Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to raise three items. The first relates to the new national children's hospital and it is a good news story. It relates to the benefits which have stemmed from the community benefit programme, which was knitted into the construction of that project. The community benefit programme facilitates the employment of locals in the area in order that they gain some meaningful employment on the site. I congratulate the members of Dublin City Council on this programme. When I served on that council in 2014 that issue was very much on its agenda. I thank them for keeping with that idea and ensuring the community benefit programme was knitted into that construction project.

To date, 28 people have been employed in professional and skilled roles and that number will increase over the course of the project to more than 100 people. Community benefit programmes such as this one are beneficial to the local community, particularly in this area where parts of it are quite disadvantaged, and members of the community have been able to gain advantages from this programme. I would welcome the roll-out of such programmes on a more national level, especially in light of the announcement of many capital projects last week.

The second item I wish to raise relates to a report that was published by scientists at NUIG concerning the alarming amount of plastics that have been ingested by deep sea fish. These are small plastics which emanate from larger items and also from microbeads which are found in some of our care and hygiene products. The Deputy Leader mentioned in recent days how difficult it is to avoid purchasing items which are not contained in plastic in supermarkets. I call for a debate in this House on the use of plastics in supermarkets. I also call on the Government, as the Deputy Leader did, to move forward its microbeads legislation.

The final item I wish to raise concerns the conflict in Syria. My thoughts and those of the Fianna Fáil group go out all of the residents of Syria's eastern Ghouta region, which is a rebel held region in the midst of its own civil conflict. Residents there have reported they are waiting on death. Many have built tunnels underneath their homes desperately trying to avoid death and trying to survive. More than 300 people have been killed to date, 72 of whom have been children. I understand the Red Cross is urgently seeking to gain access to the area in the midst of ongoing air raids. I call on our Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to use whatever influence he has at UN Security Council level to ensure that the resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire, which hopefully will be passed in the next day or so, is passed. To date, 1,500 people have been killed in Syria's seven-year war. As a small and peaceful nation, we need to use our influence to do what we can to ensure that a peaceful means can be found to resolve that conflict.