and €500,000 will go to the health centre in Kilmeague - I know the Leader was in Kilmeague a few years ago - which is great for the community. Moreover, a very sizeable amount of almost €4 million will go to Naas General Hospital, which is badly needed for so many services there. It is a very welcome injection for the health services for people in County Kildare.

I welcome the students from Malahide and the Croatian ambassador as he visited the House. I also wish to express our solidarity with Croatia today.

Today I want to talk about accessibility. We have come a long way in this country in recent years. In these Houses in the past 15 years, accessibility has been facilitated in many ways but even this Chamber is still not fully accessible. Yesterday our colleague, Councillor Vicki Casserly, and her son James were here. James has been highlighting very effectively some of the accessibility issues for wheelchair users throughout the country. He joins a litany of other wheelchair users who have done this recently, including Paralympian Kerrie Leonard, who has been very good at this as well, particularly in the context of sports.

I want to raise an issue in my own area. One of my neighbours, Owen Stubbs, is a 23-year-old wheelchair user who lives in Knocksinna in Foxrock. He and his father Graham now have to take a local developer to court over the effective extinction of a right of way that was available to Owen previously which shortened his journey to a bus stop nearby. The laneway that he would use is now being replaced by the developer, Richmond Homes, with a series of steps. It is a nonsensical and unfair step by the developers. It was not done unknowingly, because I know the family took great pains to ensure the developer was aware of it. The particular development has caused untold difficulties for people in that area, not the development itself but the access routes. It now goes through a quiet residential road to Newtownpark Avenue, which will create traffic problems instead of accessing directly the N11. We are told that is because of regional planning guidelines. I know we do not have time to go into that. The notion that any developer or body would essentially reject the expressions of a local resident who is going to be massively discommoded by steps being put into a place like that is perhaps indicative of further overreach by developers but also a failure of local authorities to enforce this. Part of the planning conditions for this development was for that lane, which is a public right of way, to remain fully and publicly accessible to the public. Steps are still accessible to people who are not in a wheelchair but the public includes everybody in the public. You cannot have a situation where a mechanism is put in place that excludes some members of the public and not others. I want us to make it very clear that we support accessibility measures and do not accept situations where any individual, entity, local authority or State or Government agency is taking steps to reduce accessibility. I support Owen Stubbs in his campaign to make sure that this remains a properly public and accessible right of way. I hope he is successful in that regard. I hope everybody involved sees the sense in removing steps and ensuring we have a properly accessible facility for everyone who lives in that area, including those in wheelchairs.

I recently congratulated PDFORRA on its accession to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU. I have been informed that in order to be allowed to accede to associate membership of ICTU, the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, must go to the courts. This is a human resources issue, an IR issue, not a legal issue. I fail to understand why we are compelling RACO to go to the courts. I ask the Leader to engage with the Minister to have it dealt with through the conciliation and arbitration scheme that is available, rather than go to the courts.

Over the last few sessions I have alluded to the search and rescue operations and the rejection of the 415-page submission by the Air Corps. Freedom of Information requests, FOIs, have been coming into me over the last few days. I am going to share every document I have with every Member of this House because there is a level of arrogance coming from the Department of Transport - an unintelligent consumer of the service - which is unbelievable. The level of bias, dismissing highly qualified professionals who put forward a 415-page submission, is not only wrong but will cost this State €400 million over the life of the contract that we should not pay. I do not care if the Air Corps never gets it but I want an intelligent consumer to oversee this.

The other piece of madness in this country which I had the privilege personally to look at was in Derrybrien, County Galway, at the weekend. Some 70 turbines producing enough electricity for 50,000 houses were decommissioned, stopped in their tracks because of something that happened in 2003 regarding an environmental impact assessment. There is a claim about a mudslide. I saw where the mudslide was. It is completely taken over again by nature. That is what nature does. There are miles of roads and fibre-optic cables in Derrybrien. There is an electric grid going into Derrybrien. There are 70 turbines in Derrybrien sitting idle, which cost this State €70 million. If they are to be decommissioned it will take two and a half or three years to get planning permission to decommission them. We will never be able to restore Derrybrien to what it was before the turbines were put in. For God’s sake, in the middle of an international energy emergency, can we not go back to the EU and say we need to put this right? I believe that particular establishment made over €11.8 million for the State in one year. In the month of January alone, €1.8 million was returned to the State in profits. I fully accept planning permissions must be followed through legally. However, it has been in operation for 20 years and nobody has said a word. Over those 20 years only two people have shown an objection.

One of those two people went door-to-door to get citizens to agree to put it in in the first place. I think the Minister needs to come to the House to speak on the matter. We need an open and honest debate on Derrybrien. We need to decide what is more important in a national emergency - energy or an environmental impact assessment that was not completed and must be retrospectively completed.

Ba mhaith liom ar dtús báire fáilte a chur roimh an reachtaíocht teanga a cuireadh chun tosaigh ó Thuaidh inné, agus ardmholadh a thabhairt dóibh siúd go léir a bhí i mbun stocaireachta agus feachtasaíochta ar son Achta na Gaeilge a bhaint amach. Is tús maith é seo agus céim thábhachtach agus shuntasach chun tosaigh maidir le comhionannas agus cearta na nGael.

It is reported in today's media that a number of Members of the Oireachtas, including the Leader, attended an event paid for and attended by a gambling body. We know the devastating impact and consequences of gambling addition on individuals and families throughout this State. We have discussed and debated it. We have heard very passionate contributions from Members. In terms of protecting the integrity of this House as we prepare to debate very important and necessary gambling regulation legislation, a policy of no comment is no longer sustainable and acceptable. It is important that the space is created for colleagues who are referenced in the media to address the very legitimate and understandable concerns that are out there.

Finally, on the points raised today and the issue of passports, I note and welcome the increase in coverage of the passport issue in the media in recent times. However, I wish to make a fundamental point and observation. We can change the name of certain services. We can ask for a junior Minister. I would like to hear the arguments for that. I am not saying I am opposed to it. Unless we get to the point where we are investing in proper services where people can interface and engage directly with the passport service, we are not going to deal with the issues that I am sure all of us right across the House are dealing with all the time. The vast bulk of people I deal with will accept that there will be a delay in obtaining their passport. Their biggest frustration and problem is the total absence of any information. I am sure that, like me, the Leader and her constituency colleagues have spent hours on the phone trying to get through to someone on behalf of families who are waiting anxiously to find out details about their passport applications. We need to light a candle as opposed to curse the dark, as it were. The Government needs to understand that this policy of hoping the issue will settle and balance out at some stage is not cutting it. We can see that it is not working. We need proper investment. We need facilities, offices and services that people can engage with, to enable them to access a human being, speak to someone and get information that they can then absorb and understand.

I wish to interrupt proceedings for a moment to welcome to the Visitors Gallery 11-year-old Cara Darmody, who is sitting the junior certificate maths paper next month to raise awareness for autism. She is here with her parents, Mark and Noelle Darmody, who are guests of Senator Ahearn. They are most welcome.

I call on Senator Black.

Last Tuesday, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, brought the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2021 to Cabinet for approval. It is a glaring and worrying omission from the soon-to-be published Bill that people who are involuntarily detained under the Mental Health Act 2001 will not be afforded their human rights. As Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Sub-Committee on Mental Health, over a period of months I have chaired meetings as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2021, which will reform the Mental Health Act 2001. The Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2021 and the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2021 are linked and are both hugely important in progressing and realising the rights of people with psychosocial disabilities, rights which they have under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. I am seriously concerned that the Government will miss this opportunity to meet the State's obligation under the UNCRPD by extending rights around capacity to people with psychosocial disabilities. I am also concerned that we have undertaken pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2021 and that two of the Department of Health amendments will require the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2021 to be amended. In the programme for Government, Our Shared Future, there is a commitment to commence the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 to abolish wardships. This is necessary to meet our obligations under the UNCRPD. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2021 went to Cabinet last Tuesday. It is now expected to be rushed through both Houses within a month. The target is for a commencement date of 20 June for the decision support service. It is very unlikely that that target will be met.

During the very brief pre-legislative scrutiny for the Bill, Mental Health Reform and others highlighted that people involuntarily detained under Part 4 of the Mental Health Act 2001 were excluded from the provisions of the 2015 Act. The Government's mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, is person-centred and underlined by principles of human rights and recovery. Yet, involuntary patients do not have the right to have their advance wishes about treatment respected. People who are detained in hospitals for mental health treatment are specifically excluded from legally binding advance healthcare directives. It is very worrying that they have no legal right to have their advance wishes respected, even though they had capacity to make decisions about their mental healthcare and treatment at the time of making their directive. There is no other group of individuals that is specifically excluded from this legal right. The exclusion is contrary to international human rights standards, including the UNCRPD. I ask the Minister to address the House to provide clarity on the exclusion of people detained under the Mental Health Act from the provisions of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2021. The omission risks undermining Ireland's commitment to UNCRPD compliance and creating discordance between the legislation and the general scheme of the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2021.

I join the Leas-Chathaoirleach and other colleagues in welcoming the Darmody family, especially Cara, to the Visitors Gallery. I wish them well in their fundraising efforts. They are highlighting the difficulties faced by those with autism.

I wish I had Cara when I was doing my maths paper.

I wish the family well and welcome them.

I would also like to join the Leas-Chathaoirleach in congratulating Croatia on its national day and in welcoming the ambassador to the Seanad. As the convenor of the Ireland-Georgia Friendship Group, I want to take the opportunity to wish the Georgian people well on this, the 31st anniversary of independence, and the 26th year of diplomatic relations with Ireland. Georgia, too, is a country that has been invaded by Russia. The invasion took place on 8 August 2008. The Russians continue to occupy a major part of Georgia. It should not be forgotten. We must also not forget that Georgia has applied for membership of the EU. It is endeavouring to fulfil all of the obligations required for that process. We should support Georgia. We would like to see Georgia, along with its neighbours, join the EU as soon as possible.

I wish to comment on the matter raised today by Senator Craughwell and other colleagues, including the leader of my group, welcoming the fact that PDFORRA has been given temporary membership of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. I welcome that and look forward to it becoming permanent. I agree with the points made by colleagues in relation to RACO. It should now be given the same opportunity to represent its members. The dilly-dallying needs to stop. It is important that it happens, and happens immediately.

Finally, I wish to discuss passports. All colleagues, including myself, receive multiple representations daily. Quite a few of those representations in my area come from residents of the North of Ireland. Therefore, I think that it is time that we tackled the situation once and for all by establishing a passport presence in Belfast.

We join Senator Wilson in his remarks about Georgia. Indeed, the Georgian ambassador to Ireland is very popular and I am sure the Cathaoirleach will facilitate the recognition of the anniversary on another occasion.

I welcome Ms Cara Darmody and congratulate her on her tremendous endeavour. Like Senator Wilson, I would have hoped that someone like her could have done my intermediate certificate examination for me and I wish her well. She is a very brave young woman who deserves our huge admiration and praise. I join with Senator Wilson in expressing my congratulations to the Georgian people and their ambassador on the anniversary of their independence day and birthday. It is a pity that we could not acknowledge these events here on the exact date but that is another matter.

The Road Traffic and Roads Bill to legalise e-scooters has been delayed, which is a pity. Senator Horkan and I are members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications. We have done a lot of work on pre-legislative scrutiny around the regulations concerning the use of e-scooters. It is regrettable that the Minister for Transport has said that it will be at least 2023 before the long-awaited regulations are introduced. As we know, the capital city of Dublin and cities like Cork have been left behind while every other big city in Europe has introduced e-scooters, and had them legalised and regularised.

I ask the Leader to invite the Minister to come to the House for an urgent debate on the regulation of e-scooters and to discuss the new Road Traffic and Roads Bill in order that the legislation can be teased out in here in an informal way. We must also allow local authorities to begin to plan for the shared e-scooter schemes. We have seen the success of these shared schemes for e-scooters in many European cities and we have expressions of interest in this country from a number of users. I hope that we can see what are now called powered personal transporters, which is a wonderful name for e-scooters, being regularised. I hope that the Leader will facilitate a debate on the use of e-scooters prior to the summer recess if we do not have legislation ready. E-scooters are currently being used illegally in Irish cities and cause great angst. An e-scooter is a wonderful way to get around and a sustainable mode of transport. It is important that we have a debate, as a matter of urgency.

I thank my colleague, Senator Ahearn, for bringing in Ms Cara Darmody to shine a light on the brilliance of children who have autism. I say well done to Senator Ahearn and Ms Darmody.

This week a site notice has gone up in the Laytown area regarding temporary planning permission for a period of five years for the development of an emergency temporary accommodation campsite on a site of 15.8 ha near the Laytown train station. The development will consist of 569 two-bedroom single-storey homes. This emergency accommodation campsite will house around 2,300 Ukrainian refugees in a village with a population of only a couple of thousand people. Needless to say, the plans have raised a few eyebrows and it does not sit easy with me. I am 100% against the development of any more direct provision-style housing or camps. I believe that an even spread of refugee intake according to the ability of a local area to adequately care for them is the best way forward. The development seems to be a solution born of convenience and is not for the Ukrainian people who find themselves here but for the Government, which wants to keep them all in one spot to make it easier to deal with them. Last week or a few weeks ago, I asked in this House for a centralised response to the crisis but I did not mean that we had to centralise the people themselves.

Underdelivering is a natural result of overpromising. The Government's policy of an uncapped intake of people fleeing the Russian invasion will result in reduced-quality care and services for those who end up in this country. Ireland must do all that it can to help but we must have a serious conversation on how far we can go. We owe it to the refugees that we have taken in to treat them properly, and putting thousands of them into a custom-built segregated site falls short of that.

All that being said, if the Government insists on pursuing this course of action, then it should throw up a few more temporary houses for every person in direct provision. If we are going to pay the fixed costs anyway, then we might as well make a few more units and treat all of our refugees equally.

There is a 150-acre site at Thornton Hall in north County Dublin. The State paid €30 million for the site but it is being rented out for €200 a month. Surely to God one does not need to be a genius to come up with solutions and find ways to build sustainable, long-term housing for people who need it, not only for refugees but people on the social housing lists and people who seek affordable housing. The Government has a site that is ready for people to build a small town on. I recommend that that is done as I firmly believe that practical solutions need practical ideas.

I rise today to welcome Cara and the Darmody family. I congratulate her and wish her all the best with her examination. She is a very brave young girl and I say fair play to her for doing the junior certificate maths paper.

I wish to mention the offers of support and accommodation made by members of the public to Ukrainians who are coming into the country. Recently I have had a number of calls from residents, especially in the Limerick area, who told me that they had received a text or acknowledgement of their offer of accommodation but heard nothing since. The Irish Red Cross is involved but people do not know whether local authorities or who else are involved in providing support. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on how we can move this matter forward because there is a lot of confusion among people. People were so good to offer support and I understand that the offers were overwhelming but now we must tell the people who made the offers what is happening and update them.

I have received communications from a number of people in the Caherconlish area of Limerick as it has been announced that the postmistress will retire on 4 June and the local people will be left with no post office. An Post has advertised the post but nobody has come forward to date. Caherconlish may be an outlying village but its population is growing. The village has a shop, a petrol station, one or two pubs and a community centre. The post office is vitally important especially for older people in terms of meeting their neighbours and collecting their pensions weekly. I ask the Leader to raise the issue with the relevant Minister.

I pay tribute to all sixth year and leaving certificate students and wish them well. I believe that the Leader may have a child doing the leaving certificate examination this year. These students have had a difficult couple of years with Covid in terms of their learning environment. This week there have been a lot of graduation ceremonies, masses and various other events and the examinations will start in a couple of weeks but I do not wish to panic anybody. Most sixth years are finishing this week and, therefore, we should acknowledge that they have had a difficult time. They are leaving second level education and will head out into the world. I wish them all well with their exams and their future. Equally, I wish their families, friends and everybody who has been involved in their education well. I thank everyone in the school community, including the teaching staff and the ancillary staff, including secretaries, caretakers, coaches and grounds people. These are all of the people who make education what it is. During the pandemic people appreciated how hard teachers work because they experienced what it is like to teach. Students were at home all day and every day while their parents or guardians tried to run their own lives and work lives yet simultaneously try to keep people involved with education. I pay tribute to this year's sixth year students who will shortly head out into the world.

I wish them the best and I encourage them to try their best; that is all they can do. It is not the be-all and end-all but it is a big rite of passage, issue and event in people's lives and we should acknowledge that because most sixth years will be finished up by the end of this week.

I also want to acknowledge that it is Independence Day in Georgia, as Senators Wilson and Buttimer have done, and I wish them well. They have a difficult enough time at the moment dealing with one of their large neighbours, a bit like some other countries. Before we come back next Tuesday it will have been Independence Day in Croatia next Monday and I acknowledge that as well.

I thank Senator Horkan for his impeccable timing.

I extend good wishes to former councillor Noel Collins, who stepped down from Cork County Council on Monday after 55 years of service to the community of Midleton and the surrounding areas. Mr. Collins was chairman of Cork County Council and he had a unique style of representation. He had no mobile phone, computer or social media. He held his clinic by sitting on the wall outside the church in Midleton every Saturday yet in the 2019 local elections he topped the poll. Perhaps there is a lesson in that. I wish him well after 55 years of loyal service to the people of Cork.

I would also like to welcome Cara and her parents to the Gallery and I congratulate her on what she is about to embark on. I admire her courage and determination and she is welcome to Seanad Éireann.

As the Leas-Chathaoirleach will know, AsIAm is the charity that supports people with autism in this country and it is running a survey to establish the number of people with autism who are not in appropriate schools, who are not in schools at all or who are travelling long distances to get to schools. There is no proper database available that people can readily access on people with autism and their access to education. Education is a right in this country but unfortunately and sadly, it is not a right for all families. It should not be down to AsIAm to establish the facts surrounding this; rather the Government needs to lead on it. However, I would encourage every family that has a child or young person with autism who is not accessing appropriate education to fill out the survey, which will enable AsIAm to campaign effectively for more resources, including targeted resources, and to ensure the resources are focused in the right direction.

I echo the call regarding the post office in Caherconlish. One of the things that amazed me as I was getting into this issue this week is that Caherconlish has doubled its population in the last decade to 1,500 people so it is hard to understand how a post office there would not be viable. It would be great if the Leader would be kind enough to write to the Minister to see what else can be done to support the people of Caherconlish.

The key issue I want to speak on today is housing. I found it chilling to hear that last Monday in Limerick alone, some 80 eviction notices were received by the homeless action team there. From speaking to colleagues, this is not uncommon across the country and there has been a huge rise in eviction notices. The people we are speaking to who deal with housing in Limerick have never been more concerned, and that is saying something given the last few years we have been through.

The following point is not party political; I hope it is just a common-sense point. We need to declare a housing emergency and put a ban on evictions. Things are already extremely bad and despite the best efforts in spin, things are getting worse and not better. If one takes the time to speak to officials, particularly the officials in Limerick, they will confirm that. We have a perfect tsunami of massive evictions and a 15% rise in rents in Limerick, and we have a ridiculously low threshold such that if one earns more than €32,500 one does not even qualify for social housing. People are trapped in a rental market that is getting ever more vicious with the rise in rents.

We have a terrible situation with the Shannon Arms property with 150 people, including 60 families, being made homeless by landlords. They say they will do up the properties on a big scale but we also see that when they have gotten rid of tenants they have brought new ones in at even more extortionate rents, particularly exploiting foreign nationals. This again points to the fact that we do not have proper tenant rights in this country. I would seriously ask my Government colleagues what it is that they see wrong with Irish tenants that they will not give them the same rights that are enjoyed across most of Europe regarding security of tenure. We are in a housing emergency and I am calling for an urgent debate on the matter. I am genuinely concerned at what we will say to people in the coming weeks in Limerick.

I welcome Cara and her parents. I heard her on the radio this morning and well done to her. She should not have to be making all the efforts she is making but she is doing a great service to children all over the country. They will all be proud of her and I am sure they are cheering her on.

I would like to raise the provision of abortion care. As we all know, it is four years since the vast majority of people in Ireland voted to repeal the eighth amendment and for the provision of abortion care. However, today only one in ten GPs is offering abortion care, in 50% of our counties there are fewer than ten GPs offering abortion care and only 11 out of the 19 maternity hospitals are providing abortion care. This means that women in a distressed situation who are vulnerable have to travel long distances. This is adding to their stress and vulnerability and creating an urban-rural divide. There is a difference between the care potentially provided to a woman in Dublin and a woman in Longford and Carlow, and we all know that is wrong.

To be fair to the Minister for Health, no other Minister for Health has done so much for women's health. Some €31 million is ring-fenced this year alone for women's health, including for the following: the provision of free contraception; free period poverty measures; endometriosis and menopause clinics; and significant capital funding for the Rotunda Hospital in my constituency of Dublin Central.

There has also been the creation, for the first time, of a real and secular national maternity hospital on the site of St. Vincent's University Hospital, which will provide all women with healthcare services, free of any sort of religious interference. It would be helpful for the Leader to write to the CEO of the HSE. We all know the review of the legislation is taking place. When it comes to the operation of the services, we should ask the HSE what actions it is taking to support GPs and our maternity hospitals to ensure that abortion care is freely available to women in every community in our country.

We will take Senator Lombard, who has been waiting for a long time, followed by Senator Boyhan.

I acknowledge and welcome our distinguished guests in the Gallery. It is great to have them here and they did a wonderful interview on the radio this morning. I congratulate them and they are more than welcome.

I will address a theme that the Leader and the Leas-Chathaoirleach are well aware of and that I have often spoken about, that is, dyslexia services. We have an issue in that many schools are doing something called Drumcondra tests, which most Members are aware of. That basically means that the end-of-year assessments go to the Department. Many students use technology to help them read, particularly in subjects like English, but more importantly at times, for mathematics as well. We have some schools that do not know whether or not the technology should be allowed for those Drumcondra tests or not.

I was contacted by a woman during the week who informed me that her child's school's proposal is to do two exams, one with the technology and one without it, and that they would then see where her daughter is after that. I had another lady on to me in the last half an hour and the technology was just taken away from her child for the exams. There is an awful lot happening here and it is not just the mental stress of it but there is also a lack of policy from the Department. The Department does not know how to deal with technology and it does not know where it is appropriate and where it is not. If anything, it is putting its head in the sand for the last three or four years and it has not come forward.

I have continually raised this issue and we need to get clarification when it comes to these State exams for primary school students who are using technology every day of the week. Can they use it for their State exams in these Drumcondra tests? To me, it is like taking glasses away from a person who needs them to read and making them do an exam.

It is appalling and is causing such stress on the children and families and, in some regards, on the teachers also, who are completely frustrated by the lack of direction from the Department.

I ask the Leader to write to the Department of Education to bring clarity to this issue and to give direction to the principals of the primary schools of Ireland because at the moment, 10% of our primary school population have no direction on this issue. Our students, parents and teachers are exasperated by the lack of such clarity.

I ask the Leader for a debate on radon gas. Overnight, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, published a report with shocking figures. It says that there are 17,000 houses at risk from radon gas. It talks about the link, in particular, to various cancers but, in particular, to lung cancer. Radon gas is a serious public health issue around this country and it needs to be addressed. I have suggested today at another group meeting that we should look at a building energy rating-type certification for every property that now comes on the market in respect of a test for radon gas. All sites where new housing is being built should also be tested for radon. It should be mandatory over a phased period of possibly five years, in that there should be a radon certificate for every single home in this State. The evidence is clear and is sharply linked to a major increase in lung cancer. The EPA posted all of this information on its website this morning. More importantly, it has posted an interactive map of the entire country which I looked at this morning. One can put in one’s eircode and can identify one’s home or site as to its potential exposure to radon gas.

I am also calling that these maps would be interactive with county development plan maps at some point in the future. In the meantime, they should be on display in all of our 31 local authorities because people need to know about them. We need a public campaign on radon gas based upon facts that have been released and are now published on the EPA website this morning. We need to tell people in their communities right across this country that they can go on to these interactive maps today, as I have gone on one already, and can see and identify the potential exposure to radon gas where they live.

This is an important issue upon which we need to have a debate at some point. I know that there are other issues around problems with particular sites so this is a very big issue. We need to look at it and to have a reasonable debate based upon the facts in respect of radon gas and the serious challenges that it is now causing and will cause to public health.

I thank the Senator for his patience earlier. It is my great pleasure, before I call Senator Kyne, who is waiting patiently, to welcome Senator Carrigy’s local school to the Gallery. It is a proud day for them and for him and I know that Senator Carrigy will welcome them further later. It is great to have them and their teachers in the Gallery.

I welcome the publication of the HSE capital plan today for the year 2022, albeit at the end of May. I believe it is in fact earlier than the publication of last year’s plan.

There are a number of projects noted and, as we know in regard to capital projects, they are slow burners in many cases. I renew my call for a debate on the capital plan for health across the country. There are enough issues of concern and which we would like to see expedited.

In Merlin Park University Hospital, I welcome the appraisal of a plan to develop a new cystic fibrosis unit as well as a ground- and first-floor outpatient department with 50 consulting rooms. These are replacements for facilities that will be impacted in University Hospital Galway, UHG.

I also welcome the appraisal for a third endoscopy unit and the provision of a new helipad and medical laboratory building to house all existing facilities which are currently located in prefab accommodation, as well as a site appraisal and associated health planning assessments for a trauma centre in UHG.

I also welcome the new emergency department with a ward block for maternity and paediatric inpatient beds, totalling 30 new and 190 replacement beds. This project has been knocking around for a great number of years and I will continue to maintain the pressure to see this advance towards planning permission, which it is hoped will be seen this year, according to Mr. Paul Reid, CEO of the HSE.

I also welcome funding for the development of a new 40-bed unit at St. Anne's community nursing unit in Clifden as well as in Clifden District Hospital, which is being replaced. A commitment to the upgrade of St. Anne’s was made to HIQA in respect of the enhancement of the privacy and dignity of residents, who have multi-occupancy rooms at present with shared sanitary accommodation, to almost exclusively single en suite rooms. This is very important.

The new build will also seek to provide for emerging needs by the inclusion of a ten-bed dementia unit and rooms that can accommodate bariatric residents. The new build is on two levels of the dementia unit. Ten short-stay beds are planned for the ground floor and 20 long-stay beds for the upper floor.

I welcome the progression of that very important plan for St. Anne’s and for the Clifden District Hospital, which are areas of great importance. It is a long way from Clifden to Galway city, as the Leas-Chathaoirleach knows, and it is important that we continue to provide services for short-stay and long-stay residents within the region.

Go raibh míle maith ag an Seanadóir and indeed I have very warm and long-standing associations with Clifden.

It is a great honour for me, coming from Ballinalee in County Longford, to welcome the sixth class pupils from my own local national school, Scoil Samhthann, and their teacher, Ms McCormack, and the vice-principal, Mrs. Farrelly. I hope they enjoy their stay.

The name "Samhthann" comes from an abbess at a Christian site in our community that was founded by St. Patrick. There is a great history which goes back to there. I have to say that it was that school which gave me my grounding and learning, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the school. My three children are in the school and it is a fantastic facility with great supports. I could not praise the staff half enough, to be quite honest.

I take this opportunity to wish Mrs. Farrelly well as she is retiring in the next couple of weeks, having served - she will probably give out to me for saying this - her full term in teaching life in our school. I can remember the very first day, which I was chatting about earlier on, when she came to our school and opened our eyes to games such as basketball, rounders and various sports which we had never played before. She has been a fantastic teacher for all of the children who went through the school and one will not meet any pupil who will say anything but positive things about her.

I also wish Ms McCormack well. It has been announced in recent days that she will be the next deputy principal in the school and I wish her well. I thank them both for all they do for the children in my community.

I also want to wish the children very well as they go on to secondary school. They are a fantastic bunch of children and will do very well in life. I wish them well and it is an honour for me to be here and have them come to visit. I am just the second person from my community to serve in the Oireachtas, the last being the late General Seán Mac Eoin, who served in Dáil Eireann for over 40 years. I hope our visitors enjoy their day.

We echo all of those sentiments and I had the privilege and great experience one time of doing research on General Seán Mac Eoin, who I know everyone in Ballinalee is very proud of. There is a monument to him.

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach very much. I welcome Senator Carrigy’s class here today. It is a very proud thing to have one’s own primary school come to visit Seanad Éireann. Senator Carrigy does a great deal of work for and on education in this Chamber and when he talks about it, he is thinking about the school in Ballinalee.

I thank my colleagues for acknowledging the presence of Cara Darmody here today. She is one of the most amazing young people one is ever likely to meet. She is an 11-year-old and is here with her parents, Mark and Noelle. It is important to acknowledge them and I am grateful that people have welcomed them here today. There are two other people, Neil and John Darmody, who would also love to be here. Cara is here to raise awareness of autism and to fight for services that her two brothers need, as do many like them across the country.

She has raised €17,000 already. The money has been raised by means of her plan to sit the junior certificate maths paper next month. People do not know this, but she announced last week that, as a sixth class student, she will sit the leaving certificate paper next year. She is a phenomenal individual. We are very proud of her in our parish. Everyone in the parish is right behind what the family is doing.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Josepha Madigan, for meeting the family this morning. They have a busy schedule today. We had a really productive discussion on autism services and on what needs to be changed. The Minister of State was very open to what Cara, Noelle and Mark put forward, and I thank her for that. It is a brilliant story. What Cara has done is amazing. However, she should not have to do it. There is a greater good, namely, getting services for Neil and John. It is important to state that none of this money is going to them. Rather, it is going to Scoil Chormaic in Cashel and to Ardfinnan National School. None of the money is for Cara or her brothers; what she is doing is about raising awareness. I wish her well; she is an inspiration to us. I would be grateful if the Leader could meet the family following the Order of Business. She would be very impressed by them.

On a separate note and while we are talking about education, I spoke yesterday about Grange National School. I want to inform the House that the extension has been agreed and funding has been provided to the primary school. The principal, Marie Keating, and the board of management are happy with that. I thank the Minister.

At that speed for a result, it is obvious that everybody should make their representations through the Senator. After such a morning of positivity, it is my pleasure to call on the Leader.

Cara sounds like a remarkable young lady. The example she is setting is phenomenal. I welcome her and wish her every success in her exams in the next couple of weeks and in the task she will be taking on next year. We talk a lot here about the stress that our leaving and junior certificate students go through. From the smile on her face since she arrived into the Chamber this morning, it seems that Cara does not need to be stressed at all. I congratulate her and her mum and dad, who are incredibly proud of her for the example she is setting. I send her every good wish. She is very welcome here this morning.

It is very clear that Senator Ahern has pull that the rest of us do not have. I congratulate him on his success this week.

Senator Kyne spoke about the capital plan and called for a debate. The email that came into all of our inboxes this week was very welcome. There is a need for a debate on the projects that will be advanced. We can all champion them, but we should have a chat about those that are not on the list.

Senator Carrigy welcomed visitors from his local school in Balinalee. I congratulate Mrs. Farrelly and wish her a happy, healthy and long retirement. I am sure all Senators will agree that the teachers who paid an extra bit of attention to us in school, whether that was in respect of hockey, basketball, music or rounders, remain in our minds for years to come. Mrs. Farrelly probably had thousands of children through her good hands over the years. I wish her a healthy and happy retirement, and thank her for her commitment to her community.

I read and heard the reports on the matter mentioned by Senator Boyhan. It is shocking that something so dangerous is lurking in practically all of our communities and nobody knew anything about it. I will certainly arrange a debate on that. It is very informative of him to raise the matter because while the EPA posted information, all of those who did not read a newspaper or listen to RTÉ this morning will still be blissfully ignorant of what is happening. A national and local authority campaign would be very welcome. Let us see if we can follow up on that.

Senator Lombard spoke about the inconsistencies around how we test young children with dyslexia in primary school. I will write to the Minister for Education and her Department to seek clarity on the use of IT equipment in order to give those children the aids they need and to provide them with the best opportunity possible when they go into secondary school. We will send that letter today.

Senator Fitzpatrick asked that we send a letter to the chair of the HSE requesting information on the support he is providing to GP and maternity services around the country. I can certainly do that. I very much welcome the review of the legislation that is due to happen in the coming weeks. We will debate the review once it has been issued.

Senator Gavan gave us a shocking statistic, namely, that 80 eviction notices were issued in the confines of Limerick alone last Monday. I will try to organise a debate because if his officials are telling him that - I have no doubt it is true - it is something that is not unique to Limerick and we will have to examine the issue. I will come back to him on a date for such a debate as soon as I can.

Senator Conway wished Councillor Noel Collins a very successful, happy and long requirement, which is something we can all echo. We all seem obsessed with communication and have so many ways to communicate with people who come to us with issues. Yet, a gentleman sitting on a wall on a Saturday can top the poll every time there is an election. I and others may be a bit OCD about that. I wish him very well.

The Senator also spoke about AsIAm and the autistic register with regard to the deficits in the provision of services. He is correct; we should not need a charity to do that. It should be something that is done by the State. I will raise the issue with the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan.

Senator Horkan wished all of our sixth year leaving certificate students every success in the weeks ahead. He is right; I have one at home. He is finishing school tomorrow and could not be happier about it. I look forward to the sunshine we will get once the exams start, please God, because we have not had much of it in the past couple of weeks. On a serious note, I wish them all well. They have had a very difficult number of years. Some children did not do the junior certificate and have had a difficult time. I hope the stress levels are as minimal as they can be and that they enjoy a very long, happy and sunny summer. Please God it will work out for them.

Senator Maria Byrne's comments were echoed by Senator Gavan. She asked me to write a letter to the Minister with regard to the prospective closure of a post office. I have heard all week about the financial supports on the way for our post offices, but we need to make sure that happens before there are closures. The Senator referred to small rural communities, and Senator Gavan pointed out that these communities are growing. Post offices are vitally important for communities. People from larger towns and cities do not really appreciate how important post offices are in smaller communities. We need to support them and ensure they maintain their businesses.

Senator Keogan raised the issue of planning permission for 569 houses in south County Meath. As is the case for me, a number of people have contacted her. I have made inquiries with the Minister regarding the nature and type of, as well as the infrastructural amenities required for, such a community. Once I have that information, I will come back to the Senator. I take her point about Thornton Hall. It is a site I pass every single day. It has the best roads, light, facilities, water and sewerage, yet it is a town waiting to be built. I am not sure what we are waiting on. That is another days work.

Senator Buttimer asked for a debate on the road traffic Bill, in particular with regard to e-scooters. I will organise that as soon as I can.

Senator Wilson spoke about Independence Day in Georgia. I wish the Georgians well.

The Senator also mentioned the inclusion of RACO in ICTU negotiations and the upcoming public sector talks. It needs to be included and I hope the issue is resolved today because I am quite aware that the Minister's intention is to include it. We should do that today. He also suggested that we have a passport office in the north west, something echoed by other colleagues in recent days.

Senator Black is looking for a debate on an incredibly important issue. It is one that is somehow slipping between two stools, namely, pre-legislative scrutiny of the mental health legislation and the capacity Bill that is currently being drafted by the Minister. We have to ensure that people's civil and human rights are upheld. Anybody who makes his or her expressed wishes known for medical treatment, whether it be mental or physical health, when in the whole of his or her health, and had the capacity to do so, has to have his or her wished honoured. That should be enshrined in legislation. We will organise that debate as quickly as we can.

Senator Ó Donnghaile welcomed the coverage, albeit negative, regarding passports in the past couple of days. He asked for clarity on the information people receive when applying for passports in order to ensure that they will not be obliged to wait weeks. That is a view we all share.

We have talked in the last couple of weeks about how successful it can be, with people making applications and receiving a passport in the post three or four days later. Other really unfortunate people have waited for months, which is far too long, and the Minister needs to address it as quickly as he can.

Senator Craughwell mentioned two issues. The first was about RACO, which he has spoken about all week. He received more information from freedom of information requests about the search and rescue tender, which he is going to publish. He is seeking a debate on Derrybrien in Galway, which I will organise as soon as I can.

Senator Ward spoke about Owen Stubbs and the bizarre reinstatement of a public right of way that does not actually give a right of way to people in his constituency.

Senator O'Loughlin opened this morning by seeking a debate on the new special educational regional centres announced by the Minister this week. She welcomed a new organisation for early educators called PEMI.

Order of Business agreed to.
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