Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise two issues. What the women of Ireland need now is leadership from these Houses. I know that politics has a bad name, but politics can do much good in the coming days. I am delighted that Senator Norris mentioned the name of the woman at the heart of this scandal, Vicky Phelan. People have asked for this not to be made a political football and then have immediately engaged in political football. I do not believe that the people of Ireland need to hear one side of the House point a finger at the other side of the House. We should point the finger, collectively, at ourselves and ask what we can do better for the women of Ireland. I doubt that anybody would disagree that if this was a service exclusively for men, this would never happen. We continuously fail women in this country and that must be recognised.

I also wish to raise the issue of sport. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to the House to discuss sport in general and the capacity of children to play sport in the context of the accessibility of local playing fields. I am a member of Scoil Uí Chonaill GAA club. It was a delight for us to see a member of the club, Hannah Leahy, who is vice-captain of the Dublin ladies minor team, be named the player of the game on Sunday when the team won the Leinster championship. We are very proud of her, as are her family. While many of us in the House enjoy GAA and sport, we see what is happening to many of the playing pitches across this city and further afield with regard to rezoning and commercial development, including what is happening in the Na Fianna club in Glasnevin. I would appreciate the opportunity to have a discussion with the Minister with responsibility for sport about the availability and accessibility of playing pitches and how we can facilitate clubs and young children to enjoy sporting endeavour into the future. With the building or construction boom back there is more pressure on lands in institutional use in colleges and schools across the State and, due to major infrastructure plans, clubs such as Na Fianna are under increasing scrutiny and pressure. That debate would be timely and I would appreciate if the Leader could facilitate it.