Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Fianna Fáil group, I convey my sympathies to the family of the Cathaoirleach. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis. I also convey my sympathies and those of the Fianna Fáil group to the Leas-Chathaoirleach and his family on the passing of his mother, Peggie. Our deepest and sincerest condolences to both families.

I raise two matters today. The first is eye health for primary school children. I call on the Minister to introduce a scheme whereby the first-time driving licence test requirements are applied to primary school children. Many children are given the HSE standard eye test, which they pass, but then go on to suffer sight loss. Those children would have failed the optician's eyesight test. I was approached by a mother with a five year old son who has sensory and anxiety issues. She let the school know about these before an eye test happened and, six months after the eye test, heard nothing from the school or the HSE as to how her child got on. As time passed, her child still presented with serious sight issues and a lot of anxiety when going to school so she brought the child to the opticians and it turned out the child was, in fact, long-sighted.

Other children and parents in the school have been discussing it and it turns out that the HSE standard eye test is deficient and many ophthalmologists have been agitating for the HSE to implement the driving licence test standard to primary school children because it is more effective in ensuring that, if children have issues with their sight, it is identified. The HSE test is too simple and is not working. I call on the Minister to look into the matter.

The second issue I raise is knife crime in the city. There was an incident on O'Connell Street last week and, over the weekend, an horrendous incident in Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard. Pictures are circulating on the Internet of a cross-section of a wound on a man's face. It is a very graphic picture. We are seeing a rise in knife crime in this city and the Government has not got a handle on it. A many-pronged approach needs to be taken. We need the Garda to be resourced properly and we need stronger sentencing for knife crimes and for the sale and possession of knives. Gardaí also need to be protected. It is daunting, dangerous and scary for gardaí who approach large gangs of youths because they do not know what the outcome will be or how aggressive the situation will be. I am calling for a serious debate in this House on knife crime in the city. The incidence of knife crime has increased, it is an epidemic and we need to be worried. The increase in knife crime in the UK was described as a public health epidemic and we need to look at it in the same way.

I congratulate our colleague, Senator Grace O'Sullivan, who was elected to the European Parliament.She will still be with us for the next few weeks. We wish her well in her new endeavours and post and will miss her dearly.