Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I want to acknowledge Senator Ó Clochartaigh's last day in the House. He has been my colleague since I was elected to the Seanad. I welcome Mali and his family who are here today and the people from Galway who have travelled here. I know there are others on their way who got delayed as a result of the weather conditions.

Trevor has played an important part of our Sinn Féin team in the Seanad across many issues that have been mentioned, including the diaspora, Travellers' rights and many other issues that are not great vote-getters. That displays the type of person he is. We will certainly miss him within the Seanad team but this is a good and joyous day. It reminds us all that there is life outside politics and there are many other jobs that people in this Chamber could do. I congratulate Trevor on his new job. They have made a very wise choice at TG4 and I look forward to working with him in the future. I thank him and wish him the best of luck.

I thank Senator Craughwell for raising the issue of the Crowley report and demanding its release. The McAnespie family has waited long enough, indeed, far too long, and that needs to be done. We need to hear more voices, other than our own inside the republican movement, demanding that. I thank Miriam O'Callaghan for her RTÉ Radio 1 programme last Sunday. It was very important for people to hear it, and even for me as a parent who has two teenage boys who go to football matches all of the time. The thought of what happened to Aidan McAnespie resonates with many parents like me across this island.

Lastly, I wish to raise the issue of fuel poverty. I welcome what the Government has done, albeit late in the day, and I ask the Leader if he would arrange for us to have a proper discussion on fuel poverty in this Chamber and around the hidden problem in Ireland. Many very good reports have been done on this issue during the term of the previous Government and even at the height of the boom, reports on fuel poverty were being drawn up. We need to have a proper discussion on the availability of fuel, house insulation and on the people who fall through the gaps. I have found the local authority will say that this issue is the problem of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI. Even with respect to getting heating systems upgraded or house insulation for people, the local authority will say, "No, it does not fall within our remit." The SEAI will say, "No, it does not fall within our remit either." Meanwhile these people are left in vulnerable situations. I ask the Leader to arrange for us to have a full, sensible and wholesome debate on fuel poverty in this House.