Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I addressed the Senator's points in my comments.

Senator Hayden raised the issue of fuel poverty, as she has done on a number of occasions, as well as the submission by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and called for moves for better thermal efficiency, in rental homes in particular. The relevant Minister will attend to discuss that issue soon.

Senator Quinn called for a debate on energy and related new technologies. He mentioned adoption legislation and the difficulties that exist for people adopting from Russia. I have met some of the people involved, who find themselves in a very difficult position. The Minister for Children, Deputy Fitzgerald, has contacted some of these people and is doing everything possible to solve that problem, which is very difficult for the families.

Senator Mullins spoke of the mini-tornado in east Galway yesterday and the devastation it caused to families overnight. We all express our sympathies to those families. The Senator also sought an update on the jobs action plan. We hope the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, will attend the House sooner rather than later to discuss that plan. The considerable improvement in the live register figures is welcome. I wish to remind Senator White, who said these figures were minimal and that there had been no improvement in job figures, that 250,000 jobs in the private sector were lost in the last three years of her Government's term. Already this year there has been an improvement of 34,000. Things are improving, thankfully.