Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I support Senator Quinn's request for a debate on broader issues in regard to child care and how we look after our children. I had occasion to spend time in the Rotunda Hospital two weeks ago attending the birth of my second child. Talking to the midwives there, I could not help but observe how much busier the facility was than the last time I was there two years ago. The midwives told me thousands more children are being born now than was the case two years ago but the facilities are exactly the same.

The Master of the Coombe Hospital stated yesterday that there are now serious health issues with regard to how children are being born. If we are to have a debate on children, we need to focus on probably the most important aspect, namely, how we bring them into the world in the first place. In Germany, the birth of a child is regarded as being so important that the parents are given €34,000 in a direct payment. In France, for every additional child brought into a family, the tax credit available to the family is increased. Ireland is blessed to be in a situation where we expect future population growth. In any debate on child care, I would ask why we are not better set up to deal with this issue than is the case at present.

I support Senator O'Toole's point on uninsured drivers on our roads. We spend so much of our time discussing accountability. This is an issue of which we all are and have been aware for many years. In any debate, we should ask these simple questions. Why has nothing happened? Why are Members again discussing this issue?

In any debate on the situation in Russia, it is imperative we do not allow our standards of what constitutes democracy to slip to the point that we are praising what happened in recent weeks.