Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will deal at the outset with the issues surrounding Cahersiveen and the direct provision centre. I hear the calls from Members, including from Senator Ó Donnghaile and his party colleagues, to have a debate in the House. I have asked for the Minister for Justice and Equality to come before the House. We are still in discussions with her office on this. The difficulty posed is that there is a lot of legislation to get through here and in the Dáil. The Minister will be at the meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council tomorrow and will not be available. We are trying to get time. As it stands, I cannot give a commitment to the House that she will attend today. I am just not in a position to do that.

I have received an update on the issue. Departmental officials were on site yesterday to inspect the facility. I believe that issues raised with regard to water and food have been addressed and they are exploring the possibility of additional social supports on site and counselling for residents. I fully accept the situation there is less than satisfactory. Everyone in the House agrees on this point. I hear the calls from Members to have the Minister come before the House but I am just not in a position to give that commitment on her behalf at this point in time.

Senator Dooley raised the issue of water and sewerage infrastructure for rural communities and I very much agree. There are sites in Mayo where raw sewage is flowing into waterways and it does need to be addressed.

Senator Craughwell raised the issue of disability and the fact there is a Minister and a Minister of State. I believe having a Minister and Minister of State on the topic is a good thing but Senator Craughwell does not agree. I commend the comments by Ann Marie Flanagan and Martin Tobin that we do need to hear from and listen to people with disabilities and not just the service providers. I fully support the call from Senators Craughwell, Conway and others that we have a debate in the House on how we can become a more inclusive and equal society. That is something all Members would certainly support.

Senators Wall and Gallagher raised the issue of medical cards. I fully support it and certainly I will raise it directly with the Minister. If somebody is terminally ill the last thing he or she should be doing is fighting for a medical card. It should just be issued without any question.

Senator Flynn also raised the issue of Cahersiveen and the issue of equality and people living in poverty. She has been very consistent in her comments in the House since she has taken up her seat to advocate and fight for those in less fortunate positions. We all support the sentiments raised by the Senator.

Senator Kyne raised the issue of rural transport. I agree with him that we need to look after public transport in our cities, and we always welcome infrastructural development and investment in public transport, but as a rural public representative I fully appreciate the issues he raised with regard the lack of rural transport and the very real battles we have to go through just to get basic bus routes. I would love to see the western rail corridor developed and have a rail link between Galway and Mayo. It would be quite transformative. I am glad to see a commitment in the programme for Government to increase spending in public transport.

Senator O'Sullivan raised the issue of nuclear energy. He has put the cat among the seagulls today in raising the issue. I will certainly take those comments on board.

I am not fully briefed on the particular topic Senator Keogan raised with regard to Iran and the Baha'i faith. I am sure she has made the case today and it will be brought to the attention of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Iranian ambassador.

Senator Fitzpatrick raised the issue of an affordable rental scheme, in particular the O'Devaney Gardens site. I am pleased to say having an affordable rental scheme is in the programme for Government. I know the Minister is committed to bringing forward legislation on this issue at the earliest possible opportunity.

Senator Dolan raised the issue of the just transition retrofitting. She has done a very good job of representing Ballinasloe. Her video inviting people to staycation in Ballinasloe was possibly overshadowed by Deputy Bruton's video and the imagery contained within. Nonetheless, Senator Dolan's video was equally impressive. She also raised the issue of greenway investment. As somebody from the area of the Great Western Greenway I can certainly account for the huge success it has been. Senator Garvey mentioned the spin-off for surrounding areas and said it can be felt up to 60 km away. I can certainly attest to this. It has been transformative for rural communities with regard to small businesses popping up to support the tourism coming through because of greenways.

Senator McCallion raised the issue of the North-South Ministerial Council meeting tomorrow. I echo the sentiments that it is very important it is meeting tomorrow particularly in light of Brexit, which has not gone away. It has been pushed to the back burner a small bit because of the pandemic but it has been trickling on all the same and it is something we will certainly have to deal with. I fully support the request by numerous Senators that we re-establish the select committee on Brexit in the House. It certainly would be very welcome and it should happen. I will raise the issue today at the meeting of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges with the Cathaoirleach. I have no doubt it will be supported by all members of that committee.

Senator McGreehan raised the issue of a national medicines reserve. It is a very good idea and I am sure the Minister for Health will take it on board. The pandemic has exposed the shortcomings and weaknesses in our health system, which is a good thing, while it has also shown the huge strength and resilience of our health system. There are things we can learn from the pandemic as to how we do things better and the supply of medicines is certainly something we can look at.

Senator Seery Kearney spoke about today being world day against the trafficking of persons. Senator Bacik also commented on this issue. Senator Seery Kearney has been very eloquent in her commentary that we all need to be careful we are not complicit in supporting modern-day slavery by the choices we make in terms of purchasing services and goods. It was a very poignant point to make for Members of the House and beyond.

Senator Bacik raised the issue of assessment for autism. Quite frankly, it is disgraceful that any child would be waiting 19 months. Actually, it is disgraceful they would wait six months. That particular goalpost should be narrowed and made smaller. If it is to be early intervention it should happen early and 19 months is just unacceptable. We should do everything we can in our power as public representatives to bring this figure right down. Six months is the maximum wait and we should aim to have it much lower. That is where we need to get to.

Senator Byrne also raise the issue of Cahersiveen direct provision centre, the Brexit select committee and the impact of Brexit. He has done a lot of work on the Rosslare Europort. I agree with his sentiments on the educational opportunity. Although it poses a challenge, I know from my brief in the last term as Brexit spokesperson for the Fianna Fáil party that there are opportunities in education. The link between the UK and Ireland and how we work together in education has been very positive. I see no reason we should not continue this. If we have to be imaginative in how we facilitate this continued engagement let us be so.

Senator Lombard raised the issue of Brexit and the impact on agriculture. We are all very well aware of the difficulties posed in the agriculture sector from Brexit. There are no easy solutions to this. We just need to work with our agricultural sector to try to protect it. He also raised the issue of local government reform. Two thirds of us are elected through local councillors and we hear directly from them about the issues regarding local government reform and the need for it. I certainly support it.

Senator McDowell raised the issue of the removal of statutes outside the Shelbourne Hotel. I agree with the Senator that we should not seek to erase history. We also need to be well informed about the history of statues and other emblems and markings so we are correct in our assessment of them. The letter he spoke about shows that sometimes we can be very quick to move on things without really knowing what we are speaking about and let that be a lesson to all of us.

Senators Buttimer and Cassells raised the issue of capacity at local championship matches. I agree that now we have been dealing with the pandemic for quite some time we need to look at the one-size-fits-all approach to these issues.Senator Crowe raised the issue small rural pubs. We have the space now to look at that. A really large venue can definitely accommodate more than 200 people safely. If we can do things safely and with a bit of common sense, I see no reason why that issue cannot be explored further.

Senator Cassells spoke about the county childcare committee and childcare policy. Childcare will be one of the big issues for both the Seanad and Dáil to try to get to grips with in the upcoming term. The pandemic has shown us the importance of childcare and that we cannot reopen the economy while leaving parents without adequate childcare. I certainly support those calls.

Senator Burke raised a local issue in Mayo with which I am familiar. In this day and age, we need to get away from having manual gates at level crossings because it is a health and safety issue. I will be working with Senator Burke and Mayo County Council to try to address the issue.