The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the appointment of an ordinary member to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, to be taken on the conclusion of Order of Business, without debate; No. 2, motion regarding the proposed approval by Seanad Éireann of a proposal for a regulation on a computerised system for the cross-border electronic exchange of data in the area of judicial co-operation in civil and criminal matters, namely, the e-CODEX system, to be taken on conclusion of No. 1, without debate; No. 3, motion regarding the proposed approval by Seanad Éireann of a proposal for a regulation on the digitalisation of judicial co-operation and access to justice in cross-border civil, commercial and criminal matters, to be taken on conclusion of No. 2, without debate; No. 4, motion regarding proposed approval by Seanad Éireann of a proposal for a directive on the digitalisation of judicial co-operation, to be taken on conclusion of No. 3, without debate; and No. 5, statements on cybersecurity and data protection, to be taken at 12.30 p.m. and to conclude at 1.45 p.m. if not previously concluded, with the opening contribution of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, the speaking time of all Senators not to exceed six minutes and the Minister to be given no less than ten minutes to reply to the debate.
An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
I agree with the Order of Business as outlined by the Leader. I join the Cathaoirleach in welcoming the ambassador to the Seanad. The Cathaoirleach, the Leader and I had the pleasure of a very good engagement a while ago with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, in Luxembourg. We met the Prime Minister, Mr. Bettel. We worked collaboratively with the Parliament there. The ambassador is very welcome and I thank her for coming in today and for her presence.
I want to raise the issue of the restoration of the pension deal for 7,000 An Post pensioners. Agreement was reached in January as a result of protracted and detailed negotiations with An Post and the Communications Workers' Union. They welcomed a recommendation by the Labour Court that provided for a total increase to the pensionable pay and the pensions of the company of just over 10%. This goes back to a scenario in 2013 when the workers supported restrictions on increases in pensionable pay to protect the pension scheme at a time when it was in deficit.
In January an agreement was reached as a result of the interjection and recommendations of the Labour Court. It was very much welcomed by the 7,000 An Post pensioners. Regrettably, we have had a delay in the approval of the restoration because it is subject to the signature of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Ryan. This agreement was reached back in January and we are now coming into July. Quite simply, it is unacceptable. These people served the company and their communities well. At a time when we are moving into everything being digitalised and on our phones, including our cash, the postal workers in our communities are a stable presence.
The issue of the post office is regularly raised here. It is argued and fought for. We want to make sure we honour the people who do the job. The restoration of the pensions was agreed in January. It is absolutely unacceptable that almost seven months later, we still do not have the approval or signature of the Minister, Deputy Ryan. I seek the good offices of the Leader and the Cathaoirleach to write to the Minister to ask him why there has been an unacceptable delay and to make sure it is rectified so we can have the deal reached by the Labour Court and restoration of the pensions of the 7,000 An Post pensioners.
I welcome the ambassador and wish her well during her stay in Ireland. It is great to see that Luxembourg has a full ambassador in Ireland.
I want to raise the issue of planning. The Fine Gael group of Senators had a great meeting yesterday with Niall Cussen from the Office of the Planning Regulator and previously the Department. I found it most interesting. At some stage, we should invite him to come before the House for a question and answer session. As someone who spent quite a long time on a local authority, there are many things I did not realise could be done and stipulated in county development plan or an area plan. In many cases where we have developments with a first, second and third phase those doing the building in the first stage can create a problem for those working in the third stage if they do not go ahead with the development. Mr. Cussen was able to tell us there may be a way around this. If a certain length of time is given to carry out the first stage and those involved are not prepared to do it, then the second or third stage should be allowed to go ahead and quite rightly so.
He said many other measures could be taken to help with planning. Local authority members should be educated on planning and there should be workshops for them. County managers, or chief executives as they are now, do not bring forward all of the information to local authority members when development plans are being put together. Mr. Cussen also said that variations of a plan can be done quite easily. He suggested it is not only the responsibility of the manager to bring forward a variation.
I always felt that a variation of a plan could not take place unless the manager was willing to bring it forward. This is a grey area and one that should be explored.
Then the area of services and what services are came up. Are they roads, footpaths, public lighting and so forth? Some developments get planning or zoning turned down because of the lack of services. There is the question of who provides the services and why an area does not have services. While some planning applications have everything ready to go, the services might not be there and maybe the local authority should be working in conjunction with the applications. I am calling for a debate on this, and if we could bring Mr. Cussen into the House, it would be a worthwhile experiment.
I would like to continue on the commentary of the previous Senator. Mr. Cussen is a regular attender of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, on which all parties in this House are represented. I do not suggest he comes into the Seanad. We have a very strong, active, robust and proactive committee that has members. He is subject to regular questioning, it is cast on the web, and the councillors are aware of every single meeting of the committee because I personally send them a link to it, and he does an excellent job. The councillors do not need a lesson from the Office of the Planning Regulator. There are ten publications that he has worked on, he runs regular training sessions with the Local Authorities Members Association, LAMA, and the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG. Senator Burke's party and all other parties engage effectively with them and that is the proper process. It is not for the Seanad to be asking sectoral individuals to come in for questioning. I say that respectfully to the Senator. There is a committee, of which I am a member and the Senator's colleagues are hardworking members of it, and we do our work well. Mr. Cussen engages very well with it, as does the regulator. As the Senator has given me the opportunity, I salute the AILG and LAMA for their publications and seminars and for inviting Mr. Cussen to engage with them. I wanted to make that point. It was not one I intended to make, but as the Senator brought it up, I thought it relevant to do so.
I support the Leader's proposed Order of Business. I mention my Private Members' Registration of Wills Bill. I brought a Private Members' Bill to the House in 2021, which was debated extensively by all Members of the House, and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, suggested it be parked for nine months. That was somewhat disputed but we had a vote on it and took that decision. Eighteen months have elapsed since and there has been no traction or ongoing support on what has been happening, so I brought a Commencement matter on it to this House yesterday and we had a detailed response from the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien. The bottom line is that the Minister of State is not supportive of a register of wills. I want to flag my intention to the House that the Bill is restored to the Order Paper, as item No. 50, and my intention is to proceed with a re-reading of that Bill and to pursue the importance of it. I just want to let the House know that.
With the co-operation of the House I will take Senator Black next as she has another engagement.
I want to raise the issue of adult safeguarding. Yesterday in the media we heard about the horrific case of a nursing home resident who was raped by a healthcare worker who was tasked with caring for her. The woman, who is now deceased, was called Emily in the report. Her bravery and the support of her family led to the perpetrator being exposed and punished. However, we need to face up to the fact that other residents had complained about inappropriate behaviour from the perpetrator and nothing was done. Unfortunately, they were not believed, which is devastating.
This was a massive failure, which underscores the urgent need for comprehensive adult safeguarding legislation with a mandatory reporting requirement. My Civil Engagement Group colleague, former Senator Colette Kelleher, introduced adult safeguarding legislation way back in 2017. It was well-written and timely legislation that received cross-party support and backing from civil society. However, the Bill's progress was stalled to allow the Law Reform Commission to conduct research. Years have passed since then and there have been multiple media reports outlining horrific revelations about abusive situations in health and social care settings and in private residences where adult safeguarding legislation could have prevented abuse, degradation and cruelty. This delay has been a massive missed opportunity.
I am aware that the Government's summer legislation schedule contains the adult safeguarding Bill, which is welcome news, but the proposed legislation is much more limited in its scope and does not create the kind of comprehensive adult safeguarding system that we need. We need legislation that covers the broad spectrum of sites where adult safeguarding is relevant, a statutory safeguarding agency that has the support of several relevant Departments and statutory agencies, and an expansion of advocacy services to ensure vulnerable people's wishes and concerns are heard.
I want to acknowledge the many civil society organisations such as Sage advocacy, ALONE, Safeguarding Ireland, the Irish Association of Social Workers, and many others that have been fighting on this issue for years. Their research and advocacy have kept this issue on the agenda and I commend highly all their efforts on behalf of the population that are often neglected in our political discourse. People have been waiting so long for this legislation and the absence of comprehensive adult safeguarding legislation is creating tangible risk and harm. The Government must take swift and decisive action to rectify this. I hope we can move on this. It is an important Bill, it could save many lives and it could prevent a lot more abuse in the system.
It is almost a year since Sinn Féin's Private Members' motion in the Seanad that sought to save the night-time economy. I know the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, was on maternity leave but I wonder what the Minister, Deputy Harris, was doing. The general scheme of the sale of alcohol Bill 2022 was published in October and there is still a good bit to be resolved. By the sounds of it the Government is dragging its heels on this issue. The Bill should have been presented by now and things are extremely difficult for the industry, with costs and takings down 50% and 60% on pre-Covid levels.
Licensing and insurance are at the heart of this issue. Licensing is still a cost that is too high. I am not sure what has successfully been done around rip-off insurance for these businesses but we need to kill these costs. Where is this legislation? It needs to go through. Fine Gael would have you believe that it is the party for the economy but businesses are closing in this industry. We need this legislation and we cannot be here this time next year without it. Businesses are closing in the night-time industry.
It will probably surprise no one that I am going to use my time to talk about Pride and the celebrations, protest and remembering that are coming up this weekend. It is a great honour every time I am able to stand up here as an out Member of our Parliament, to not be afraid to say that and to be proud to be a member of a great community. When we are talking about Pride and the progress we have made, there is no doubt there has been an incredible amount of progress, not only in the past seven years but in the past 30 years. This Pride month and the Pride march this weekend are celebrating 40 years since the first Pride march and 30 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality, and it is still wild to believe that was during my lifetime. It will be a safe family of friendly and fun events. It will be filled with colour, laughter and joy.
For a huge amount of the community we are almost separated from those dark times when people did not feel safe to walk down the streets and when people could not stand up in their national Parliament and say they were out. Other members of the community are still facing harassment daily. They are still facing discrimination because of who they are, whether it is because they are visibly queer or because people have picked up that they are queer. Only last week in Drogheda, two gay men were attacked when they were out walking their dog. They are a married couple and they were attacked by a group of teens. They threatened to kill them and rape their dog and they used homophobic slurs towards them. This is only one example of what a number of us have spoken about here before. These are attacks on our community that we are still hearing of weekly.
There are many people who take great umbrage when I stand up in this House and say, on one hand, we need to celebrate, recognise and be proud of where we have come from but highlight, on the other hand, the fact that not every member of the community still feels safe.
Not every member of the community can walk down the street holding hands with their partner because a group of teens might throw stones at them, threaten to rape their dog or put death threats on them. We simply have to recognise that those two things can coexist at the same time. We can recognise the progress and how far we have come in society but also recognise that there continues to be a small cohort of people who look to marginalise, harm and discriminate against our community, particularly the trans community. No matter how loudly those voices shout, members of our community should feel safe walking down the street and, therefore, no one else should feel afraid doing so. They are not wrong; we should not feel afraid walking down the streets. I want every single member of my community to walk down the streets proudly, happily and safe in the knowledge of who they are. Until we can do that, I will continue to call in this House for better protections, supports and care for our community, in addition to a better education system where people are not taught to fear and hate people who are different. It is very important to put that on the record.
Pride takes place this weekend. I hope to see all Members there. It is a great time of celebration and a great time to walk safely, freely and happily down our streets, which will be filled with a lot of laughter, love and colour.
A happy, safe and free Pride to everybody in Dublin, throughout the country and around the world this weekend, this month and every single day of the year.
Last week, I spoke about the Bloomsday festival that took place in Dublin Central. It was a fantastic celebration of James Joyce's work and life. Most of the celebration was spent in the north inner city and in my constituency of Dublin Central. Last weekend, we also had the Stoneybatter Festival, which is a fantastic festival that takes place in Dublin 7. I commend everybody who participated, supported and made it happen. It is similar to the Five Lamps Arts Festival and Phizzfest. These are great festivals that take place in Dublin Central, largely through voluntary effort, supported by Dublin City Council and other State agencies. I thank everybody who gives of their time to those festivals. I particularly commend everybody who makes them happen.
I also want to call out the issue of street cleansing and public domain management by Dublin City Council. Dublin Central includes the north inner city, Cabra, Glasnevin, Phibsborough and Drumcondra. Its landmarks include the GPO, Croke Park, the Hugh Lane Gallery, and the Mater and Rotunda hospitals. We have all these great sites and great shopping in Henry Street. There is no place in the country with a higher footfall but Dublin City Council is failing to maintain and clean that public domain on a daily basis. The levels of litter and dirt on the streets in the public domain impact on the enhancements that have taken place, such as plantings and beddings. They are unveiled, and are beautiful and pristine, but are then left to deteriorate, slowly degrade, and slowly become just more street litter.
Dublin City Council is either not adequately resourcing waste management in the north inner city, Cabra and Glasnevin, or it is not adequately managing it. Whatever the reason, the result is appalling. It is not good enough for our capital city. I ask the Leader to write to the CEO of Dublin City Council to ask him to step up to the plate and clean up the council's act in Dublin Central.
It is very fitting that I follow Senator Fitzpatrick, as I will raise exactly the same issue. When walking through the Liberties in Dublin city, let us imagine the sheer volume of tourists who walk through that area, which includes Thomas Street and the Guinness Storehouse, when the pavements are literally sticky. It is that bad. I have looked into the resourcing and the increase in budget. Substantial moves have been made by Dublin City Council over the past number of years. It has a substantially larger budget but it put a recruitment freeze in place and has not restored those figures. We have not gone back to proper, adequate numbers of people employed by the council. It needs a serious recruitment drive. Significant, hard work is done by many individuals on the council, but that needs to be increased. It is shameful that at our key landmarks in our fantastic historic areas, which Dublin 8, in particular, has plenty of, we have what looks like neglect. That is not the intention of council but it certainly looks like neglect.
I intended to call out the report on the targeting of girls in care. Last year, I spoke about the organisation Children at Risk in Ireland, CARI, and the work it was doing in protecting and caring for young women, in particular, who were in care. When the State is the parent and takes on the position of in loco parentis, there should be an absolute standard of protection of young women and girls. Yet, we find, and Jack Power ran a story on this last December, that girls were being groomed, brought to hotels and specifically targeted by gangs. Tusla stand in this space. It is supposed to oversee this. God knows, there are parents in the courts who are desperate to hold on to their children and Tusla makes arguments about how unfit they are. How unfit is the State? I would like statements on that. We need to talk about the protection of children when they are under the care of the State.
We are getting to the stage of the year when we start receiving pre-budget submissions ahead of the budget in October. I received a very detailed pre-budget submission from Mrs. Deirdre Matthews, general secretary of the Joint Managerial Body, JMB, for voluntary secondary schools. We receive many of these submissions and sometimes we look at them and sometimes we do not. I printed the JMB submission and felt it contained a number of key recommendations that the Department could take on board when we get to the budget process.
One of the JMB's key goals is the provision of high-quality education, to which we all aspire. One of its recommendations really struck me, which is: "The pupil teacher ratio for schools in the Free Education sector must be [progressively] restored to 18:1 in order to alleviate the impact of cutbacks and staffing in schools in recent years and to support a [continuing] recovery ... [in learning loss experienced by this generation of students]." That is something I agree with. On sustainable leadership and management in our schools, the submission referenced, as it did in its submission to the Minister, "prioritising [the role] of deputy principal positions across [all] schools of all capacities, should receive serious consideration in respect of staffing allocations" because not every school has the ability to hire a deputy principal. The third goal in the submission relates to investment in the curriculum. The recommendation coming forward is that the JMB believes a comprehensive programme of training and additional resources is required to support boards of management, and that support will oversee the provision of high-quality education and strive to continuously improve the learning experiences of students in our schools. Those are the recommendations the JMB is bringing forward to the Minister for Education, which will be very helpful and useful.
If it is appropriate at some stage in September, or when we come back, we should have statements about what our budget priorities may be as regards certain Departments or issues, It would be very beneficial and useful for this House to take part in that.
I issue an invitation to Members. There was good news this morning, announced during the 9 a.m. news, that International Rugby Experience at Limerick was voted Ireland's favourite building. I congratulate International Rugby Experience because it opened just a couple of months ago. The Rugby World Cup is coming up and many of us are involved in club rugby, or maybe in supporting our province or the international team. The key aspects of International Rugby Experience are passion, discipline, integrity, solidarity and respect. Those are the values of world rugby. I issue an invitation to people to visit because they will enjoy the experience of hearing the stories not only of local, national and international but world-renowned rugby players, including how they started at club rugby level and progressed through the system. The passion can be felt in the building and it is a very interactive experience. I welcome the good news and congratulate International Rugby Experience on this award.
Go raibh míle maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. Teastaíonn uaim go dtabharfaidh an Treoraí cuireadh don Aire Oideachais teacht isteach agus labhairt linn faoi theagasc na Gaeilge inár mbunscoileanna.
Tagraím ach go háirithe don fhadhb atá ann leis an gcreat curaclaim nua ina ngearrtar siar ar an méid ama atá le caitheamh ar theagasc na Gaeilge, toisc go bhfuil siad ag iarraidh – agus an ceart acu – díriú ar theangacha iasachta. Ach gan aon am á thabhairt do theangacha san iomlán, beidh laghdú ar an méid ama a chaitear ar theagasc na Gaeilge. Is í Comhairle Náisiúnta Curaclaim agus Measúnachta atá ag moladh na n-athruithe seo le sé bliana caite ag forbairt an chreata churaclaim nua. Ach tá na heagrais Gaeilge, Conradh na Gaeilge ina measc, thar a bheith buartha faoi seo mar go bhfuil sé sofheicthe cheana féin go bhfuil damáiste á dhéanamh do theagasc na Gaeilge maidir le sealbhú ar theanga na Gaeilge. Tá sé feicthe go bhfuil laghdú tagtha ar chumas na bpáistí sna bunscoileanna an Ghaeilge a labhairt toisc go bhfuil níos lú ama á chaitheamh ar theagasc na Gaeilge cheana féin. Is é a rud aisteach faoi ná nuair a bhí cruinniú ag an Aire Oideachais agus ag an gComhairle Náisiúnta Curaclaim agus Measúnachta leis na heagraíochtaí Gaeilge, bhí an tOllamh Padraig Ó Duibhir ó DCU, an eagraíocht sealbhaíochta, i láthair. Dúradh leo “Breathnaigh ar an taighde atá déanta againn.” Sin a dúirt an tAire Oideachais agus na húdaráis ach, mar a deir an tOllamh Ó Duibhir, nuair a amharctar ar an taighde, agus chuaigh sé ar ais tríd, léiríonn sé toisc go gcaitear níos lú ama ar theagasc na Gaeilge tá caighdeán na Gaeilge níos measa i measc na bpáistí. Léiríonn an taighde rud eile ar fad, seachas an rud a bhí na húdaráis ag iarraidh tabhairt le fios.
Go bunúsach, I am saying that there needs to be a discussion with the Minister for Education, Deputy Norma Foley, about the teaching of Irish. The new draft curriculum for primary schools recommends less time for Irish because of the focus on foreign languages. Despite the fact the Minister and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, are telling us to look at the research, it has been pointed out that the research shows that because of the lessening over time of time given to the teaching of Irish, students' standard of Irish is worse. I do not know why the Department is telling us to look at the research, when the research shows that we should not be lessening the time.
I am sorry for going on, but tá mé ag iarraidh é a dhéanadh go dátheangach. I am asking for an urgent meeting with the Minister for Education on this worrying topic.
Is ábhar an-tábhachtach é seo, ach tá an t-am imithe. Go raibh maith agat. An Seanadóir Currie.
I want to raise a report we received from the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, a couple of days ago with regard to problem gambling. It stated that an earlier figure that has been in the public domain, which is that 12,000 adults are impacted, is most likely an underestimation of the problem of gambling. We know that it does not just affect people directly, but that it affects their families and communities around them. What is interesting about this report is that it identifies people who are more vulnerable to gambling addiction and problem gambling. They may be experiencing addictions in other areas and gambling is an issue which is, perhaps, connected to mental health.
A body of work needs to be done here with regard to schools, and the growing awareness of gambling in schools. This is an issue that is still very much stigmatised, even though we are talking about it more. The level of secrecy around the impacts of gambling addiction is huge. The Gambling Regulation Bill 2022 is coming through the Houses. It would be good to get an update on that, but it would also be useful to have a debate around social, personal and health education, SPHE, and where gambling and other things fit into the curriculum, because it is a very crowded curriculum. The junior certificate SPHE has been worked on this year, but we are coming up to the senior cycle.
I would like to give a quick nod to a campaign that I am involved in called Gambling with Lives. A pilot was run in schools in the North, and we are hoping to run it in the South. We are linking in with Foróige, and hopefully sporting organisations. It is an award-winning campaign that shows teenagers the problems of gambling, and speaks directly to them about it.
I would like to welcome guests in the Public Gallery, some of whom are friends of Senator Mullen. They are very welcome today, and I hope they have a very good visit to the Oireachtas. An Ceannaire, le do thoil.
I thank all Members who contributed to the Order of Business today.
Senator Cassells spoke this morning about the ongoing challenges for An Post workers who await a restoration of their pension. That is, I think, some 7,000 members. A letter will go from my office today to the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, asking for an update as to when that will be resolved.
Senator Paddy Burke spoke about planning, and the recent meeting with Mr. Niall Cussen. Senator Burke spoke about the new learnings from that meeting, and what can be done that maybe people are not fully aware of. He asked for a debate on that matter. Senator Victor Boyhan spoke about the same issue and of the work of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which Mr. Cussen attended regularly. Senator Boyhan also notified the House that he intends to bring back his Bill to have a register of wills and restore No. 50 to the Order Paper, which is acknowledged.
Senator Frances Black spoke about the really horrific report, the Emily report, about the woman who was sexually abused and assaulted in State nursing home care. It was a horrifying report to have before us, and it certainly highlights significant failures in care of the elderly and vulnerable people. We seem to be doing a poor job with both children and senior citizens in vulnerable categories, in terms of protecting them. I can inform the House that the HSE has conducted a review of this. There has been assessment, and it has issued a full apology, as one would expect. Our thoughts, of course, are with the victim's family. The HSE is bringing in an external expert from another jurisdiction to go through the report and to deal with the recommendations. Change is coming, and I know Senator Black acknowledged the work of former Senator, Colette Kelleher, who did a lot of work on this in the last term. I want to acknowledge that, and I take on board Senator Black's comments. There is a need for a mandatory reporting system, similar to what we have for issues that might affect children.
Senator Warfield asked about the night-time economy Bill. I do not have an update on the Bill at the moment, but I take on board his comment that the industry is facing particular challenges. It had kind of recovered from the pandemic period, but is now facing into extraordinarily high operating costs, and challenges with getting people in the workforce. It is another challenge to deal with, when it has really had very little time to recover from the previous one. It is a considerable pressure on it. The night-time economy is important for everybody, because lots of people are employed in that sector. It is important for our cities and towns.
Senator Hoey wished everybody a happy and safe Pride week, and acknowledged that not everybody in the community still feels safe in Ireland. That is really unfortunate, and we have to work towards changing that. We have come a long way, as has been acknowledged. Ireland is a completely different country, and I want to wish everybody a happy Pride week and to enjoy the celebrations tomorrow in particular, and over the weekend. The Pride parade in Dublin will be spectacular. I hope everyone has a great time, and a very safe time. I expect lots of colour and smiles. It is a great festivity to have.
Senator Fitzpatrick also wished everybody a very happy Pride, and she drew our attention to the ongoing issues with Dublin street cleaning, as did Senator Mary Seery Kearney. It has been well-publicised that the streets of Dublin are not looking as clean as they should be. I do not live in the city but I am here pretty much every week for work, and there are parts that leave a lot to be desired when compared with other European cities and the level of cleanliness. I am not taking away from the work being done by those who are employed, but perhaps staff resourcing is not where it needs to be. Anecdotally, there seems to be some parts of the city that are cleaner than others. There does not seem to be a uniform approach, but perhaps there is more footfall. I do not know. Certainly the north inner city needs work. It is not the same as parts of the south of the city, which seem to be a lot cleaner. People can take whatever they want from that. Where tourists are going, there is certainly going to be more footfall, waste and rubbish, so there needs to be an increased effort to have a clean city centre.
Senator Mary Seery Kearney asked for statements on the report we got this morning about the horrific situation with young girls in care and who appear to have been groomed and exploited by criminal gangs and others. These girls and young women are in the care of the State, and are already very vulnerable. They seem to have been identified by criminals for certain purposes. I would agree with the Senator's remarks that the standard is falling far below what we would expect from the State in caring for children, and I will request statements with the Minister at the earliest opportunity. As we are nearing the end of term and we have quite a lot of legislation to get through, it may be after the summer recess, but we will try to get those statements at the earliest possible opportunity.
Senator McGahon spoke about the pre-budget stuff we are all getting and will be getting a lot of. The budget process has begun. The Ministers, Deputies McGrath and Donohoe, will be working on it and we will be getting requests in different areas. There is agreement that investment in education is investment in our country, our future and our children and young people. I take on board what the secondary school teachers are saying. There is a desire on the part of the Minister for Education to work towards lowering the pupil-teacher ratio so students can get extra time. That is important. I take on board the Senator's comments. The requests from Ms Matthews are reasonable. I have no doubt the Minister will give full consideration to requests coming from teachers.
Senator Maria Byrne acknowledged and welcomed the International Rugby Experience in Limerick, a fantastic addition to the city. Limerick has a fantastic rugby tradition. The first rugby match I ever attended was in Thomond Park and it was a great experience. I wish them well. I have no doubt it will give a boost to the city and surrounding region.
Senator Mullen spoke of the teaching of Irish in schools. There are only so many hours in the day so time taken from one subject to give to another will have an impact. That is obvious enough. We do not have the level of languages other EU countries have. We want to address that deficit as well. We want to make sure we have a good standard of Irish as our national and main language but also to give students an opportunity at a younger age to learn a European language to ensure their employment and education opportunities are as good as they can be and they can compete with students from other countries. It is a fine balance to strike but may be worth a Commencement matter to the Minister. I have no doubt she is aware of the research but the Senator could ask if there are plans in place to acknowledge and deal with that challenge.
Senator Currie spoke of the ESRI's report on problem gambling. I will get an update on that. There are moves for a gambling regulator. The Government has been proactive in tackling gambling. Many brave and courageous people from the sporting world, in particular, have come out publicly to talk about their addiction to gambling, their challenges and the detrimental impact on them and their families. There is much more discourse about the issue now and we are starting to clamp down on advertising to young people. There is greater responsibility being placed on gambling companies so we are moving to a different space on this topic and are more informed than a number of years ago. I take on board the Senator’s comments.