Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Senator Leyden welcomed Senator Máiría Cahill and noted that she will be replacing our friend and colleague, Senator Jimmy Harte. We all offered our welcomes to Senator Cahill last week but I am happy to thank Senator Leyden for his words today. I note that, as he pointed out, Senator Cahill will bring her unique experience and her Northern perspective and will make a really significant contribution in the weeks and months ahead. Senator Leyden also referred to Sir Anthony O'Reilly and concurred with Senator Norris on that matter.

Senator Quinn concurred with Senators Norris and Leyden on Tony O'Reilly and his great work on the Ireland Funds. He also referred to crime issues and, in his customary way, put forward a constructive proposal for change. I will bring the Senator's proposal back to the justice committee. We have been holding hearings on rural crime recently. I think his suggestion of setting up a policing helpline of the sort that is in place in the UK, which citizens can ring if they do not require an emergency response but have concerns around policing matters, is very positive and constructive.

Senator Mullins expressed his concern about the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO proposal to take industrial action and pointed out the improvements that have been made. In particular, he indicated that there have been improvements in the figures for those waiting on trolleys, although there are still far too many patients who are forced to wait. Nonetheless, there has been a 20% reduction on the figure which obtained a year ago. The Senator also referred to nurses' recruitment, which I have already mentioned, and expressed his hope that the issues may be resolved in advance of 15 December so that industrial action will not be necessary.

Senator Cullinane called for the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, to come to the House. I have responded to that. The Minister was already in today on a Commencement matter and I have no doubt he will come in again in response to our request for a debate on accident and emergency departments and overcrowding.

Senator Brennan welcomed the fact that the Christmas bonus will be paid and that 1.2 million recipients will benefit from it.

Senator O'Sullivan referred to a meeting with SMEs in County Kerry and spoke on the cost of directory enquiries. I was not aware that the cost was so high. It might be something that could be raised as a Commencement matter. It is certainly of concern if people are still paying very high rates. This matter was raised some years ago in public debate. I thought it had been dealt with and that the costs had come down. Clearly, they have gone up again. Senator O'Sullivan also referred to 600 extra teaching jobs. I understood that they were full-time positions. We can certainly make enquiries as to the nature of those posts. As I recall, the announcement referred to full-time teaching posts.

Senator Colm Burke welcomed the calls for a debate on health care. We have already put in a request for the Minister to come before us. The Senator pointed out positive developments in health care, particularly the roll-out of free GP care for the two key vulnerable groups of children under six and people over 70 and the fact that we will move on to roll out free GP care to children under 12 in due course. Senator Ó Clochartaigh referred to a very particular case about which I had read in the newspapers. I agree with him that it is a matter of grave concern in terms of sentencing. Given the doctrine of separation of powers, it is not something in which we, as legislators, can intervene directly but it raises bigger questions about disclosure of information. Under the Garda Síochána Act, it is an offence for a serving Garda to disclose confidential matters concerning investigations. We do not know where the information in the public domain came from but it is a matter that clearly should be raised by the individual victim concerned. The Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill received pre-legislative scrutiny at the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality last month. It is being progressed, so I hope it will be brought before us in the next few weeks. The case itself raises questions about bigger issues relating to the structure of the criminal justice system. On Monday, I had the pleasure of attending an open policy forum hosted by the Department of Justice and Equality, which was attended by the Minister. Indeed, she stayed for the full morning. The forum was to look at the proposal to establish a criminal justice inspectorate. This recommendation was made by the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality last year and has also been made by a number of bodies. There is a model in Northern Ireland for a criminal justice inspectorate and the head of Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland spoke to us on Monday. This is the sort of issue that could well come within the remit of a general inspectorate.