Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are plenty of issues for me to respond to today. I thank colleagues for all of the items raised which I propose to respond to working backwards.

I do believe there is need for a debate on fiscal policy but whether it is beneficial to have it between now and Christmas is probably debatable. I will ask the Minister to come to the House for that debate but there is probably a variety of Ministers that need to come in for that debate. The world is an entirely different place today than it was when colleagues were debating the merits or otherwise of water charges seven or eight years ago. There are challenges arising not just from the costs that have been extended to support citizens in this country because of Covid, but the impact of those actions in terms of the way we do things, not least how we work, shop and live in the future, and on businesses. This demands that we have a debate on supporting industries, creating new industries and, probably, who is going to pay for all of that at the end of the day. I will try to arrange for that debate to happen when the House returns in the new year. It is not fair to put the entire responsibility on the shoulders of the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath. We are all in this particular boat together and as Oireachtas Members we need to decide how we share the burden of what is going to be a challenge in the next couple of years. We are all very hopeful, notwithstanding the positivities that the vaccine is going to bring, that when society does reopen, it will be like the roaring twenties and it takes off. This might solve an awful lot of our problems and do a lot of the heavy lifting. A debate is required.

A number of Members referenced today being the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The presentation given at the Joint Committee on Disability Matters this morning, as referenced by Senator Seery Kearney, must have been incredibly moving. People live with disabilities every day. There are different days during the year when we pay tribute not only to the people who support them, including their families, but the immeasurable amount of care given that is mostly hidden. It is not good enough that we only recognise that work on particular days, although it is very welcome that we do and that we are having this conversation today. Our actions show how we recognise and value people with disabilities and all of the people who care for them, be they organisations such as Fingal Prosper, WALK or anybody else. There are organisations in all of our towns and villages that do great work. In introducing pensions for parents of children who are incapacitated and will never have the stamps to qualify for a pension, as provided for in the programme for Government, we show that we do not just talk the talk, but we walk the walk. It is important that we have a debate on this issue and I will try to arrange a debate with the Minister shortly after Christmas.

Senator Ahearn raised credit union difficulties. I did not realise there was such a big dividend in towns and villages. A sum of €1.7 million for the town of Clonmel is a sizeable amount and it would be very welcome if it could be spent there before Christmas. I might be speaking out of turn but there may be a possibility of introducing an amendment to the Finance Bill that has not yet been finalised. I do not know if that is possible but I will liaise on it with the Minister today and then we can talk about it again between now and next week.

Senator Lombard raised the issue with regard to our local media, local radio stations and local newspapers. As politicians we are very reliant on them, but our neighbours and friends who buy The Meath Chronicle, The Fingal Independentor any of the other local newspapers and who listen to local radio stations do so for local news and because they want to be attached to what is happening in their local areas. Many of them do it for sport, particularly in the case of newspapers. This is probably more attuned to the local GAA matches at county level. They are hugely important. Notwithstanding the difficulties they are experiencing because of Covid, they were already in trouble. We have had various representations from the organisations. A new organisation was set up to lobby as a collective. It is an issue we need to respond to. The Future of Media Commission is welcome but it is going to take months before it can report and for us to debate that report. The crisis is far more immediate and so I will seek a debate on that particular issue, although I am mindful that I already have a number of other requests with that Minister on other issues.

We had a particularly emotional contribution this morning by a Senator who is walking the walk with regard to the difficulties facing our hospitality sector. Over the last couple of days a number of Members raised the issue regarding the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS. There are clearly anomalies as to why a business cannot open and at the same time cannot access the CRSS that need to be brought to the attention of the Minister. On behalf of Members, I will write to the Minister on the basis of the anomalies of which I am aware and have been brought to my attention to see if they can be rectified. I do not think any scheme to support people was set up with the intention of excluding other people. I know from personal experience that not everything can be thought of at the outset when devising a scheme. There are always things that need to be revised. Schemes need to be living schemes and to be adaptable. I will write to the Minister for Finance on the basis of that particular sector. I mentioned in the House yesterday that I think we need a task force on the retail sector. We definitely need some type of force to make sure our hospitality gets back on its feet when the vaccine comes. While there is talk of some sort of immunity for the Irish people it will not be until next September. This means two entire seasons will have been lost for the hospitality sector. The vast majority of that sector will not resurface after those two seasons without supports. I will raise that issue by way of letter to the Minister.

Senator Boylan spoke very poignantly about the discrimination in Palestine. I will write to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, today. I cannot believe that an organisation like COVAX would not have a plan B. The Senator is right that there should not be a need for a plan B.. There is a plan A and that plan should work. I do not know the answer to her question but I will write to the Ministers seeking that information. If I get a response today, I will contact the Senator by phone. If not, I will communicate with her in writing.

Senator Currie raised the admissions policies that have been changed by some of our Dublin schools and, probably, some our city schools in Cork and Galway. She alluded to the fact that she could not understand the logic to it. I think that is because there is no logic to it. It makes no sense for a parent to send a seven-year-old to one school and a four- or five-year-old to a different school further up the road. All of us who have children know how difficult it is to get them to the same school in the first instance and to get them all there on time. This issue underlies a bigger issue in so far as there is a problem with school places. The fact that dioceses have to juggle with the rules to try to accommodate within the school places that they have, with changes that do not make sense, leaves us to believe that we have a bigger problem than just them juggling with their own admissions.

Senator Casey raised the issue of the hospitality sector. Senator Ward raised the very interesting topic of how people can fall foul of not knowing what is behind the 1890 and 1590 phone numbers and, particularly, the costs. The change in the legislation last year was very welcome but those 1590 and 1890 phone numbers are still a major cause for concern. The Senator mentioned that there are some older people that would not necessarily be aware of the costs and charges for these numbers. There are some younger people in households who do not pay their own bills who are not very aware of those charges and they enter competitions that result in them receiving a text a day that costs €3. In my own household, my daughter just thought the texts were very annoying and she deleted them and did not bother telling anybody. There is a real need to raise this issue with ComReg and to ask what it might look like to make sure everybody, young and old, is reached.

Senator Craughwell raised the idea of a searchable database, which I think would be very welcome.I am not sure that colleagues have had the experience I have had in the past days of different people making representations to us about different sectors and what regulations apply to them in those sectors. They went on to the gov.iewebsite and could not specifically find it. Their own industry, be it sports or dance, has told them they can do this but somebody else has told them they can do that, and there is a bit of conflict. A searchable database would be a very good idea. I may write to the Taoiseach to see what he thinks about it.

I am very happy to accept the amendment to the Order of Business, and second it, and take the Bill next week. I wish the Senators every success with it.

The climate action Bill was raised by a number of Senators. I am baffled that I did not know that our Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Action is sitting every single day. I am not sure if other Members know this and I am not sure why we do not know. I am also curious to know why it is meeting in private session because this is a very public conversation. The suggestion by Senator Malcolm Byrne that the topic be a weekly recurring theme on our Seanad Order of Business would be a very good idea.