Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Cathaoirleach caught me on the hop. I thought that there was another half an hour to go.

In the first instance, I will address the proposed amendment to the Order of Business. Whenever Senator Flynn stands in the Chamber, I am struck by how honest, thoughtful and thought-provoking her contributions are, not least of which was her contribution today. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I cannot accept the amendment. I have no way of getting the Minister or a Minister of State from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government for tomorrow. Even if the amendment is pressed, I will make it a priority to arrange that debate next week, the week after or whenever is the earliest I can do so. I thank the Senator for her contribution. It is a disgrace that she has had to stand in the Chamber and say that living conditions for members of her community have worsened since the horrific and tragic accident in Carrickmines five years ago. It is incumbent on all of us, not just her, to stand in the Chamber week in and week out to address the issues. We all must take responsibility for them and ensure that we do something about them. I thank Senator Flynn for her contribution. I will ensure that we have that debate as early as possible.

Other Members have requested debates. After listening to them every week, I return to my office and start writing letters and Ms Orla Murray in our office starts contacting Ministers to see how quickly we can arrange those debates, given that they are all relevant. I will do the same today, but it is against the backdrop of being told this week that the only business the Houses should conduct over the coming weeks should be absolutely essential. It is easy for us to say that having a debate on a particular topic is not essential, but it is just as easy to say that it is essential. If Senators bear with me and be mindful of the fact that we will be here on certain days to discuss legislation, I will try to arrange for as many as possible of the debates they have requested to be held on those days. However, I hope they will respect that I will not bring us to the Chamber for a day just to have statements. I will do my level best to arrange all of the debates they have called for today, but we will try to hold them on those dates when we will have other business, if that is okay with them.

A number of letters have been requested. I will send them off on behalf of Senators. To make a general comment on communications or miscommunications over recent days and the entire country now being in lockdown, I agree with Senator Ó Donnghaile that we should be dealing with these matters as an island. We are an island. Fine, we have two different sets of protocols and ruling bodies, but we are an island and we are one nation and we should be dealing with this situation on a joint basis.

Many more people are now being diagnosed with Covid on a daily basis than in recent months. It is cliché to say that we are all in this together, but we are whether we like it or not. Trying to pit one social activity against another in terms of which should be allowed defeats the purpose. As of last week, Fr. Gerry Stuart in my church has started putting masses online for people like my Dad who cannot go out and people like my Mam who had been going to mass but can no longer attend. We can access things like that online. Unfortunately, we cannot enjoy our county finals like we did last weekend when Ratoath won. I had hoped that Ratoath would win again next weekend.

We are all in this together. We must recognise that we are making sacrifices, not just for ourselves, but for the good of those we care about - our families and our communities. It is a pain in the rear end for us all. It is even affecting people who are in the whole of their health. I find myself being teary for no reason whatsoever. There is nothing wrong with me - I have healthy kids and a healthy family. However, we must recognise that there are people who are not healthy. They are the ones for whom we are doing this. It is to respect their good health.

It is a tough situation and it is easy to be critical of this or that set of people, but the people who are making decisions on our behalf, be they doctors or politicians, are doing it to ensure that the best interests of people's lives and livelihoods are served. In the next number of weeks or months, we cannot find ourselves in the position of being unable to sustain financially the supports that people have enjoyed for the past couple of months. It is vital that we sustain those supports until whenever the end of the tunnel arrives and we get a vaccine or find some magical way of living with this virus in a sustainable way, although I doubt the latter will happen. I ask that Senators be respectful of one another and kind towards the people who are doing their level best to serve us.

I will do as much as I can to provide space in Government time or any other group's time for necessary debates.