The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the Employment Equality Act 1998 (Section 12) (Reservation of Vocational Training Places) Order 2022, referral to committee, to be taken on the conclusion of the Order of Business, without debate; No. 2, motion regarding the proposed approval by Seanad Éireann of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 (Section 4 (2))(Scheme Termination Date) Order 2023, back from committee, to be taken on the conclusion of No. 1, without debate; No. 3, motion regarding the orders of reference for the Seanad Public Consultation Committee, to be taken on conclusion of No. 2, without debate; No. 4, Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023 - Report and Final Stages, to be taken at 3.15 p.m. and to adjourn at 5 p.m., if not previously concluded; No. 5, Animal Health and Welfare (Dogs) Bill 2022 - Committee Stage, to be taken at 5 p.m. and to adjourn at 6 p.m., if not previously concluded; and No. 133, motion 10, regarding the Troubles and the location of victims' remains, to be taken at 6.30 p.m., with the time allocated to this debate not to exceed two hours.
An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
I thank the Deputy Leader. I welcome everybody back from their St. Patrick's break. I hope everybody had a very restful and joyful St Patrick's Day. I call on Senator Eugene Murphy.
Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. I must say you are looking well after your trip. I hope you enjoyed the weekend. I am one who very much believes that we get great mileage out of St. Patrick's Day across the world. I know some people have a different view, but we really get huge publicity across the world, and I think our Ministers and various leaders, including the Cathaoirleach, sell Ireland well across the world. If one takes the overall benefit from that in terms of tourism, business and so on, it is not a huge cost. I support the Order of Business outlined by the Deputy Leader.
It is great to see people back here. I want to start with last night's "Prime Time" programme and the excellent report by Conor McMorrow on the type of abuse faced by another set of front-line workers, that is, people in the retail trade. I do not know how many Senators saw that programme last night, but it was utterly shocking and deplorable. While we accept it is a minority of people, it is too bad that it is happening. On a number of occasions, I and others in the Seanad have spoken very strongly about all of our front-line workers, whether it is gardaí or health workers. Here we have another sector. Shopkeepers and retailers feel they have to speak out about the way they and their staff are being abused, attacked and threatened. There was one story about a person in a shop who was threatened with being stabbed with a needle outside the shop when somebody was shoplifting from it.
This brings us back to the word "respect", and respect for people, whatever one's differences are with them. I said before in the Seanad that we need to revisit that word. I ask the Deputy Leader, as I did previously when the Leader was here, to look at the possibility of holding a debate with our leaders, the Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, the Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin, and the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and redefine this whole area of what respect is. The word "respect" is slowly but surely being dragged out of society. There can be wrongs on both sides, but there can be no excuse for the type of material we saw on "Prime Time" on which Conor McMorrow and his team did such a good job.
We, as leaders, must take this further. We can all talk about it. I am talking about it a lot here, but we need to do something. I hope all Senators agree. This is not in any way divisive. Everybody in this Chamber would abhor what is being done to front-line workers. Perhaps it is something the Deputy Leader would at least look at to see what benefit there could be by having a debate with our Taoiseach, Tánaiste and the Minister for Transport, even if it is only an hour long debate to highlight the issue. Let everybody sing from the one hymn sheet with regard to stamping this out, and bringing the word "respect" back for all people.
I would like to welcome the new Government scheme announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, yesterday, namely, the €260 million suckler carbon efficiency programme, SCEP. This new scheme will see farmers receive a payment of €150 for the first 22 cows, and €120 for subsequent cows. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, might come in to address all of those schemes which are available to rural and farming communities. This scheme is to be very much welcomed.
I thank Senator Murphy. I call an Seanadóir Joe O'Reilly.
Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. Some days ago I had the pleasure of coming in here to welcome the Windsor agreement, and to appeal to the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, and, very importantly, the business community and civic society in Ulster to embrace the agreement and maybe impress upon the DUP leadership the importance of accepting it. As a Border person, I reiterate that plea to civic society in Northern Ireland, to the business community and to all people there to put pressure on to get the Windsor agreement accepted and to re-establish power sharing.
Recently, when speaking on the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, I brought up the question of practical things that could be done that could advance a unity of hearts and minds on the island. I mentioned that in various grant aids, such as the sports capital grants and various community grants, extra points could be given in the evaluation of the application, or rather positive discrimination could be shown to applications which show evidence of going up North and bringing people down from Northern Ireland, or which were creating that link.
I ask the Deputy Leader that we have a debate on this question, a debate purely focused on strategies that we, as a country, could employ to bring about unity on the island. Obviously, the whole question of the special unit in the Taoiseach's office comes into play there, but there might be exercises that we could do, like exchanges between schools, or educational, cultural or sporting exchanges, to build up that trust and interaction between people. The great difficulty on the island is the degree to which the entire Republic is Dublin-centric and that we do not have enough people travelling North, looking North, shopping North, visiting North, etc.
I hope the Deputy Leader - and I notice her nodding in approval - will embrace this and have a debate around it. I would love to participate in such a debate. The focus of the debate would not be to set out aspirations, but rather that we go through practical steps that could be taken in the next few months. We will never achieve Irish unity on aspirations unless we build these bridges.
Go raibh míle maith agat. I call an Seanadóir Boyhan.
I thank the Cathaoirleach, and thank the Deputy Leader for setting out the proposed Order of Business. I want to start off by thanking Senator Catherine Ardagh, and former Senator, Averil Power, the CEO of the Irish Cancer Society, for organising the Daffodil Day coffee morning in the House this morning. It was very well attended, and I thank all involved, and the Irish Cancer Society for the enormous work it does in supporting people with cancer. We all know of its great work.
I do not know if anyone listened to "Drivetime" yesterday evening, but I happened to be going to Carrick-on-Shannon and I listened it. Alan Fay and Andrea Reilly, both members of Empowering People in Care, EPIC, which is a youth council that supports people with disabilities and empowers people who have lived in care, or who have come from care, spoke very movingly about their issues and concerns.
EPIC is a national organisation that works with children and young people currently living in State care or not. It was moving. I recommend its report to everyone. I uploaded it and it is going out to every Oireachtas Member here today. It asks the contributors if they were to write a book about their life experience. It is full of quotes from these people in the service and asks what would they call it, which is how the report got its name. They talk about their care experiences in sections called, for example, "Headphones", "Odd shoes", "My experience," and "Don't miss my ability". It is about the unique lives and experience of people. I encourage people to play back the podcast. It was a very moving piece and has been mentioned several times since. Their ask is for people to listen to their voices and read their words in this report. It is peppered with their quotes. They say they wish to be given safe and inclusive opportunities to express their views, but more importantly, they want their views to be listened to and acted upon. What can we in the Oireachtas do? Surely, we can ask to have it discussed in the Committee on Disability Matters. That is important. More importantly, we can use it to inform us as policy makers. I encourage people to read that.
I strongly commend the Bill in the name of Senator Boylan and Sinn Féin regarding dogs and animal welfare. It is important. My one ask is that we get a commitment today, if possible, from the office of the Minister, Deputy Ryan, that he will agree to honour his commitment to come to this House next week for a debate and statements regarding Inland Fisheries Ireland. I have prepared a proposal for tomorrow's Order of Business. I hope it will not be necessary, but I will be circulating it this afternoon. If this House does not have a commitment from the Minister, we can expect to discuss this tomorrow on the Order of Business.
I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that non-Government motion No. 9 be taken ahead of non-Government motion No. 1. I will read that into the record. It may be useful to do so for colleagues. The motion reads: "That Seanad Éireann calls on the Rehab Group/Enterprises to implement the recent Labour Court recommendation which called on Rehab to honour the long-standing redundancy agreement with SIPTU, with particular reference to the 38 staff made redundant by Rehab Enterprises in Limerick in 2021." I wish to acknowledge the support offered on several occasions by our Deputy Leader and put on record my appreciation of that support. I ask that all of us unite today regarding this motion.
Yesterday was not such a pleasant day in Limerick. The rain was lashing down for most of the day and for an hour between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., I and my colleague, Deputy Quinlivan, stood with these Rehab Group workers who were laid off two years ago and have been denied their proper redundancy payments. They stood in the rain outside the Rehab Group building and got to hand in a letter. I spoke to many of them. They are vulnerable workers. Some of them suffer from visual impairments, some of them have learning difficulties and some have Down's syndrome. Each of them were at a complete loss as to how their employer, which they have given decades of service to, in many cases, has left them effectively locked out for the last two years from the redundancy package they are entitled to.
This organisation received millions of euro in State funding and is supposed to value inclusion, respect and integrity. It has disregarded a Labour Court recommendation. The disturbing part is the Labour Court took a lot of time on this issue and appointed an independent financial analyst to examine whether Rehab Group could afford to pay these workers the redundancy agreement they had through their union, SIPTU. The independent analyst found that Rehab Group had €20 million in cash or cash equivalents, as well as €54 million in assets and could well afford to honour this agreement. Interestingly, the same analysis also highlighted expenditure of €813,000 in packages paid to senior management in 2018 and 2019. In other words, if you are one of the top bosses in Rehab Group, there is no problem putting together a very sweet package of tens of thousands of euro - more than that, frankly. If you are an ordinary worker who has given decades of service or if you are a vulnerable worker, then you have literally been left to twist in the wind for the last two years.
I salute the SIPTU union, which is absolutely determined to ensure these workers receive justice. Its members were there in force yesterday as well. I ask colleagues from all parties and none to unite today to send a clear message to Rehab Group management that their behaviour is entirely unacceptable and it is time they did the right thing, stood by these workers and paid them the money they are owed.
Will Senator Gavan clarify that he is moving No. 133, motion 9?
Yes. No. 133, motion 9.
The death penalty for aggravated homosexuality is set to be introduced in Uganda. The country passed a Bill through its Parliament which would make it a crime to identify as LGBT, with severe penalties including life in prison for having, as it said, "gay sex". In my understanding, this is one of the harshest laws in the world targeting the LGBT community, in a country where LGBT people already face legal discrimination and, very often, mob violence. If signed into law by the President - the international understanding is that he has expressed that he will sign it into law - the Bill will violate multiple fundamental rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and association, privacy, equality and non-discrimination.
One of the most extreme features of this new Bill is it criminalises people simply for being who they are, as well as further infringing on their rights to privacy and freedoms of expression and association, which are already compromised in Uganda. Uganda is one of the counties listed as a partner country for Irish Aid on the Irish Aid website. The programme in place has been very much focused on gender equality, but there has been nothing about equality in terms of sexual orientation.
Given the state of play in Uganda, the Irish Government should commit to including equality on the grounds of sexual orientation in any future programmes. I hope other EU donor countries may consider doing the same. We should be using our international influence to resist this law due to the grave implications it will have for the lives of LGBT people in Uganda and may result in some of them losing their lives. I will be writing to the Taoiseach to convey to the President of Uganda that if he signs this Bill into law, it will be a backwards step for Uganda. It also signals, even from a basic business perspective, that it is not an open space for multinationals to do business and it is not a welcome place for people to visit. There will be people fleeing Uganda due to fear of literal death due to their sexual orientation. Ireland should be a country that is a safe haven for them. I ask that we condemn this law in this House and that we send international solidarity to members of the Ugandan LGBT community.
I wish to briefly mention, as it happened during recess, the conviction and sentencing last week of Polish activist Justyna. She was sentenced to eight months of community service for helping a pregnant woman to access abortion pills. This conviction marks a depressing low in the repression of reproductive rights in Poland and a rowback for women, girls and pregnant people. Those who defend their rights are paying an extremely high price. This case sets a dangerous precedent in Poland, where abortion is almost completely banned and offers a chilling snapshot of the consequences of these restrictive laws.
Justyna should never have been put on trial in the first place because what she did should not be a crime. She was simply supporting a woman asking for help. She was showing compassion. By defending the right to safe abortion in Poland, she has shown courage. I wish to send solidarity to Polish activists and the women and pregnant people who are going to be dreadfully impacted by those draconian laws and remind us that we have hard-fought and hard-won laws in Ireland, yet people are still travelling. We need to not only look to the activists in Poland but also to our own country.
Well said.
I welcome the details of the groundbreaking new scheme announced by the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, this morning. There was information previously in the budget but not the finer details of the scheme, which will provide free schoolbooks in primary schools and special schools.
More than 558,000 pupils are enrolled in approximately 3,230 primary schools, including over 130 special schools, which will benefit from the new scheme. This initiative will provide not only free schoolbooks but also workbooks and copybooks, easing the financial burdens facing families during back-to-school time. The cost of living is currently a significant challenge. I know from talking to families across County Galway that this measure will make a significant difference and be of significant help to people. When Fianna Fáil decided to go into government, education was a key area in which we wanted to introduce significant reforms, which have long been a hallmark of the Fianna Fáil party. I am delighted to see the tradition is continuing under the Minister, Deputy Foley.
The investment of over €50 million significantly increases the funding for schoolbooks currently provided to all recognised primary schools in the country and delivers on the commitment in the programme for Government to extend the free schoolbook pilot scheme currently in more than 100 primary schools in the DEIS programme. This scheme will ensure that parents and guardians will not be asked to buy or rent any schoolbooks, workbooks or copy books from September 2023. There are still significant challenges facing the country and areas where we must do more but it is important that the programme for Government commitments are honoured. This is another one which will now be welcomed by all.
I want to raise the issue of the summer programme. I know considerable work was carried out by the Department regarding special education. New recommendations were put in place but we are still hearing stories of a significant number of special schools deciding not to provide a school-based summer programme this year. I would strongly urge those schools to reconsider. The reality of not carrying out such a programme in schools is that thousands of kids with the greatest needs will not get that consistency through the summer months. I appeal to those schools that have decided not to implement a summer programme despite the significant changes being put forward, to change their minds. We should all be putting extreme pressure if at all possible on schools in our local areas to make sure that happens.
Yesterday, I was honoured to attend the student enterprise awards in my home county of Longford. I want to compliment the local enterprise office and Longford County Council. It was a fantastic day. A number of schools were involved, Mercy Secondary, Ballymahon, Ballymahon Vocational School, Ardscoil Phádraig, Granard, Cnoc Mhuire, Granard, Moyne Community School, Meán Scoil Mhuire, Longford, and St. Mel's College. All bar one of the post-primary schools took part in the awards. The standard of the projects was amazing. These are the future entrepreneurs in our communities. It was brilliant to see the work they have put forward.
The first year group from Moyne Community School won an award. It is appropriate given that we have been talking a lot about education recently. The winning project was entitled Big Move to Big School. It consisted of a booklet that could be given to children in fifth or sixth class in national schools throughout the country to help them decide what secondary school to choose. It is a fantastic project where kids can tick off what they like when they go to the various schools open days. I would like this taken on board. I will give a copy to the Minister for Education. It is a brilliant idea. It has been designed by first-year students stating what they would have liked to have had when they were making a decision as to which secondary school to go to.
A Chathaoirligh, you and I and other Members of this House and the Dáil attended the Interparliamentary Union last week where historic outcomes in peaceful coexistence and cybercrime were agreed. We frequently have a crack at one another in this House because of different political ideology, etc. Along with the Cathaoirleach, Senator Clifford-Lee of Fianna Fáil, a member of the Green Party, Senator Róisín Garvey, and Deputy Denis Naughten attended. I want to place on record the pride I have in the people I travelled with. I was never more proud to be Irish and to be with wonderful people at the gathering of 143 parliaments in Bahrain. I hope it is not embarrassing to the Cathaoirleach, but his speech to the assembly was outstanding. People were speaking about him long after he sat down, sad to say.
I remind my colleague this is the Order of Business.
Senator Garvey's chairmanship of the committee on climate was so impressive that people have demanded that she be brought back to the next assembly to chair a committee. Senator Clifford-Lee's chairmanship of a committee got a similar warm welcome. It is wonderful to travel with colleagues and to see Ireland, a tiny little country, held in such high esteem. I want to compliment the officials on the work that was done there. Nothing was left to chance. Everything was well prepared, we knew where we were going, we knew what we were doing. I spent three days on cybersecurity and the reaction we got was amazing. The downside of where we were was Bahrain itself. There are 1,400 political prisoners of whom 60 are in a yard refusing to go back to their cells because of a lack of healthcare. Perhaps we could have a debate on human rights in Bahrain and Iran.
Time is up. I do not make the rules. It is the Order of Business but I concur with Senator Craughwell that the output of the members of our delegation and the officials was commendable, as was the Senator's work on cybersecurity. Go raibh maith agaibh.
Two weeks ago the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste talked about transgender education in primary schools. I come from a generation, as do quite a number of others here, where we hardly got any sex education in secondary school, so we have come quite a long way. I think that the Seanad would be a good forum for the Minister for Education to come and discuss her plans. It would be a nice open forum for people to see what she is proposing. It would be good to have a look at her proposals and what she intends to do in primary schools regarding this issue.
I want to raise the issue of the hospital in Limerick where there are more than 100 people on trolleys today. The new CEO of the HSE was before the health committee this morning. It was enlightening to hear him confirming that he intends to make changes. He has admitted that in many locations the HSE is very top-heavy and that changes need to be made. It sounds like he is going to hit the ground running from his contribution at the health committee today. That does not resolve the issue of the more than 100 people on trolleys in Limerick today. I have asked for this several times and it still has not happened. I would like the Minister to come before the House to have a debate regarding health issues and I would ask for Members support regarding this matter.
I agree with Senator Murphy's call for an examination of crime and security. I watched the "Prime Time" episode last night and Mr. Shane Gleeson from Limerick who recounted being threatened with a broken wine bottle in his shop. People have also been threatened with needles. It is not just the people profiled in the programme, many other businesses right across the country are facing problems. Recently I spoke to a charity which has meetings late at night. School-age children were intimidating the people as they were leaving the meeting. This is simply not acceptable and parents need to take more responsibility. We need to have a discussion regarding this issue.
I second Senator Gavan's amendment to the Order Paper. I ask for an update from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on the timing of a referendum on water ownership. Today is World Water Day and the trade union umbrella group, Keep Water Public, was outside Leinster House. I hope Members got out to meet them and to show their support for a referendum on keeping the ownership of water in public hands.
There is a commitment to hold a referendum on this issue. In November there will be a referendum on Article 41.2 of the Constitution and the reference to woman's place in the home. It would make a lot of sense to have a referendum on water ownership at the same time. Not only would it reduce the cost of holding a referendum, it would also increase the turnout because we know that water is a major issue for the public. We have seen the largest rallies in the history of the State take place on this issue. One of the key concerns of people was around the non-privatisation of our water supply.
A referendum would safeguard public ownership of water for future generations. Equally, trade unions are supportive of this because our workforce in water services consists of highly-skilled, well-trained and well-qualified people. Why would they move from the local authorities to Irish Water if there is a potential for it to be privatised? They have been burned by the privatisation of the waste sector and the bin companies. When the timeframe in respect of the transfer of undertakings, TUPE, regulations ended, they saw an impact on their working conditions and consequently, we need that referendum to protect that skilled workforce. We need only look across the water to what happened in Britain when Margaret Thatcher privatised water. We see the heavy borrowing that households must pay for on their bills. We see large salaries for the top cats and very little tax being paid by those companies. I would like an update on when we will get the referendum on public ownership of water.
I join my colleague, Senator Murphy, in expressing concern around what is happening to our retail workers. Conor McMorrow prepared an excellent package for the "Prime Time" programme last night that showed some horrors, including the physical and verbal attacks faced by those who work in shops and service stations. I know this from talking to owners of convenience stores but also to people working in them around the country. It is just not acceptable and we need to toughen legislation in this space. We should look at a Scottish law, namely, the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021. The Act provides for specific offences with regard to attacks on retail workers, especially when it comes to their having to enforce age-related rules. In light of this, I ask that we facilitate a debate around how we protect those workers.
I also echo Senator Hoey's concerns about the passage of legislation in Uganda that makes being LGBT a criminal offence and mandates the death penalty for a person who describes themselves as such or engages in any consensual same-sex sexual activity. This is not acceptable. It is not good enough that we just protest about the matter. We have an embassy in Kampala. I ask the Deputy Leader to write to our ambassador there on the House's behalf to express our concerns. I ask that she also write to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, but the time has come when we start debate whether some of our overseas development aid should be linked to ensuring human rights are properly protected. I ask the Deputy Leader to regard both matters as priorities.
Having just come back from Africa, I can tell Senators Hoey and Byrne that Irish Aid is very much working towards making Africa a more equal and inclusive society. I met a number of front-line defenders who work with many different groups, including LGBT groups, in Africa. I wanted to say that as well.
Senator Keogan is next.
I thank the Cathaoirleach. I call for a debate with the Minister for Finance on what Ireland could be doing to prepare for the global financial shock waves arising out of the recent banking panic in the USA and Europe. Central banks are seeking to clamp down on rising inflation with a global increase in interest rates, the reversal of quantitative easing schemes and the large-scale selling of government bonds. The widespread bank runs in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse and the Credit Suisse rescue and the subsequent activation by the central banks of regular swap lines has signalled we may be facing a credit crunch, or at least a squeeze, in the coming months.
When it comes to sweeping economic matters, we know you can never be too ready and we know all too well the risks associated with being caught unawares. What impact will this have on Irish banks? What can Irish families expect in the near future about their ability to access credit or the security of their investments? What level of liquidity are Irish financial institutions at currently? Does the Department of Finance have an accurate, up-to-date figure of national deposits? Will the Minister consider coming into the House to address these questions, outline our current position, give an insight into the possible Government responses and to share his plan for the coming weeks and months as to how we can protect the fiscal health of our country?
I thank the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, who yesterday finally granted the 35 children access to the Kaftrio drug. It is an awful shame the parents of this country must beg for medical care to keep their children alive.
Before I call on our next speaker, it gives me great pleasure to welcome Mrs. Mary McGahon and Mr. Johnny McGahon, the parents of our colleague, Senator McGahon, to the Gallery. The McGahon family has great standing in the politics of County Louth, with the late Brendan McGahon serving as a Deputy. The Senator's friend, Cora Clarke, is here also and is very welcome. On that note, in front of his parents, I call on Senator McGahon.
No pressure, a Chathaoirligh.
No pressure at all.
Absolutely no pressure. Here we go.
You are seeking a debate on the Order of Business, I hope.
This is it.
Before I begin, it is great to have both my parents here, and in particular Cora. At 32 years of age, I would not be a Member of this House if it was not for love and support of my parents over those 32 years, so I thank both my mum and my dad so much.
Hear, hear.
A very important vote is taking place today in the House of Commons on the Windsor Framework agreement. It is clear that vote is going to pass with a resounding majority. Even parts of the Conservative Party that were for a long time sceptical about it are going to back this deal. That sends a strong message about how important it is going to be to have the institutions in Northern Ireland back up and running as soon as possible. Once we have them back up and running, we can assuage and fix some of the concerns some political parties may still have about the Windsor Framework agreement. Make no mistake, that framework agreement puts Northern Ireland in an enviable economic position with one foot in the Single Market and seamless trade with Britain. It is going to be such a good selling point to offer to businesses across the world to show them Northern Ireland is a place to come and do business in. One of the benefits of that will be for towns like my home town of Dundalk, where there will be a huge overspill of cross-Border business and funding. Money will be coming into Border areas that have suffered for the last 20 or 30 years. This is a deal to be really happy with and proud of. I look forward to it being passed overwhelmingly in the House of Commons, but it is important our Government and that of the UK ensure we get Northern Ireland's institutions back up and running as soon as possible.
A fortnight ago we all learned about the 58 schools that are having construction projects effectively put on hold. We have never had a full list or a precise set of criteria for why those projects have been put on hold. In recent days we learned some schools are being told they are no longer on the list, while others have got no phone call at all, save the original call to say a particular school construction project is not happening for now. If the truth be told, we are seeing a political game being played out between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and one designed to hurt each other in terms of what schools are on that list. It is despicable.
I have been dealing for a number of years with Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire on Parnell Square, Dublin 1. It is into its 21st year in temporary accommodation. The school community marked their 20-year anniversary in a decrepit building where the car park is also the school yard. It is only through the incredible efforts of the school community that there is a wonderful school there. Year after year, the Department of Education pays out €328,000 in rent and the school has had so many false dawns and disappointments. The school was told the sod could be turned at Easter time this year. The school was going to be fast-tracked through the stage 3 process because it has been so shamefully let down over so many years and now the project has been put on hold. There is a site on Dominick Street lying vacant since 2008 waiting for that school and it still has not happened. I asking that the Ministers for Education and Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform come to the House to explain what exactly is happening with the 58 schools.
Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire, and other schools across the country, cannot wait any longer.
I am not sure if it has been done already, but I congratulate the Irish rugby team on its amazing grand slam victory. It is only the fourth time in its history for the team to have done it. I congratulate the team's captain, Johnny Sexton, the coach, Andy Farrell, and the entire team. They lifted the spirits of the nation enormously on what was an important weekend, winning the grand slam for the first time on St. Patrick's weekend in the Aviva Stadium against England in the last match. Congratulations should go from all of us on behalf of Seanad Éireann.
You, a Chathaoirligh, represented the country abroad, as did many others. We should acknowledge how much value we get as a country from all the people, including you, a Chathaoirligh, all the Ministers, Ministers of State, and the Ceann Comhairle, who go abroad to represent us. As somebody said, imagine how much money Coca-Cola would pay to get a river turned its colour and Times Square covered in its branding, which we get for nothing as a nation on every continent right across the world. It is so important and it is very valuable. I give credit to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, and everybody involved in all the various missions, including you, a Chathaoirligh, and all you have done.
Many of us are wearing our daffodil pins today and various daffodil paraphernalia. I wish the Irish Cancer Society the best of luck on Friday. I was talking to people involved in it this morning at the fundraiser downstairs. It has a challenge it did not have previously because an awful lot of people do not go to work on Fridays, as they work from home. The fundraising that naturally occurs on a Friday will get a lot less footfall. I ask people to think about that and perhaps to go online and do it in other ways, for example, support it on a Thursday, or whatever else. I do not think there is a family in Ireland that has not been touched by cancer. The Irish Cancer Society does great work and I would like to support it.
As we look at the expansion of the Defence Forces that has come following the report on its future by the Commission on the Defence Forces, it is appropriate for us to have a debate on how we can go forward with that, in particular from the point of view of the provision of services around the country. I had the privilege of joining the captain and crew of the LE William Butler Yeats in The Hague on St. Patrick's Day. There are very few groups within Ireland that act for the country of whom we can be as proud as we are of the Naval Service. One of the joys of the expansion of the service is that we have obtained two coastal patrol vessels from New Zealand to act as part of the Naval Service. They will patrol the Irish Sea, among other areas.
It is appropriate we look at where future bases should be located. I have always thought that Dún Laoghaire is the perfect place for a naval base to patrol the Irish Sea. Geographically, it is right at the centre of the east coast. More importantly, Dún Laoghaire Harbour, which is an historic harbour, that has been there since the 1830s, is accessible at all points and times of the tide, which is not true of every port. It is not a busy port in the way the ports of Dublin and Drogheda are. There is not a lot of commercial traffic in or out of it, so it allows very easy access for a Naval Service vessel to and from the Irish Sea. It also has accessibility, because it has a train station, so it links people from an extensive area up and down the east coast who could commute to a place like Dún Laoghaire to serve on that vessel. In addition, the harbour itself has capacity physically within its waters but also in terms of the land adjacent to the harbour. There is a lot to recommend a place like Dún Laoghaire, which has such an important maritime heritage as well, with the Commissioners of Irish Lights, the Irish Sailing Association, and the National Maritime Museum based there, as well as the water sports and sailing centres. It seems to me to be a very appropriate place. As we look towards expanding the Defence Forces, it is the perfect place to have a base for patrolling the Irish Sea, patrolling our waters, and protecting our borders.
Yesterday was the international day against racism. A very rushed action plan against racism was launched. I thank the committee, which worked really hard on the plan to tackle racism within Irish society. I request that we have statements on the plan, because a lot of the time we have great plans but we do not have action. That is one point.
This evening there will be a vote in the Dáil on the removal of the eviction ban. Sometimes when we speak up, we are seen as being far left or that we do not have any common sense. I see so many people homeless within our society. There are so many single mothers with two to five kids struggling even to get accommodation. This evening, the Government is going to remove the eviction ban. For the record, I stand in support with my colleague, Deputy Pringle, who will vote in favour of the people.
I might get into trouble for saying this, but although I would vote against the Government I, think if you have an agreement with a colleague on maternity leave, given that it is very tough for women to take maternity leave, you should stand with the person you made the agreement with. As a mother myself who went on maternity leave for four months, I am really disappointed that while we got somewhere with maternity leave, this agreement would not go ahead. If we are going to support women in the Houses, we must look at how we are going to stick by our word because letting somebody down at the last minute is not the right thing to do.
Last night the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications published the report of the expert independent review on the North-South interconnector project. It is simply unbelievable that a Green Party Minister could stand over this report, whereby 300 megastructures - pylons - will be put across the landscape of Meath, Cavan, and Monaghan, and that he can think this is environmentally good. The last time I checked, I thought the Green Party was for the environment, but somehow steel megastructures going through historically sensitive areas is okay. Perhaps the environment only exists within the confines of Dublin and not beyond it. This independent report just looked at the various other reports that were done down through the years. This has been going on for 15 years. The Leader, Senator Doherty, and I have long been working on this issue. Going back to a report in 2008 it was acknowledged that undergrounding technology "is noted to play an important role in urban and congested areas, or where site specific environmental constraints occur, for example, within areas of outstanding scenic beauty". It is reprehensible that the consistent concerns of public representatives and the public are not acknowledged. What are we trading off here in terms of the constant calls for energy security vis-à-vis the desecration for decades if not hundreds of years to come by what is being purported here?
At a briefing yesterday evening, which disgracefully was held at short notice-----
Tá an t-am caite.
I will finish on this point. It was put forward by Department officials that EirGrid officials would now consult landowners. They have had 15 years of botched efforts where they have not listened to the concerns of ordinary people.
I thank Senator Cassells.
I doubt they are now going to take it upon themselves to have genuine concern for ordinary people. We will continue to make their case.
I thank Senator Cassells very much.
You will be hearing a lot more of it in here as well, a Chathaoirligh.
I agree with what Senator Flynn says about someone who agreed to pair with someone who is on maternity leave.
The matter raised by Senators Ahearn and Flynn are matters for the other House and not for this House. That is a matter for the people involved.
We are allowed to speak.
I understand, but we have no say on those matters on the Order of Business.
We are allowed to comment.
I am only commenting on what another Senator said in this room five minutes ago.
I am just clarifying the situation.
The only point I am making is that everyone is under pressure in respect of how to vote. People in Clare would understand if the person in question said to them that the reason she cannot vote is because she is covering someone who is on maternity leave. We are trying to change the dynamics in this building to help women, in particular, but also to help everyone with families to be able to work in a better environment and attract people to politics. It is important to say that.
I welcome back the Cathaoirleach from his work on the behalf of the country and thank him for what he has done in Bahrain and Africa. I know he met our friends from Ukraine while he was in Bahrain and reinforced the message from the Government that they have our support. From talking to them, I know they appreciate that and look forward to working with us and, in particular, with the Seanad in the light of the work we have done in the past year.
I welcome today's announcement that 100 jobs are being created in Clonmel by a local family-run company called Sepam. The chairman of the company, Mr. Gus Kearney, his son, also Gus, and his wife, Audrey, yesterday met the Taoiseach and the CEO of Enterprise Ireland, Mr. Leo Clancy, about the announcement of 100 engineering jobs for the town of Clonmel. Sepam has 600 people employed across the world, including 50 in Clonmel. That number will now rise to 150. As a Government, we talk about creating employment. There are almost 2.6 million people working in the country, which is the highest ever employment level. We are focused on rural and regional employment. This is a prime example of a good, big multinational company that is creating employment locally in the heart of Tipperary in Clonmel, together with other big multinational companies in Clonmel. It is important to recognise that news and to congratulate Gus and Audrey, and the whole family, on what they have achieved.
There has long been a convention that politicians, particularly Cabinet Ministers, do not comment on ongoing litigation in any shape or form. I was, therefore, disappointed to hear the Tánaiste wade in, during his recent visit to the United States, with a diagnosis in respect of the situation of a family, one of the members of which is involved in a long-running dispute with the school that employs him. I am, of course, referring to Enoch Burke and the Burke family. It seems to me that what the Tánaiste was doing was engaging in stereotyping. I have had occasion in the past to teach students about stereotyping. It is when one takes a characteristic of a person, disagreeable or otherwise, and links that to the group of which that person is a member. We all know how wrong that is in the context of racism and discussion and discourse around members of the Travelling community. It seems to me that members of the home-schooling community were right to be aggrieved at the fact that the Tánaiste sought to link the unattractive style of advocacy that we might associate with the Burke family with the fact they were home-schooled. That is stereotyping of the worst kind. It lacks professionalism. I commend my colleague, Senator Pauline O'Reilly, and, indeed, spokespeople for home-schoolers on calling out the Tánaiste for speaking in that way.
I am not a fan of the approach of the Burke family to making their point. In fact, they have managed to make a bad fist of what was originally a very good case. However, I certainly do not think it fair to identify one aspect of their lives, that is, the home-schooling dimension, and use it to have a slap at home-schooling. There is a constitutional right in this country for parents to home-school their children. Parents are the primary educators. This is what this really is all about. There seems to be an approach by Government these days to put an asterisk over certain constitutional rights-----
Hear, hear.
-----and to call them into question. The rights of parents to be the first deciders in the education of their children seems to be one example and I would counsel strongly against it.
I would like the Deputy Leader to invite the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to the House to discuss the creation of offshore energy, particularly on the west coast. It seems the Government has decided to put on the back foot any developments in respect of the creation of offshore wind energy along the west coast in favour of the east coast. All of the generation is now going to be on the east coast. We are told that any energy created offshore on the east coast will be fed straight into the national grid. The west coast is not as well connected to the grid as the east coast. However, many applications have been submitted for the production of hydrogen on the west coast. This is a no-brainer for the Government because there is an enormous market for hydrogen and any energy that is created and turned into hydrogen will be sold in Europe, to which it can be easily transported. I ask the Minister to come to the House as a matter of urgency. There are many large projects planned along the west coast, from Valentia Island to Galway and Mayo, relating to the creation of offshore wind energy. One such project is the development of Foynes Harbour. There is considerable potential for this country. We could become world leaders in the creation of hydrogen energy and all that goes along with it. I am asking the Minister to come to the House as a matter of urgency to explain to us why this decision is being made and where the creation of offshore energy, in particular off the west coast, now lies. By how many years is it being pushed back?
Like my colleague, Senator Flynn, I will talk about the end of the eviction ban. Tonight's vote looms large over proceedings here in Leinster House and for renters all over Ireland, it represents fear, anxiety, uncertainty and doubt. As Fr. Peter McVerry has said, the end of the ban will unleash a wave of misery onto ordinary people. Tenants who are diligent and conscientious and who make big sacrifices to pay crushingly high rents, will be evicted into homelessness because landlords want to maximise the returns on their property investment. Those tenants will be evicted into homelessness because the Government has totally failed to take action on housing on a scale that reflects the extent of this crisis. The Government has refused to effectively regulate short-term rentals, which prioritise profiteering and tourism over meeting housing needs. The Government has refused to invest ambitiously in restoring and expanding Ireland's much diminished local authority housing stock. Policies such as cost rental are positive but they are not being rolled out nearly quickly enough. Years of successive failures, which implicate all the parties of Government, have brought us to the precipice. The Government's counter-motion in the Dáil runs to 2,474 words. It is a long-winded, cynical and exhausted attempt to justify the unjustifiable. It contains some minor tweaks that utterly fail to reflect the gravity of this crisis. I know that members of the Government parties and certain Independents are likely wrestling with their consciences ahead of the vote tonight. To them, I would like to say that elections, careers and governments come and go but the decisions we make are ours alone. Doing the right thing is much more important than a party Whip or ministerial title. Will Members be able to look their newly homeless constituents in the eyes if they allow the ban to expire? I would like this House to have a debate about the end of the eviction ban in order that Members have the opportunity to put their views on the record.
Hear, hear.
I remind Members that we have 55 minutes for the Order of Business today and there are four speakers left before I call on the Leader to respond. I ask the four remaining speakers to be concise and to the point because that would help and would be appreciated.
Before we move on, I welcome the Douglas Young at Heart group to the Public Gallery and welcome, in particular, my good friend Phil Goodman. She is a champion in the community. She and the other representatives of the group are welcome.
We rightly acknowledge the work of National Broadband Ireland, NBI, and the intervention by the State to ensure high-speed broadband coverage across the country. It is great to see connections taking place up and down the country. In some areas, high-speed fibre broadband is available for order or preorder. In some other areas, the network build is in progress. In other areas, the surveys are complete and in still other areas, the surveys are under way. There are, of course, many areas where the survey is pending. I ask the Leader to contact the CEO of NBI to see whether we can increase capacity to ensure a wider geographical roll-out of fibre broadband. There are areas of north Connemara, areas towards Ballinasloe in east Galway, and in south and north-west Mayo, south Donegal, south Sligo, west Clare and large parts of Cork and Tipperary that are evidently lacking those services.
Large areas of the country, therefore, have not got to the first stage of surveys pending in respect of high-speed broadband. We talk a lot about geographical and regional balance, but it is important that this is evident in the work of National Broadband Ireland. I am proud that we initiated and signed the contract and that work is ongoing in this regard. This must be spread out across the country, however, to ensure there is geographical balance in respect of the roll-out. Increased capacity, as I said, would enable the company to start surveys in more areas to ensure we get quicker coverage of broadband services geographically.
I welcome that we have the next stage of the Galway-to-Athlone cycleway. Public information events will be announced the week after next. We had a preferred route corridor. We are now going to have an actual preferred route. This is thanks to engagement with landowners, community groups and using publicly-owned lands where possible. It will transform our communities.
I have spoken on this issue several times. It is phenomenal to see that this cycleway will be coming to the town of Ballinasloe. It will transform this route into a safe space for families to walk and cycle and just to allow them to be outdoors in a public safe space. This is what this cycleway is going to bring. It is a world-class infrastructure that will be coming into the west. These public information meetings will be happening from 27 March, that is from next week onwards.
I also highlight that the new schoolbooks programme provides free schoolbooks for schools and special schools. Funding has also been allocated to primary schools to hire an administrator to manage this programme. It is another load for primary schools to bear, but this support will be offered to them on the administrative side of things. This programme has emanated from a pilot scheme run through the DEIS when Fine Gael was previously in Government. It is great to see this programme being expanded now.
I request that the Deputy Leader ask the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to come into the House at the earliest opportunity to discuss the report published yesterday by the so-called independent commission on the North-South interconnector. As Members will be aware, this is a high-powered electricity connection which will link the networks in the North and the South. We have been talking about this project for the last 15 years, as the Deputy Leader knows well. My colleague, Senator Cassells, also mentioned this subject today. The one constant disappointment over these last 15 years has been that the Department has continued to refuse to listen to the communities that will be affected by this project.
Yesterday, we were given three or four hours' notice of a briefing to be given to us at 4 p.m. This was disrespectful, but this has also been a constant as well in how the Department has handled this project from the get go. It has shown consistency in this regard. We were also told the plan is to have this project completed by the middle of 2026, which I think is wishful thinking, to put it mildly. After 15 years, the opposition to this project is as strong, if not stronger, than ever. Unless and until representatives of the Department sit down and speak to the communities affected by this project, we will still be having this conversation, those of us that might be here, in another 15 years. I ask the Deputy Leader to ask the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to come into this House so we can discuss the outcome of this report.
It is good to see the Cathaoirleach back. I am pleased that €50 million has today been allocated to the primary schoolbooks programme. This scheme, which was started by the former Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Joe McHugh, several years ago has evolved since then. The current Minister, Deputy Foley, deserves full commendation for bringing it to the level it is at now. Access to information, the written word and the syllabus is extremely important, appropriate and should happen.
Unfortunately, one group of people will not be able to access the syllabus with any great ease. I refer to people with print disabilities, including people with dyslexia, those who are blind and visually impaired and those who have other mobility issues in terms of accessing information. This situation can be resolved. A project called Bookshare is providing books within 24 hours in a format accessible to people with print disabilities who need them. It is operating extremely successfully at third level. It can operate at primary and secondary levels as well. It will cost the Department of Education €100,000.
I commend the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, for making the money available this year to allow Bookshare to be provided and made available at third level. Another €100,000 would secure the service for primary and secondary levels. This would mean every book issued by a publisher in this country for the education syllabus could be available in whatever format would suit, including in large print, in a readable option, in Braille or on a particular screen designed and suitable for somebody with other print disabilities. A sum of €100,000 out of €50 million is a small amount of money and I implore the Minister for Education to rectify this situation as soon as possible.
I call the Deputy Leader to reply.
How many minutes do I have?
We are all over time at this stage, but I am showing latitude.
I thank the Cathaoirleach. I will try to include everybody. Senators Conway, Dolan and Crowe began today by very much welcoming the €50 million announced yesterday by the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, for the free schoolbooks programme for all our primary school children from September 2023. Senators mentioned this scheme was first initiated by the former Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Joe McHugh. I was at the Cabinet table when he did it and I cannot express the resistance there was to this initiative. It is really no mean feat, therefore, that the Minister, Deputy Foley, has got it over the line now in such magnitude this year. I have no doubt, however, that the cost-of-living crisis helped us along the way. It is very welcome and I think it is long overdue.
Senators Gallagher and Cassells asked for a debate on the interconnector report very quietly released yesterday evening. I am not sure anybody was expecting it. I am not sure what the political timing is concerning this report. I can tell Senator Cassells that I am not sure whether I have any shout left in me. I say this after what I witnessed yesterday after 15 years of challenging the same consistent issues that we have as communities in counties Meath, Monaghan and Cavan and those communities still being completely and utterly ignored.
The glaring elephant in the room yesterday evening was clear when we asked questions about the current costs and the expected costs. Heretofore, the costs have always been an issue in respect of explaining why we could not undertake this project in the context of the State not being able to afford it. The cost of steel is apparently not on the list of things our Department is conscious of today. It does not know how much the cost is going to be until we go to tender. This is absolute nonsense compared with all the other times we were well able to have been told about the figures in this regard.
In the beginning, there were the lies and the tripe we were told concerning the cost comparison being 20:1. We finally got it down to a reasonable discussion with our last set of reviewers, who were independent. I say this because we could certainly not call the report we got yesterday independent in any way, shape or form. The elephant in the room is that this report has completely omitted to tell us what the costs are today. I would bet my house on the fact that overgrounding is now actually more expensive than undergrounding would be, based on the cost of steel. I will, therefore, relish asking for a debate and for the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to come to the House. He is already coming here next Tuesday, but that is to talk about fisheries. Given all the issues we have been talking about in the context of inland fisheries for several years, I do not want to conflate or confuse these two issues. We will therefore ask for a second debate with the Minister.
Senator Dolan welcomed the Galway-to-Athlone cycleway public consultation. This will provide a great new amenity for that neck of the woods.
Senator Kyne asked me to write a letter to the CEO of National Broadband Ireland seeking increased capacity and therefore a speeding up of the project, which I think would be welcome for every part of the country.
Senator Black highlighted her opposition to the lifting of the eviction ban, on which a vote will take place this evening in the Dáil.
Senator Burke requested a debate on the west coast versus east coast offshore argument which it seems is being put forward by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Ryan. I will again ask for this to be a separate topic of debate.
Turning to Senator Mullen, he expressed his concern about language that has been used recently. He is probably right about it. The parental choice of education is not just enshrined in our Constitution but in the UN Declaration of Human Rights. It is one of the first and foremost things in this regard that parents come first. What we heard a few weeks ago, therefore, was unfortunate.
I am not really sure whether it was planned. It was probably another off-the-cuff comment, which probably did not do us any justice.
Senator Ahearn welcomed the 100 jobs in Clonmel. They really are welcome. I wish continued success to Gus and Audrey Kearney from SEPAM.
Senator Flynn stated yesterday was International Racism Day and mentioned the launch of our plan. She sought a debate on the plan. I will organise that debate.
Senator Ward is looking for a debate on Defence Forces expansion, particularly the potential use of the harbour at Dún Laoghaire as a naval base.
Senator Horkan said Daffodil Day is this Friday. Everybody is conscious that we are not in town as much as we would normally be, but we should look after an organisation that is wholly worthy of support in local towns and villages.
Senator Sherlock asked me to contact the Department of Education and the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to find out what exactly is going on with regard to the 58 schools. That is not an unreasonable ask. I will do so today.
Senator McGahon spoke about the Windsor Framework and the proposal we hope will be passed resoundingly by a vote this afternoon to bring about positive change in Northern Ireland and very much signal that Northern Ireland is open for business.
Senator Keogan very much welcomed the announcement on Kaftrio yesterday by the Department of Health and the Minister. I do too, particularly because we know somebody very close to us will deservingly get their medicine now. Going through the system just to get drugs is so painful and demeaning, particularly when the drug in question has already been allocated to older people in the country. I welcome the announcement.
Senator Keogan also sought a debate on the recent shock waves that have been sent through our banking system. I will ask the relevant Minister for that debate.
Senators Malcolm Byrne and Murphy spoke about RTÉ's "Prime Time" programme on the shocking physical and verbal abuse and attacks that people in the retail industry have to suffer. The Senators were looking for a debate. We will organise that debate.
Senator Boylan was looking for an update on when the water ownership referendum will be. It was mooted in the past couple of weeks that it might not be ready for November. I will get a definite answer for the Senator and let her know.
Senator Maria Byrne spoke about the welcome initial noises coming from the new chief executive officer of the HSE on the changes required in Limerick. Week in, week out, colleagues bring to the attention of the Seanad the hundreds of people who have to lie on trolleys in Limerick. The Senator was also looking for a debate on crime and security.
Senator Davitt asked me to ask the Minister for Education to come to the House to outline her plans with regard to transgender and sexual education in primary schools. I can certainly do that.
Senator Craughwell asked for a debate on human rights in some of the countries that treat people in a way that we might not regard as very respectful. Senator Carrigy spoke with such pride about the student entrepreneurs he met this week and told us about the Big Move to Big School campaign that he would like to bring to the Minister's attention. As I said, Senator Crowe talked about the free books.
Senators Hoey and Malcolm Byrne talked about the recent laws that have yet to be signed off by the Ugandan President, but which no doubt will be, on the banning in Uganda of people's way of being. It is absolutely shocking. I will certainly bring it up with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, particularly the Minister of State responsible for foreign aid, to see whether we can enshrine human rights and dignity in any of the countries to which we give aid. I will revert to the Senator.
Senator Gavan proposed an amendment to the Order of Business and it was seconded by his colleague. I will wholeheartedly accept the amendment. Apparently, there is a list of reasons what the Senator described is going on, but none of them is acceptable. I wholeheartedly commend the Senator for doing what he did today and for standing by the people's side yesterday. It is absolutely disgraceful-----
I thank the Deputy Leader.
Even if there were issues that needed to be ironed out, still standing here two years later not having sorted them out is not something we should be proud of in any State-supported agency.
Well said.
I very much thank the Senator for raising this issue.
Senator Boyhan asked for a debate with the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Ryan, particularly on inland fisheries. He will be here next Tuesday night, 29 March, at 7 p.m.
Senator Joe O'Reilly spoke about the Windsor agreement and was very much looking for an acceptance plea aimed at those in Northern Ireland who are still withholding their support for the agreement. The Senator was also looking for a debate on integration and unity strategies, including on how we can help ourselves to be a unified country. He is seeking practical steps, not just legal routes, to ensure we integrate all the people in all the counties of Ireland as a united nation.
Senator Murphy referred to RTÉ's "Prime Time" programme last night on retail workers but also mentioned the €260 million announced yesterday by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine with regard to a new suckler cow programme.
Senator Gavan has proposed an amendment to the Order of Business: "That No. 133, motion 9, be taken before No. 1." Senator Doherty has indicated that it is to be accepted. Is that agreed? Agreed.