Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was thinking of an interview I read in which the Taoiseach said his favourite character, Tiny Tim, should get a job. This paints the Taoiseach as Scrooge. It would really make sense, therefore, that Christmas would be cancelled.

I echo Senator Ardagh's call to have the Minister come to the House to speak about the restriction on families who wish to keep their loved ones in a decent state of well-being and mental health when the latter are in hospital for a long stay. I watched a television programme on this. Two girls from the west were barred from visiting their dad in his final months and did not get to see him again until the day he was dying. As a daughter who spent every day in the nursing home with my father for two years before he passed away, I found the programme extremely horrifying to watch. It merits a conversation in this Chamber. At some level, it is definitely a violation of the human rights of both the family members and the individual in hospital.

I called a number of months ago for a conversation on the national drugs strategy. It has not happened in this House. It has happened in the Dáil. Last month was the 20th anniversary of the opioid treatment protocol. It would be good to have a conversation on the protocol and the strategy this side of Christmas. The working group on drug decriminalisation will, I hope, release its report before Christmas. Therefore, it would be good to have a conversation in the lead-up to publication.