Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I also add my voice of welcome to our distinguished guests and thank them for the work they are doing on behalf of victims. It is much appreciated. The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2023, referral to committee, to be taken on the conclusion of the Order of Business without debate; No. 2, statements on housing, to be taken at 3.30 p.m. and to conclude after 90 minutes, if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, all Senators not to exceed six minutes and the Minister to be given no less than ten minutes to reply to the debate; and No. 3, Private Members’ business, the Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2021 - Second Stage to be taken at 5.30 p.m., with the time allocated to this debate not to exceed two hours.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I also welcome our distinguished visitors. I have long admired the work that Ray McCord has done over the years. I wish him well and hope he has a fruitful day here in Leinster House.

Yesterday, the National Council for the Blind of Ireland, NCBI, changed its name to Vision Ireland. It has made that name change after 91 or 92 years of existence to reflect changing environment when it comes to people with sight loss. The latest census alarmingly showed a 400% increase in the number of people who identified as having sight loss. Over 300,000 people in this country now identify as having some form of sight loss. Only a small percentage of those are actually blind. The NCBI has done great work over the years. Its whole concept is now replaced with a focus on people who suffer some form of vision failure. Some people have significant vision failure and other people have just vision failure. The problem is that we have no strategy to eliminate preventable sight loss. Some 80% of sight loss could be prevented with proper early detection. We need a strategy to eliminate preventable blindness. It really needs to be addressed especially with the ageing population we have. Unfortunately, some people will lose their sight or some of their sight, but much of that can be eliminated. People's quality of life can be maintained if it is dealt with on time. I call for a debate on the need for a strategy for the elimination of preventable sight loss.

I wish the NCBI, which is now Vision Ireland, all the very best for the future. I commend it on the work it has done over the years for the many thousands of people who have completely or partially lost their sight. I have no doubt about its future as an organisation and that the work it does on behalf of people will continue. Hopefully, with Vision Ireland working along with the HSE and Government, we can ensure that as many people as possible do not completely or partially lose their sight unnecessarily.

Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)
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Young Emily Hand was presumed dead as a result of the 7 October onslaught by Hamas. Over the weekend, a story broke suggesting she may have been in captivity for close to a month. It has brought a sharp focus to the minute detail of what lies at the core of this war. We often get lost in the statistics. How many have been killed on one side and how many on the other? What was the size, scale, weight and magnitude of the armaments deployed? How many soldiers are here? How many soldiers are there? Who of national importance has flown where on a particular day? We need to bring it back to that focus.We believe that a child, who is an Irish citizen and an eight-year-old girl, is alive somewhere in Gaza today. If we could continue to focus on that dimension of the war in Gaza, it may help world leaders to start moving to find an immediate or short-term solution that could ultimately be a long-term one.

Emily Hand is only one, hers is the name, but countless thousands of children have been killed in bombs and explosions in the Gaza strip in recent days and weeks. It is hard to quantify. It is hard to know who is telling the truth. It has often been said that the first casualty of any war is the truth and I am sure that is the case here. We have used the Seanad on many occasions to give people an opportunity to speak not only to us but to a wider audience. Would it be possible for the Leader to invite the Palestinian and Israeli ambassadors to address the Seanad at some stage in a controlled and respectful way? It might be helpful because, like in all wars, it comes down to dialogue at the end of the day. I made a comment last night on a programme that I was not concerned whether there would be a humanitarian pause or a ceasefire and someone on X, formerly known as Twitter, decided to take me up on whether I was on one side or the other. Language matters, but in truth, we have to get some kind of cessation and however minor it might be at the outset, it can be built upon. While rockets and bombs are still being traded from one side to the other, there is no chance for little Emily or for every other little Emily in that region. We must move on it.

I note the Tánaiste is in China. That is hugely important for our geopolitical issues and economy into the future. It might be useful for the Leader to invite the Tánaiste to come to the House before or after Christmas to discuss Europe's and Ireland's relationships with China and to have a general debate on the issue.

Tom Clonan (Independent)
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I echo Senator Dooley's comments about the children who are suffering in Gaza at the moment. We have information from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, from Human Rights Watch and from Amnesty International. The eyes and ears of the world are in Gaza witnessing and uploading in real time pictures of the unfolding catastrophe there. We know that every five and ten minutes at least one child and one woman is killed. Since we convened 20 minutes ago, two children like Emily have lost their lives. I should not say "lost their lives" because that is a passive expression. They have been killed in a predetermined and calculated manner by the Israel Defense Forces who, as I have outlined before, are operating weapons systems in a densely populated urban environment with foreseeable consequences for innocent Palestinian men, women and children.

Again, I will echo something Senator Dooley said. I take note of the statements made by the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste. I am proud as an Irish citizen to see the independent, objective view set out by both. We walk a difficult line, but it underscores the importance of our neutrality. We had a consultative forum on neutrality earlier this year, but now we can see in real time, in the actual experience of foreign policy, how important it is to have our independent neutral status and our voice in the world. Ursula von der Leyen certainly did not represent my views or the views of Irish people during her trip to Tel Aviv. That is important. Hamas can have no role in the future of any two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. Like Islamic State and al-Qaeda, it can have absolutely no role in any capacity in the future.To criticise Hamas is not Islamophobic. To criticise Israel's actions is not antisemitic, nor is it to promote antisemitic views. We have to show moral courage and stick to doing so. I praise the Tánaiste and Taoiseach for their statements.

Between 35 and 40 Irish citizens are trapped in Gaza. They are Irish passport holders. Similar to the Irish citizens who were evacuated from Kabul or Sudan, I know the Department of Foreign Affairs and Minister will be working hard to secure their release. It has come to light that Emily Hand may be alive. We have to think of the hostages too. I hope that Hamas can be persuaded to release these hostages. Both sides are in breach of all the Geneva Conventions. Those on both sides are committing war crimes.

This is going to happen again and again in a destabilised world. We have an increasingly global diaspora. We need to start to think about our citizens in Lebanon. As I have said before, we need to think about our troops in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and about our troops in the UN Truce Supervision Organization and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in Syria, because Hezbollah is going to get involved this year. Benjamin Netanyahu said today that he sees Israel having a permanent presence in Gaza. In other words, it will annex Gaza. That will be unacceptable to the Arab world. We will see an escalation of this conflict and we need to prepare for that. I echo Senator Dooley's call for a full and proper debate on the implications of this conflict for Irish citizens and for our neutral status.

Marie Sherlock (Labour)
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I raise the Supreme Court ruling of 23 October in the case of the Revenue Commissioners v. Karshan (Midlands) Ltd. t/a Domino's Pizza. This was a landmark judgment in the fight against bogus self-employment in Ireland. Across this country, many workers are forced into bogus self-employment arrangements in order for their employers to save on PRSI payments. It deprives workers of their rightful entitlements as employees and their social welfare entitlements. It cheats the State out of tens of millions of euro in lost income from PRSI payments.

That the Revenue Commissioners had to pursue Domino’s Pizza is significant. This was not the workers putting their heads above the parapet. Many cannot afford to take the chance to vindicate their rights. Instead, this was the Revenue Commissioners seeking to ensure that employers pay what is required of them to the State. There are serious questions for the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and I am calling for a debate with the Minister on this important ruling. The question arises of whether an arm of the State should have to go through expensive litigation to stamp out bogus self-employment. Is it not the case that the Government should now legislate to make it crystal clear what self-employment status is and for that to be clearly set out in our Statute Book? Is it acceptable that we have different arms of the State taking different views about what is self-employment or bogus self-employment? In the case of Domino's Pizza, a social welfare appeal adjudicated that the workers were self-employed, whereas the Revenue Commissioners decided that they were not. Anybody here who is interested in the efficiency of the public service and in not wasting taxpayers' money has to ask how the Government can stand over a situation like this.

That is before we talk about the workers who are at the heart of all this and who were denied proper access to pay, pensions and sickness and holiday entitlements and who ended up with much poorer access to social welfare in the event that they needed it. The Labour Party introduced legislation in this House in 2020 that is designed to stamp out bogus self-employment, to allow for the automatic designation of every worker as employed and to provide for an opt-out system for those are truly self-employed. We will bring that Bill to Second Stage over the coming months.

The final thing I want to say is that we have a farcical situation on our hands with RTÉ whereby it, a semi-State company, is using taxpayers' money to fight the Department of Social Protection in order to avoid providing RTÉ workers with their proper pay and entitlements. That is ludicrous. The director general said it is confined to a few situations. The paperwork I have seen suggests otherwise.RTÉ is contesting the decisions made by the scope section of the Department of Social Protection on much broader grounds. It is ludicrous that we are in this situation.

Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail)
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I want to discuss the devastation caused by flooding in north County Louth last week. It has been a tough week for everybody in my home area. I commend those who went days without rest in order to try to save their homes, businesses and farms. Some, unfortunately, did not get to save them. There are buildings and fields that are still flooded. One week on, people are still not able to access homes and roads. I thank the council workers who worked tirelessly all week, but there were not enough of them. We did not have enough council workers at the scene over the period of the flooding. Neither the Civil Defence nor the Army were deployed. We were in a desperate way in north Louth last week. Many people felt isolated and alone. Only for public representatives fielding calls and screaming for help for people, I do not think they would have got it. It was a very tough time.

I call for a debate on emergency planning. What should local communities expect from our local authorities when an issue like this arises? Are we relying on the good nature of neighbouring farmers to pump out our homes in accordance with a waiting list based on proximity? Should we be relying on our local authorities, Civil Defence and authorities to support people in their homes? There were elderly people stuck in homes for three days last week. The water on the road was not going to be pumped away. We had to scream to get permission for the fire brigade to pump it out and give people access. Thankfully, we have schemes for enterprises and homes, but we have no scheme for the agricultural enterprises that have been destroyed. We have fields, fences and fodder destroyed and rivers redirected and ruined, as well as many access roads destroyed across north Louth. We need support for the agricultural enterprises in the area.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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We had a new store opened at home by Vision Ireland, which is the new name for the NCBI. The new name has been chosen to show that the organisation's work is to do with visual impairment. Sometimes people think of complete blindness but many individuals have a vision impairment throughout their lives. When I was at the shop, I got to meet two older ladies who have macular degeneration. They spoke of how Vision Ireland provides equipment. They were grateful for the help they get from this charity. For all the things around fundraising, we forget that every time you spend money in a charity shop, it goes to a charity which will deliver aid, working with Government supports. It is crucial, along with sustainable fashion, circular economies and so on, that we know every time we spend in a local charity shop, donate or give something, it is making an impact. One of those older ladies had in her pocket a magnifying glass. When she mentioned it, I was thinking of the ones you get in pound shops, but she had a proper magnifying glass, a piece of equipment she could use. She showed me how to use it on the phone, when reading something on a laptop or even in the newspaper. These shops are in every town across Ireland. Loss of vision or peripheral vision can impact any of us. We are fortunate to have among us Senator Conway, who is always advocating for people with vision impairment. I highlight that these shops are opening and that shopping local and shopping in charity shops supports everyone.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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This weekend, it was once again confirmed to me that, in this country, we do not understand security or intelligence. Under the Irish intelligence system, the Garda is double-hatted – this is unlike the situation in any other state – and is responsible for both intelligence and policing. We find that the head of intelligence is now likely to be hired from abroad. Just think about that for a minute. Would, for example, MI5 employ someone from the CIA to run it? It is absolute nonsense that we would consider bringing in a foreigner to head up our intelligence service. I have never heard anything like it in my life. It makes us an international laughing stock. I ask that the appointment of the head of intelligence be stopped at this point until we have time to get someone who understands intelligence and security issues.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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This is quite racist.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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Employing a foreigner to head up our intelligence system is beyond belief. It would happen in no other country in the world. Even some of the banana republics manage to have their own intelligence and security. At the end of the day-----

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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May I raise a point of order?

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Will Senator Craughwell allow Senator Seery Kearney to contribute for 30 seconds?

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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I would delightfully give way to Senator Seery Kearney.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. On a point of order, we have something called employment equality, which also covers race. One cannot adjudicate on someone on the basis of race and exclude him or her from applying for a job on that basis.

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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Hear, hear.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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That is the law of our country. Apart from the racist sentiments, I would have thought that the intelligence services of Ireland would benefit greatly from someone from a bigger intelligence agency coming in and bringing all of that experience with him or her. I do not think that, just because someone is a foreigner, he or she will give away all of our secrets. It is contrary to the law of the land.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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I might just reply.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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For the benefit of Members, under Standing Order 39, a Member who is in possession can give way to another Member for 30 seconds and not lose any time. It allows people to clarify-----

Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)
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It would not be allowed under martial law.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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My good friend and colleague has just confirmed to me that Fine Gael does not understand intelligence.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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I understand employment law.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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Employment law-----

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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What Senator Craughwell is saying-----

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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We are talking about the head of intelligence. No country in the world-----

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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What we are talking about-----

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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-----would appoint a person from outside the jurisdiction to head up intelligence. That, as far as I am concerned, is something we-----

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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That is shockingly racist.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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It is not racist.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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It is.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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It is far from racist. It is plain common sense.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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It is not at all. It is racist.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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I shall leave it at that.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Senator Clonan is asking to intervene as well.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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Sure.

Tom Clonan (Independent)
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We have had Irish people in charge of MI5-----

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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Yes.

Tom Clonan (Independent)
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-----and foreign intelligence agencies.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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He is actually from Sneem in County Kerry.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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Long living in the UK.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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All politics is local. We have not put up a plaque dedicated to him, though, by the way.

Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)
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Intelligence reigns supreme in Sneem.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Intervention in debate is allowed in the Seanad under Standing Order 39, but the person in possession must give permission.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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I always do.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Everyone knows that. Next up is Senator Murphy.

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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No disrespect to the last issue, but a more pressing one at the moment is the plight of farmers, particularly in the Shannon callows. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, will be announcing a scheme today – he brought it to the Cabinet today – to help those farmers. I thank my colleagues, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, Deputy Cowen, Deputy Troy, who organised the meeting with the Tánaiste, and Deputy Flaherty. We worked together to make a case on this issue. We also had the backing of Senator Dolan, as this affects an area close to which she lives. In fairness to the Government, a scheme will be announced this afternoon.

The farmers in question are in special areas of conversation, SACs. Under the rules, they cannot cut their meadows until July. Everyone knows what happened this July, in that there was incessant rain. When I inspected some of the areas along the Shannon, particularly in south Roscommon, I found that the water was a quarter of the way up the wheels of tractors. Imagine trying to cut grass for fodder in those circumstances.

I hope that the scheme will be up and running shortly. It is necessary if we are to support these farmers and communities.I hope it will be of some benefit to help them to buy fodder. It will be quite a substantial scheme. There could be a maximum payment of up to €4,800, depending on the amount of fodder lost.

Regarding the management of the River Shannon, as the Leader knows, there is a lot of foot dragging by agencies and there are so many agencies involved. Perhaps the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, who has responsibility for the OPW, could update us on what is happening with the legislation to put in place one agency, not 18 groups, to manage the river, remove the silt where needed and improve its capacity. This area has been badly hit and now with the extra rain it is most difficult. The Leader might consider asking the Minister of State to do this.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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I bring good news today. I commend the Minister, Deputy Foley, on bringing a memo to the Cabinet this morning for Cabinet approval of the guidelines to be issued to schools in support of a voluntary ban on the purchase of smartphones for children in primary schools. The Minister has very rightly done the maximum she can do in making schools a conduit to support parents in saying "No" to their children and ensuring that none of the other children in their peer group have a smart phone. No parent wants their child to be excluded from WhatsApp groups and all of the politics of these groups, which even we as adults find difficult at times. However, children under the age of 12 do not have the maturity and the ability to pull themselves out of all the politics. A smartphone is a fantastic device for emails. We all do our business on it, as can be seen with us here. However, it also has all the negative things in the world in it. It is too personal and too private a device for an immature child to have in their hands and have access to. I have called for this measure since the spring of this year to say we need to not have smartphones for children. I have gone further and written to Coimisiún na Meán to ask that it champions this issue and brings it further because the Minister has brought it to the limit of what she can do. I commend her. It is a great move and I am delighted it has happened.

Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)
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If my information is correct, it would appear that a matter went to the Cabinet today regarding gas energy security and that the Government has agreed to move towards the installation of a gas storage facility. This is to be welcomed, even though it took an awfully long time for a very obvious measure to be put in place. Unfortunately, I hear the recommendation is that this gas facility be constructed, owned and run by the State. This flies in the face of all reason. Most of our best projects have been as a result of public private partnerships. We are not a communist country. We reward enterprise and we can attach conditions to private enterprises to make sure they operate within proper constraints. As I have mentioned here umpteen times, New Fortress Energy, which is based in my area of north Kerry, has huge expertise in this business. The company has installed gas storage facilities all over the world. It recently installed such a facility in Holland which took 60 days from start to finish. It is anticipated by this company that if the State is to undertake a project of this magnitude in an area in which it has no competence or experience, it will probably turn into another children's hospital situation. It will go on indefinitely and will cost millions and millions of euros. I do not know whether it is doctrinaire politics, green politics or what kind of politics it is. I do not understand it. I ask the Leader to ask the Government to have a second look at this. Surely there is a way in which a company with expertise that is ready, willing and able to start tomorrow morning, to create hundreds of jobs in an area that badly needs them and to honour all stipulations and contracts from the Government, should at least be allowed to tender for this job.We are running out of time and everybody knows our energy security is in jeopardy. It is time this was looked at properly.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I wish to discuss something I have raised in this House before, which is the working hours and opening hours of the Revenue Commissioners. A number of people have been on to me about this recently, especially with the tax deadline approaching. The offices of the Revenue Commissioners are only open online and over the phone from 9.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. Every other public service in this country has returned to normal working hours. People can walk into buildings, public offices, libraries and different places, but yet Revenue does not open its doors. So many people have failed to be able to get through on the phone lines. Some people have been ringing for two and three days and still have not got through. It keeps diverting people back to the online chat, from which it takes days to get a response and half the time the query a person puts in is not answered at all. It is really a very unsatisfactory way of dealing with people. So many people nowadays are paid through Revenue and every thing is done now through the Revenue online system, ROS, but it does not work for everybody, especially for older people. People find it more beneficial to have a face-to-face conversation. Even if they have to do it over the phone, Revenue should be able to answer the phone. A person should not have to ring for days on end to try to get through to the Revenue office. At the moment, an unprecedented number of calls and people have not succeeded in getting through. Somebody I know who was overpaid in tax and was trying to sort it out could not get through. Somebody else I know was on to Revenue about their vacant home tax. This was to do with the fact that they had an explanation or a reason they had not been in the home. It was due to someone being in hospital and they wanted to explain that but they could not get though to do that. It is totally unsatisfactory and Revenue needs to open its doors. The public health restrictions were lifted a long time ago at this stage and Revenue is still not back to a normal working day.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I welcome the fact we will have the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in for a 90-minute discussion on Housing for All. While that is welcome, it is perhaps not enough, but ultimately that is a matter for the Members when they accept the Order of Business. Given the pressures on the Minister and the lateness of the day, I do not purpose to pursue the matter. I ask that we bear in mind that today's focus is on Housing for All.

I wish to raise the issue of planning and An Bord Pleanála. We still do not know when the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2023 on reform, that has been debated throughout this country for the past two or three years, will be scheduled. We do not know in which House this Bill will be initiated. I call for the opportunity that the Minister might consider initiating this legislation in the Seanad but that ultimately is a matter for Government. What disappoints me, and what I have been asked to raise here today by many developers, builders, architects, planners, and local authorities, is the fact that thousand and thousands of homes are stuck in a planning process in An Bord Pleanála on Marlborough Street, and nobody wants to do anything about it. Banks are pulling finances from developers who want to build houses. I went to a scheme in Mountrath in County Laois the other day and I went to another scheme in Newbridge. I am meeting developers, planners, and architects who have schemes ready to go. All they are asking is for An Bord Pleanála to tell them whether they are getting permission. They are not trying to influence the outcome, but by golly, banks are pulling the money out from under them and saying they are not going to go ahead. We want certainty about how we can build an economy, homes, communities, and give people accommodation but also give hope to risk takers and business people who have something to offer in a country that needs these houses. I ask for a very focused debate on when we will get this reform of An Bord Pleanála. We cannot wait any longer for the legislation. We have to go ahead and empower An Bord Pleanála, give it more resources, get its decisions through the House, and have it working seven days a week.Builders and financiers cannot be left in the lurch when we have a housing crisis.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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Senators Conway and Dolan raised the fact that after 91 years of excellent work, the NCBI has changed its name to Vision Ireland. Senator Conway said the latest census shows there has been a 400% increase in the number of people who are visually impaired. The fact that we have an older population means we are bound to have issues such as this. It is a concern when we have 300,000 people with some type of sight loss. I agree that we need to have a proper strategy for early detection and to help eliminate preventable blindness. Senator Conway asked for a debate on the need for such a strategy. We will certainly ask for this. Senator Dolan spoke about the NCBI shops and how by using these and other charity shops we help the circular economy and help organisations such as Vision Ireland with the excellent work they do.

Senator Dooley spoke about Emily Hand and the news we heard over the weekend that more than likely she is a hostage of Hamas. When the feeling was that she had been murdered in the kibbutz where she was staying with a friend overnight, I remember being shocked, appalled, upset and disappointed, as we all were, when her father said he was glad she had been murdered because he would hate to think of her being kidnapped by Hamas and subjected to awful torture and ordeals. All of these feelings came back again for all of us at the weekend. I have no doubt that there is an element of hope for her family that she is alive and that they will see her again. These are the faces behind the statistics relating to the hostages. Senator Dooley is right that everything that can be done must be done to ensure Emily and the other hostages are released. Everything must also be done to ensure our 40 Irish citizens living in Gaza have the opportunity to leave. Senator Dooley made the suggestion that the Israeli and Palestinian ambassadors come to the House. We would need the approval of the Seanad Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight to have this as a special Seanad address. I will discuss the matter with the Leader to see whether it will be possible.

Senator Dooley also mentioned that the Tánaiste is in China and referred to the importance of geopolitical issues now more than ever. I have to say that in the recent past I was very glad to hear the Tánaiste speak about human rights in China and about Taiwan and supporting the Taiwanese. It is important to be there and to be able to call it out.

Senator Clonan also spoke about children suffering in Gaza. When one looks at some of the photographs and at what we are seeing unfolding, it is absolutely heartbreaking. Earlier, I mentioned that there are faces behind the statistics. Senator Clonan mentioned a statistic that I heard over the weekend, which is absolutely frightening and appalling. Every five minutes a child dies in Gaza. Did any of us ever think we would be in a world where we would see this happening all over again?

Senator Clonan is correct to emphasise the importance of neutrality and our voice in global affairs. This is why we have such a strong voice in the world on human rights and humanitarian issues. We have to keep following what the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach have been saying. We need to have a humanitarian ceasefire. We need aid for Palestine. We need to have the hostages released.

Senator Sherlock spoke about bogus self-employment and the fact that we need to have a debate and legislation. It is important that we engage with the Minister on this.She also raised the concerning issue that different arms of the State and Departments have different definitions when it comes to self-employment or employment. It is important that there is continuity across government and its Departments. Of course, workers are at the heart of this and we need to be able to support them.

Senator McGreehan spoke about the awful situation in County Louth. I join her in commending all of those in the emergency services and the council workers who helped support those caught in this very difficult situation. The Government has extended emergency business flooding schemes to sports clubs and community and voluntary groups. Small businesses with a loss of more than €5,000 are covered and farming is a business as well. I find it hard to think that farming families and enterprises would be left outside of this scheme. We will look for clarification. We will also look for a debate on emergency planning because the Senator made a fair point. There are expectations of local authorities and of Civil Defence, which is a voluntary organisation. We must know what exactly the regulations are.

Senator Craughwell asked that we stop the appointment of the head of intelligence. There were two interventions from the floor by Senators Clonan and Seery Kearney, both of whom made very good points. What Senator Craughwell asked for is totally incorrect. It is inappropriate. We have equality of employment law and I will not bring that any further.

Senator Murphy spoke about farmers in the Callows area and in special areas of conservation and the plan at Cabinet today to help support them, which is good. He also looked for an agency for the River Shannon and asked for a debate with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, who is responsible for the OPW. I agree. Sometimes there can be a piecemeal approach from a number of different organisations, which does not help anyone.

Senator Seery Kearney welcomed the voluntary guidelines around smartphone use that will be introduced for schools. This will support parents whose children are under peer pressure regarding the issue. A phone can be as dangerous as a loaded gun. We have seen devastating consequences of bullying, etc., online. I agree and support these guidelines.

Senator O'Sullivan spoke about gas and energy security, the memo in Cabinet today and about the expertise of a local company. From my understanding of what he said, it is not allowed to tender, which is shocking. I cannot understand why. I agree with him that it should be allowed to tender. That may be something we can take up with the Minister.

Senator Maria Byrne spoke about an issue with the offices of the Revenue Commissioners, particularly now that we are coming to the tax deadline. She is 100% correct. It is completely unsatisfactory that the offices are only open from 9.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m., I believe.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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On the phone.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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On the phone. Otherwise, you have to basically use ChatGPT to try to get a response. I agree. There is nothing more frustrating. Many people have unique questions particular to their situations and they just keep getting, "I do not understand your question" as a response. It is simply not good enough. We will send a call-out to the Minister to try to ensure these offices are available and open to those with queries. Where we are is simply not good enough.

Senator Boyhan spoke about the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage coming to the debate today and about the issue of planning with An Bord Pleanála. I agree that we need to know when and where this will be initiated. The Minister has given significant extra resources to An Bord Pleanála.It is most frustrating. Obviously, the Minister cannot interfere, ask about or guide any judgments, etc. but the resources have been given and it is simply not good enough when we see housing and business affected by this. I am thinking of such businesses close to me in Kildare which the country could possibly lose if there is a delay because we have already gone beyond the time of when the decision would be made. This is an urgent situation and we will certainly bring that back to the Minister. That concludes the Order of Business.