Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is a beautiful cricket club. I am joking. I do not think the Senator is on a sticky wicket.

I welcome good news from the quarterly Central Statistics Office, CSO, household survey figures this morning which show a strong increase in employment. An article by Deputy Joanna Tuffy in The Irish Timestoday points out this Government’s record on job creation has been well ahead of the target set in 2012 with the job creation programme, which was at that point criticised for being over ambitious. The Government’s creation of 80,000 jobs since then looks set to exceed the target. We all welcome that.

I also welcome the fact that the cost of borrowing for Ireland has today dropped below 1% for the first time in many years.

When will the Children and Family Relationships Bill 2014 come to this House? I welcome the fact that it started Second Stage in the Dáil yesterday and there were some very strong speeches in support of the Bill, not only by the Minister for Justice and Equality but also by members of the Opposition. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality held pre-legislative hearings on the Bill and it was broadly welcomed by the front line groups working with children and family support, and by stakeholders. That broad welcome was reflected in the Dáil debate yesterday. I hope we will see a similar debate in this House when it comes before us.

Will the Leader arrange for a debate on child care provision? Some colleagues have already asked for that. The high level group on child care, convened by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Reilly, is to have its first meeting today and is to report to the Minister by the summer. We might have that debate when the report is produced. The report will consider new models of funding and measures such as the extension of the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme. It must also consider tax relief for child care which is a huge issue for working parents.

I condemn the actions of Islamic State, ISIS, in northern Syria, which has captured close to 200 Christians and is continuing a despicable campaign of slaughter and abductions in that region.That organisation is continuing a very despicable campaign of slaughter and abductions across the region. I add my voice to those of other Senators who are seeking a debate on this matter.