Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept the point that we cannot lose sight of the importance of Brexit. That is why the Government created a second Secretary General post in the Department of the Taoiseach to deal explicitly with issues related to Brexit. It is also why the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, has confirmed that an extra €2.6 billion is being made available to support the economy in responding to Brexit. It is important that we keep the issue in the political diary and on the political agenda. It is a little unfair to suggest, therefore, that the Government is not engaging. The Taoiseach has travelled throughout Europe. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, has also travelled, while the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Murphy, is engaging on the issue. It is important that we understand Ireland will be to the forefront with its European Union partners in working to find a solution. Yesterday the importance of this country and the North-South divide was highlighted to ensure there would not be a hard border.

Senator Paudie Coffey raised the issue of interconnectivity in Europe and referred to the importance of energy projects. I will be happy to have the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Energy, Deputy Denis Naughten, come to the House to address those issues.

Senator Joan Freeman referred to the importance of mental health services. The Minister of State, Deputy Helen McEntee, will be in the House tomorrow to respond to a topical issue raised by Senator Gabrielle McFadden. The Minister of State has travelled the country and committed to making available the funding she secured in the budget for mental health services. It is important that we work together to highlight the issue and that the moneys which have been secured be ring-fenced, whether for youth mental health services which the Senator rightly mentioned or the provision of 24-hour support to ensure the availability of people out of hours, an issue on which we all need to seek a solution. We all commend the Senator for the work she is undertaking in another capacity. As she rightly said, the problem is one that does not stop at 5 p.m. in the evening or at 5 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. It is important that we work together to ensure there will be a different approach to how we respond to mental health needs. A Vision for Change, a document that has evolved into Government policy, perhaps needs to be changed and amended. To be fair to her, the Minister of State is committed and has worked with the Health Service Executive in recognising, in its service plan, that there are action points to be implemented.

Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh asked for the Minister of State with responsibility for the diaspora, Deputy Joe McHugh, to come to the House. I hope that will happen in the coming weeks.

Senators Alice-Mary Higgins and Martin Conway mentioned Shannon Airport. We should not react the way we sometimes do when it comes to Shannon Airport. There is an international agreement that we must honour in keeping with our neutrality, as I am sure the Government will do and is doing.

The issue of green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, payments was raised by Senators Rose Conway-Walsh and Pádraig MacLochlainn. I can inform Members that today the president of the Irish Farmers Association, Mr. Joe Healy, met departmental officials. On Friday 1,164 members of the farming community received payments. I understand there are around 9,000 outstanding payments since October. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Michael Creed, is committed to dealing with the matter to ensure payments will be made as quickly as possible. There will be weekly payment rounds. It is important to mention that in some cases GLAS applications must be validated to satisfy EU regulations since the scheme is co-funded by the European Union.

Senators Frances Black and Catherine Noone raised the very important issue of alcohol misuse, in the context of which they referred to fatal alcohol syndrome and the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015. To respond to Senator Frances Black in particular, it is not a matter of Fine Gael supporting the Bill but of all Members of the House supporting it, whether they be Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Independent, Fine Gael or Labour Party Members. It is important that there be all-party support for it. We all want to see a reduction in the level of harm caused by alcohol misuse.

Senator Máire Devine referred to the decision of Mr. Justice Kelly in the High Court in the Angela Kerins case.I will not get into the minutiae of the ruling but I welcome the decision of Mr. Justice Kelly. It is worth reading. Those of us who are Members of the House and who have privilege have a responsibility not to allow that privilege to be misused. We cannot come in here and misuse that privilege or ridicule a person. I am not saying that any of us has done so.