Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Mark Daly raised the question of the banking query and Mr. Trichet. The Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis is carrying out its duties in an exemplary manner and I am sure they will get the answers they require from Mr. Trichet. I compliment the committee on its work so far and I am sure it will produce an excellent report. Variable rates have been raised by a number of Members over recent weeks. AIB indicated it will reduce its variable rate. Despite what the other banks say, I firmly believe we will see a movement from them in the near future.

Senator Bacik referred to the promotion of Dublin as the capital of culture and I note her point. The Labour Party will table a Private Members' business motion to deal with cultural institutions next week. Senator Quinn referred to urban renewal and a 14-point plan proposed by the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The Minister will outline the living cities initiative, which was recently announced. It has been coming for over 12 months but we had to await permission and the i's had to be dotted and the t's crossed with Europe. It is an exciting initiative discussed here during the Finance Bill. It will do a lot for urban renewal but I take on board the comments of Senator Quinn suggesting we discuss the report by the committee.

Senator Feargal Quinn also called for a debate on the trade agreement between the EU and US. Senator Jim D'Arcy referred to Garda Síochána numbers in the Border area and, in particular, in Louth. This was the subject of a commencement debate this morning but I agree with him that criminal activity, diesel laundering and cigarette smuggling require significant Garda resources in the area. Senator Paul Coghlan also referred to this. These people seem to be operating with impunity in the Border area. There is also a need for resources on the other side of the Border to tackle this criminality.

I agree with the points raised by Senator Paschal Mooney about English language schools, 13 of which have closed over the past year. What has happened is disgraceful and is sullying the reputation of Irish international schools. There is a greater need for regulation and investigation of these schools and I will bring the matter to the attention of the Minister for Education and Skills. I would be surprised if action is not being taken but I will bring it to the attention of the Minister. It is dreadful to see young people coming here to learn the English language, having used a family's life savings of €10,000 to help them speak English only for the language school to fold up. There is a need for greater regulation and an investigation into all of the schools operating in the country.

Senator Michael Comiskey referred to the opening up of the second tranche of GLAS in the autumn by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney. It is good news for farmers all over the country.

Senator Kathryn Reilly referred to a matter raised also by other Senators, including Senator Byrne, the delayed diagnosis of cancer and errors in the radiology service. Questions were raised within the acute hospital system over the work of three locum radiologists in 2013 and 2014. The hospitals involved were Bantry, Kerry and Cavan-Monaghan. The three reviews have been completed and all patients who require follow-up investigations have been contacted. The HSE provided assurances that if the patients have not been already contacted by the hospital or their GPs, they have no cause for concern. A significant number of cases were reviewed but only a small number of cases require a follow-up. Regrettably, one incident of delayed diagnosis has been confirmed. As two of the locum consultants involved carried out some work in other hospitals, reviews in those hospitals are being undertaken. We have been assured by the HSE that none of the locums involved is currently working in the Irish hospital system and reports, as appropriate, have been made to the Medical Council. Each review was undertaken in response to clinician concerns in regards to performance of locum radiologists and was carried out in line with the HSE safety incident management policy and with the Faculty of Radiologists' quality assurance guidelines. All cases have been managed, escalated and reported in accordance with the HSE safety incident management policy. Patients have been supported. The implementation of the hospital groups will enhance radiological services and, within the groups, a networked approach will be adopted allowing the major concerns to direct, organise and manage services. This will ensure that appropriate and enhanced Government staffing arrangements are in place. The reviews have been carried out and are being dealt with by the HSE.

Senator Paul Coghlan referred to Garda resources in the Louth district.The Senator was the author and rapporteur of a report on smuggling and diesel laundering in the Border areas for the British-Irish Parliamentary Association.

Senator Mullen spoke about Baroness Nuala O’Loan’s position on marriage equality. It is very good to hear the position of many people who for and against the referendum. That is what free speech is all about. It is welcome that people from all sides have opinions on it but the people will decide in the referendum. I note his points also about the difficulties in the rental sector, which Senator Hayden and others have raised here on several occasions. The rental accommodation scheme, RAS, is a good scheme and the new scheme, the housing assistance payment, HAP, is another excellent one. The availability of rental properties is the difficulty. The Government is addressing this. It cannot build houses overnight. Something will have to be done about that. I have asked the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coffey, to come to the House for a debate on housing supply. I hope that he will come here in the next couple of weeks when we can debate this matter.

Senator Burke spoke about hospital consultant vacancies throughout the country. There are many vacancies that have not been filled. It is disappointing that there are difficulties about where consultants will enter the payscale. The sooner we recruit these consultants, the greater chance we have of reducing waiting lists by attending to those on waiting lists. I urge all parties to resolve this matter urgently in the interests of the public and of those on waiting lists.

Senator Burke’s statistics on the fair deal scheme are enlightening. He said €5.4 billion has been spent on the scheme and only €23.8 million has been recovered in assets. They are very sobering figures.

Senator Keane spoke about the rough sleepers count saying there has been a significant reduction in numbers. She agrees, however, that much more will need to be done in this area. I note her point about the audit of properties, which we can discuss with the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey.

Senator White referred to the unfair taxation of Irish entrepreneurs. The Minister for Finance has indicated that he will address this matter in the budget, if not before. Thank God we have so many young entrepreneurs creating jobs again. It is welcome to have them up and running, considering that we lost 300,000 jobs under the last Government. It is great to see the increase in employment over the past few years, since the introduction of the Action Plan for Jobs.

Senator Moran spoke about people on trolleys in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and the closure of St. Mary’s, Drumcar, for six weeks. It is creating difficulties for parents and family members. I hope that will be addressed. Six weeks seems a long time to address concerns raised in a Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, audit. The HIQA audits are causing major problems for many institutions, the length and breadth of the country. We need these audits. They create problems for all facilities but if we did not have them, we would witness many of the problems we have seen on our television screens over the past year or two. I appreciate the difficulties family members have as a result of this and I hope they will not be without these facilities for very much longer.

Senator Mary Ann O’Brien spoke about the spring statement. We, on the Government side, hope that all moneys will be spent wisely. I note her point on defibrillators, which Senator Reilly also raised. I will certainly bring the matter to the attention of the Minister for Health.

We have had several debates on fluoride and Senator Mary Ann O’Brien raised the same points about the statistics in a debate a couple of months ago. I do not propose to have another debate on fluoride. We have had several debates and we will have to allow some more time to elapse before having another debate on the subject.