Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is also the issue of transplants and dialysis, which should be discussed in the House.

Senator Ó Clochartaigh called for a debate on the Green Paper on climate and energy policies. The heads of the Climate Change Bill are being debated by the relevant Oireachtas joint committee at present.

Yesterday I read out a statement on legislation and at no stage did I say that the Office of the Attorney General was under-resourced. I did not say that. I said that the extensive amount of legislation has naturally had a knock-on effect on the work of the draftspeople in that office. As Senator Ó Clochartaigh will be aware, the previous Government introduced an embargo on recruitment to the public service in 2008. I have no doubt that the parliamentary draftspeople are working at full capacity. They do an excellent job in preparing legislation to be brought before the House. We all would agree that rushed legislation is bad legislation. I shall continue to schedule Bills when they are ready and shall allocate as much time as is necessary to debate them in the House.

Senator Kelly mentioned the cost of diesel and fuels. The issue has been raised by several Senator. I shall try to arrange a debate on the matter, plus one on the attachment of earnings which I addressed previously.

Senator Barrett called for a debate on the McCarthy report on health insurance that was issued yesterday. There are quite a number of reports that require examination by the House. The Senator called on the Minister for Health to redouble his efforts to introduce universal health insurance. I also noted his comments on the undermining of Parliament and the need for reform in that regard.

Senator Conway stated that over 40,000 people participated in the Darkness into Light walk organised to raise funds for Pieta House. I will organise a further debate on mental health soon. As he knows, we have already had quite a number of debates on the issues of mental health and suicide and the conversation shall continue in the House.

Senator Ó Domhnaill welcomed Minister Coveney's work on fish discards. The Senator asked a question on hospital groupings in the Higgins report. I suggest that he examines the sharing of resources and cross-Border linkages envisaged in the report. We will debate the report at a later stage.

Senator O'Sullivan, as Senator Brennan did yesterday and Senator Paul Coghlan did today, welcomed the work done by the Labour Relations Commission and commended all of the parties involved in trying to reach an agreement on Croke Park II.

The Senator also requested a briefing on Traveller accommodation and I shall endeavour to arrange same. He also mentioned the review of the local authority boundaries. I think I stated some months ago that it would be published at the end of the May. I have been told that it will be published on 30 May so the information that I relayed to the Senator was not too far out.

Senator Noone called for a wider debate on sentencing and she also drew our attention to the tax on smartphones and tablets in France that is used to fund arts projects. The Minister for Finance always welcomes information on new taxes that he can introduce to help projects.

Senator Mooney mentioned the drop in farm incomes and the difficulties faced by the farming community. I agree with him that we should be updated on the crisis. As he stated, the Minister has come into the House on numerous occasions and I have no doubt the Minister will continue to do so.

Senators Walsh and Paul Coghlan mentioned the late Donal Walsh. We paid tribute to him during yesterday's Order of Business.

Senator Walsh called for a debate on youth unemployment. We have had a number of debates on the matter. We arranged for the European expert Professor Christopher Pissarides to attend a debate here on the matter. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, and his Minister of State, Deputy Perry, have also attend here on an ongoing basis. I agree with the Senator that youth unemployment is a very serious problem and the Ministers will continue to attend here to update us on the issue.

Senator D'Arcy mentioned that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement will be attended by the Warrenpoint and Dundalk chambers of commerce tomorrow to outline the benefits of the Narrow Water bridge. Senators D'Arcy, Brennan and Moran have raised the issue on numerous occasions. I hope that a solution will be reached and that the building of the bridge will commence.

Finally, Senator Paul Coghlan saluted the ongoing work being done by the Labour Relations Commission to resolve the many problems related to industrial disputes.