Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Does the Leader have an indication from the Government as to when, post the budget, the social welfare and pensions Bill will be brought to the House? I assume it will be within the next couple of weeks. I raise it because all Members of the House, including Government Members, should be aware that it offers a real opportunity to the Government to redress the total unfairness pertaining to the Aer Lingus and airport pensions. Many Members will have received extensive e-mails from normal families around the country, whose promised pensions the Government proposes to cut by up to 60%. There may be an unintended consequence in this regard and in advance of publication of the social welfare Bill, I urge Government Members in particular to impress upon the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, that this offers an opportunity to address this imbalance, particularly for the deferred members of those schemes, who face cuts of up to 60%. I am aware that some Labour Party Senators in particular have been deeply involved in the background in this regard but it will be time for people to put their money where their mouths are during the passage of the social welfare Bill. More importantly, it will be the time to save many families from extensive drastic cuts to their pensions. I ask Members to read in detail what has been sent to them by normal families and by people who are due to retire in the next couple of years regarding the cuts that will be brought upon them by the Government should this issue not be rectified in the social welfare Bill.

Second, I note today is European restart a heart day and I listened to a radio interview on Newstalk this morning with a young man from Swords named Darragh Lawlor, who I know quite well. He carried out cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR, on an individual on Main Street in Swords, who happened to be his uncle although he did not realise this was the case. He kept that man alive and that individual has now recovered fully. A total of 70% of cardiac arrests happen in the home and the purpose of European restart a heart day is to try to encourage people to upskill in the area of CPR. While I am aware that the Minister for Health is due to come into the House on 4 November, there will be a lot to go through and I believe a separate debate in the House on a national policy on defibrillation and defibrillators is merited. Certain councils and certain areas of the country are good at it but I refer to a national policy on, as opposed to a roll-out of defibrillators. I also suggest to the Leas-Chathaoirleach that schools are an ideal place for young adults to learn these skills, particularly around transition year. Does the Department of Education and Skills have a policy whereby there can be a roll-out through the schools, thus ensuring that all young adults are trained in CPR techniques? I ask the Leader to arrange a debate specifically on this issue in the next few weeks. It would be important and is a job that Members could do here to inform Government policy with regard to the roll-out of defibrillators and the provision of training to people in life-saving CPR.