Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will not comment on what happened yesterday with regard to the debate on the Seanad, other than to state that a number of the contributions were excellent. It is sad to think, when one considers the many column inches that are given in the newspapers today to the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, that the Seanad does not feature at all. The reality is that when the aforementioned Bill comes before this House next week, there will be more column inches devoted to which Senators on which side of the House will vote this or that way, who will jump ship and all the rest. It is a sad fact of life that this is the reception this House is getting from the media.

I wish to take the opportunity to wish the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Gilmore, well. He travelled to Washington last night to meet Members of the United States Congress to lobby for their support for new immigration legislation to advance the case for the undocumented Irish. This issue has been raised in this Chamber a number of times and all Members are aware of the hardship and trauma it causes to many Irish families when their loved ones cannot travel backwards and forwards to attend funerals, family occasions and so forth. Consequently, I am sure the House wishes him well in this endeavour.

I also wish to bring to the attention of Members that the first tranche of HSE crèche inspection reports are available online today. This is the first step in making available these reports online and bringing greater transparency to the issue of crèche inspections. I also congratulate Senator White on introducing her Parental Leave Bill yesterday and I ask the Leader to consider having a wider debate on the issue of child care because one must understand that much child care in Ireland effectively is in the black economy.