Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the 19 Senators who raised matters on today's Order of Business.

I do not mean to single out Senator Ardagh, but the intervention by the father of the House was inappropriate. I defend the right of Senators to raise any matters they want on the Order of Business and to do so in whatever manner they feel appropriate. Senator Ardagh has always been very gracious on the Order of Business and she does not try to score political points. She has a dual task of representing her party and representing her local area. She is entitled, as are the rest of us, to raise any matter. How we do so is up to us. The father of the House should consider this.Some of us are new in the House, while others are new to the Oireachtas. It is a matter of finding one's feet. We are all learning and I make mistakes every day of the week. In fairness to Senator Catherine Ardagh, therefore, I defend her right to do her job as best she can. She has been a very willing partner with other leaders in managing the business of the House, for which I thank everyone, during this term. I will be very happy to have the Minister come to the House to discuss the issue she raised about people with a disability and accommodation. If she wants to raise it as a Commencement matter, she can.

I commend Senator Billy Lawless and thank the Cathaoirleach for his graciousness to him. It is a wonderful day. Cuirim mór fáilte roimh an Seanadóir nua. He represents not just the diaspora but all of us in the House. We are very happy to have him here and I look forward to the contribution he will make. We wish him well following his hip replacement operation. He has certainly not lost his zeal for life after it. We should all reflect on his remarks and how we can work to bring our emigrants home, as well as on how to bring investment to the country. I look forward to working with him in that regard.

Senator Rose Conway-Walsh raised an important and sensitive issue about a person named Mary. If she wants to give me the details, I will happily give them to the Minister. However, we should be careful in the language we use in referring to premature deaths because, as we all know from our work, it is a sensitive issue. There is increased funding in the budgets and there are more GPs than ever before. There is greater access to primary care services and we are moving towards having a universal health care system. As I said, if the Senator gives me the information, I will be happy to bring it to the Minister's attention for her.

Senator Frances Black raised the issue of accommodation and housing. We will have the Minister in the House this evening for statements on the subject.

Senator Aodhán Ó Riordáin referred to the inner city which the Taoiseach is visiting today. The Taoiseach has established a task force and a working group. I agree that it is imperative that we empower people through education and training, by finding them jobs and investment in their local areas. I agree with the Senator completely that we must give people the tools and skills to live an alternative life to the one some of them are living. It is most important to have people in work.

Senator John O'Mahony raised the issue of pay-per-view and the availability of Gaelic games, in particular, but also other sports which it was important to make available on free-to-air and terrestrial television services. I would be happy to have both the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, and the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Denis Naughten, come to the House to discuss the issue.

Senator Keith Swanick referred to autism services. If he wants to give me the details of the particular case mentioned, I will provide them for the Minister responsible. I am surprised by the remarks made because the last Government increased the funding for speech and language therapy services. Speech and language and occupational therapists have been recruited and we have a plan to deal with people with disabilities, particularly young people and those with autism.

To respond to Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill, I would love to see a cross-party group come together in the Seanad to promote sport and its importance in all of our lives. I will certainly invite the relevant Minister to the House to discuss the issue. We all join in wishing our sports stars, including our athletes, boxers and other Olympians, every success in Rio de Janeiro. It will be an extraordinary opportunity for us as a nation to showcase our sports heroes. I wish each and every one of them every success. I had the privilege of being at the Olympic Games at Atlanta. It is a fantastic feeling to watch an Irish athlete compete and almost win a medal. To see someone in the green jersey do so well gives us a great sense of pride. I also wish our Paralympians well this year because sport unites us, as we saw at the European championships. Sport and its benefits are important and I hope to arrange the debate in the autumn.

Senator Frank Feighan raised the issue of Brexit and the potential in that regard. I will come back to the points made by Senator Neale Richmond, but it is an important issue that we must look at again. Senator Kieran O'Donnell made the point that we could play a role. Perhaps the Committee on Procedure and Privileges might discuss the matter.

Senator Robbie Gallagher raised the important issue of the charities sector and highlighted the anomaly in it regulation in the sense that things are becoming more and more bureaucratic for residents' associations, sports clubs and charity organisations in terms of red tape and bureaucracy. While we all want to see regulation, it makes life more difficult for small, voluntary groups. I hope we can see the matter being rectified in time.

Senator James Reilly referred to Tusla. I agree with him on the issue of guidelines. At a time when more and more people are having children later in life and presenting to become adoptive parents, the guidelines need to be looked at. I will certainly address the Senator's request for the Minister, Deputy Katherine Zappone, to come to the House to discuss the issue.

Senator Paul Gavan referred to the Low Pay Commission and the report published yesterday. The balance we have to strike is between the employer and the employee and maintaining competitiveness and increasing the number of jobs while ensuring people have a decent income. The recommendations made by the commission are independent of the Government. There was a wide variety of people involved in the commission.