Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My thanks to colleagues for the variety of topics raised today.

I will ask the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to come and have a debate with us on reopening. I think we will have many debates on reopening society, communities and our economy in the coming weeks, but certainly a debate about the long-term future of financing third level education is relevant. I will send that request out today.

I am happy to accept the amendment of Senator Ward and allow the Bill to be published. I look forward to the debate. All the points raised with regard to the case taken last week against FBD by the four successful hospitality outlets are relevant. I agree with Senator Ward that there is a ways to go on this. Certain questions are being asked from numerous quarters on the response of some of our State organisations. It might be worthwhile sending a letter to the Minister for Finance outlining the queries the Senator has or perhaps inviting the Minister to come in and talk about this in a Commencement debate. I will discuss it with the Senator later and he can let me know the best way to go.

I take on board all the comments made by Senator Black. What is obviously a difficult situation still is still arising, even though we continually talk year in, year out about looking for reconciliation from all sides, including those in the middle trying to represent everyone. It would be worthwhile to pass on the request from the Senator for the organisation to seek a meeting with the Taoiseach. I will ask, but I believe it would come better from the Senator if she sent a note to the Taoiseach asking him for his response with regard to communications with Boris Johnson and the Northern Ireland Assembly that were agreed in the context of and arising from the Stormont House Agreement framework but which have not been forwarded. I thank the Senator for the contribution she made this morning.

Senator Pauline O'Reilly answered in part some of the questions raised by Senator Sherlock on the issue of paid parental leave. What Senator O'Reilly did not tell the House is that the legislation is in pre-legislative scrutiny at the moment with the committee. Unfortunately, until that aspect is finished, it cannot be advanced. I only know this from my time in the Department, obviously. What is delaying everything is not us trying to be annoying. Paid parental leave was established some years ago. It will be set out. Year on year we will have similar legislation on the Statute Book until each parent gets nine weeks' consecutive or shared parental leave. An information technology system is required to go alongside this. As the Senator said, it is paid leave. The Department of Social Protection, as we are all aware, has done the work of probably ten Departments in the past ten or 12 months in serving the people who have had their lives entirely disrupted and are now dependent on the State until life turns back on again.That IT system will not be ready until April. To reiterate what Senator Pauline O'Reilly said, the legislation will be retrospective which is unusual for these Houses and absolutely everybody who has had a baby since November 2020 will be entitled to the full amount of leave, both the mammy and the daddy. The legislation is in pre-legislative scrutiny at the moment and will be advanced as soon as that report is issued to us from the committee. Senator O'Reilly raised the benefits of it and I will be very happy when we get to having nine weeks leave per parent per child born from 20 November 2020, or 2019 previously.

Senator Ardagh raised the issue of cancer services and indeed we started with Senator Keogan talking about them. I agree with both of them and do not wish to diminish the serious nature of what they have brought forward. However, alongside talking about cancer screening and how much it has been affected by Covid and how much we all want it back because of all the ramifications it will have, it is at the same time very fair to say that those working in the cancer services that continue to be in operation in our hospitals have done Trojan work since last year. I can say this on a personal experience as I had recourse to be a patient of Beaumont Hospital's cancer screening services for six months last year. They worked their absolute socks off. There were times they could not do clinics. When we went back to level 4 and level 3 and it was allowed, they worked clinics around the clock on Saturdays and Sundays to try to ensure they caught up with the women who were waiting in limbo for weeks. I must pay tribute to our nurses and doctors for their Trojan efforts. Senator Keogan is absolutely right, as indeed is Senator Ardagh, that our screening services are absolutely vital to keeping our numbers down and to catching patients at the early stages so they can be treated, helped and cured. That is really important. The poignant letter Senator Keogan read out about the lady who had her own distress last year, which was probably compounded by the fact that she could not have her surgery, is really heartbreaking to listen to. The Senator's question to me was who made the decision and who was responsible. I do not know but I will find out for her. However, I must assume that it was the clinicians who made the decision in the best medical interests and outcomes for their patients but I will find out if she gives me the details later on.

Senator Ardagh raised cancer services and indeed we started with Senator Keogan talking about them. I agree with both of them and do not wish ot to diminish the serious nature of what they have brought forward, what we need tood alongside talking about cancer screening and how much it has been affected by Covid and how much we all want it back, because of all the ramifications it will have, it is probably very fair at the same time to say that those cancer services that continue to be in operation in our hospitals have done Trojan work last year and I can only say this on a personal experience as I had recourse to be a patient of Beaumont for six months last year in the cancer screening services - they worked their absolute socks off. When there were times they could not do clinics, when it was allowed and we went back to level 4 and level 3, they worked clinics around the clock on Saturdays on Sundays to try to ensure they caught up with the women who were in waiting in limbo for the weeks that they were so I just have to pay tribute to them, to our nurses and our doctors, for the Trojan effort that they do. But u are absolutely right, as indeed is Senator Ardagh, that our screening services are absolutely vital to keeping our numbers down and to catching patients at the early stages so they can be treated, helped and cured and I think that is really important. The poignant letter that u read out about the lady who had her own distress last year, which was probably compounded by the fact that she could not have her surgery, is really heartbreaking to listen to but I can only assume, and ur question to me was to ask who made the decision and who was responsible. I do not know but I will find out for u but I must assume that it was the clinicians who made the decision on the best medical interests and outcomes for their patients but I will find out if u give me the details later on.

Senator Gavan talked about a road that currently goes to nowhere. We do not often agree but I absolutely agree with him on this one. The road must be built. I think everybody that has any sense knows that it must be built but I will certainly ask for the debate the Senator wants. I am sure he will have many champions with him on the day to persuade the Minister for Transport and as he says, the Cabinet collectively, to ensure that programme for Government commitment is fulfilled.

Senator McGahon must forgive me because a lot of what he discussed and the technology he discussed went over my head. However, if I am clear what the Senator is looking for is for people with type 1 diabetes to get access to the long-term illness scheme so they can make the choice that is in their own best interest. I will certainly pass that message on to the Minister for Health.

Senator Crowe talked again about the landmark decision. Is it not shocking to hear the concerns of a company that is paying €240,000 per year to insure against what we hope is unimaginable, and yet when it does happen it was so badly let down? I think we all cheered when the courts found in favour of our hospitality sector last Friday but as I said in my earlier contribution, there is a long way to travel on that road and we will have to continue to support the sector in every way we can.

Senator Hoey talked about something that is very relevant to tens of thousands of our students who cannot do their placements. I would be incredibly shocked if any university could not allow a student to go on to the following year or to graduate because of something that was absolutely not within his or her own control. That is not to say Senator Hoey is not telling the truth. I will talk to the Minister with responsibility for higher education today and will come back to the Senator with a response, hopefully in the affirmative. If not we definitely need to take that issue further. It is definitely not acceptable that our third and fourth level students, who are doing internship placements as part of their programme and their training, are not allowed to either carry that placement over to the following year so they continue on their course, or to have some other remedy associated with what has happened, which is that their lives have been interrupted for the whole year. Everyone's life has been interrupted.

Senator Burke referred to the Minister for Finance and what is going to become a very large issue regarding negative rates. I will ask for a debate with the Minister on that matter in the next couple of weeks.

Senator Craughwell asked for a debate on the idiosyncrasies that arise with the placement of our female Defence Forces. I will ask for a debate on that matter. Senator Kyne talked about the welcome increase in the fuel allowance but also referred to the difficulty that the interruption to life has caused for people in accessing the warmer homes scheme. A number of State services have stalled in the past 12 months and this is one of them. Access to driving licences is another. We all expect and hope that life will start to gear up again at some point in the next couple of months but in the absence of an assurance that this will happen, we will have to find different ways to provide services and cut through the red tape that has been created by Covid-19. I will today write to the Minister outlining the discrepancies and delays that the Senator has talked about and ask for a debate on the warmer homes scheme and the concept of retrofitting in its entirety.

Senator Gallagher raised the €100 fine. To be fair, he also raised this issue on the Order of Business last Monday. I, too, would welcome the imposition of a fines system in Northern Ireland. It never ceases to amaze me that at the end of the week, we are told by An Garda Síochána how many thousands of people have been fined as if it is no big deal. People seem to think that it is only 100 quid. I do not think that people understand how prevalent the virus still is in our communities. It is a big deal and we are continuing to put people at risk. It would be great if there were a scenario whereby we could have cross-community co-operation between the Northern Ireland Parliament and ourselves, including in the context of reciprocal arrangements. I will ask the Department of the Taoiseach to come back to us with a response on that matter.

Senator Flynn brought up the digital divide which has become evident to us all and which was evident to many people before the arrival of Covid. For many months, young people in universities and children in primary and secondary school have been educated from home. It is difficult to do that without access to broadband or to a computer to get onto the broadband. That is why I am proud that the previous Fine Gael Government backed the national broadband plan, despite the many objections to and reservations about it. We all know how empowered and changed lives can be by access to technology. There was €10 million given to secondary schools in November last year but, clearly, it has not provided every child and household with IT equipment. This morning's announcements are welcome but we will have to monitor them to ensure that they provide access to education for every household as is our intention.

Senator Ó Domhnaill referred to the sad events of the weekend. It is an awful pity. I am loath to comment further than that, other than to say that I acknowledge Simon Byrne's apology and the actions that he took on Saturday evening, arising out of the event on Friday. There is a distance to travel on this issue but I will pass on the Senator's comments and reflections to the Taoiseach today.

Senator Martin raised the effects of the lockdown on us all and the weariness that has nearly seeped into the bones and mindset of everybody. Even the most positive people are fed up. The debate around zero Covid has been thoroughly assessed by the National Public Health Emergency Team and our clinicians but I will pass on the Senator's request to have the matter discussed further by the Cabinet and Government.

Senator Sherlock talked about the delay in extending parental leave, which I have already addressed. She also asked about the Dumping Sea Act 1996 and I will schedule a debate on the matter in the next number of weeks. That debate will perhaps apply not only to this particular topic, but on a wider range of topics, if that is okay.

Senator Keogan talked about cancer screening services. I hope to come back to her with the reopening of all screening services.

Senator O'Loughlin started the day by talking about two issues that are pertinent and topical. The remote working strategy was launched by the Tánaiste a number of weeks ago. We all know that the future probably lies somewhere in the middle of the road between people having access to the office - not just for reasons of sanity and sociability - and being able to work from home to enhance their lifestyles. I am sure these considerations apply not only to the Senator's county but to all counties. We are going through county development plans at the moment. It is important that we develop the plan today for the next six to seven years, cognisant of the changes that we expect to happen over that time. It will not just be business as usual and zoning a bit here and there. The remote working strategy needs to be integral. I will today ask the Tánaiste to write to every single local authority chief executive to ensure that before we finalise any county development plan, it will have a remote working strategy at the heart of its economic development strategy.

The Senator raised another important matter. We have talked long and hard for a number of years about delivering all types of housing.What is sometimes absent from the delivery or the plan is independent living for our older people. There are probably tens of thousands of houses in which either two grandparents or one grandparent is living where they do not need the space and there are many families who would value and relish the opportunity to make those houses their family homes. We should not be asking those people to independently move from their family homes and to the sticks up to 10 km outside the towns and villages in which they are living. Our county development plans must have strategic zones and strategic plans to make sure that independent living is at the core of all our villages and towns and that the services are there. I will write to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and ask him to ensure that.

As regards Senator O'Loughlin's point, it is a tremendous pity that Pat Tinsley's funding did not come through. We need a debate on that €50 million to find out exactly where it is going and which new drugs, families and ailments we are going to support in the coming years.