Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I add my condolences to Senator McGahon's very timely tribute. It is very sad to hear of the passing of Eoin. We extend our condolences to his wife and children.

I could not agree more with Senator Lombard that there is absolutely no need for a public protest to take place in Cork. I note the irony of the call on the Minister by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties yesterday to look for safe guidelines regarding how public protests can be conducted under a level 5 lockdown. I think it is as clear as mud to even the brightest person in the country that the level 5 restrictions are impinging on all our movements for our positive good health.

There is a way for people to accept and exert their feelings at the moment and that is in the virtual world. They can also do so in the old-fashioned way by writing letters or picking up a phone. In today's world we have social media, emails and a plethora of other ways through which people can express their frustrations.

There are many frustrations among all communities and societies but there is absolutely no need for a public protest to take place in Cork tomorrow. I echo the Senator's request for it to be called off by the organisers. I wish the gardaí and other front-line services, particularly those who will have to deal with the outcome of tomorrow's protest, well. For the people of Cork to be needlessly put at risk while we are under continuing lockdown for our own good health reasons is a real shame.I echo the Senator's call for the protest to be abandoned by its organisers.

I will request a debate on insurance. I know these reports are done in order that a local authority can indicate where people should and should not locate but there are real grey areas that only end up costing citizens money with insurance hikes. The €25,000 mentioned by the Senator as a cost for the insurance needs for the man's home is just crazy. I will request that debate today.

Senator Seery Kearney raised what is probably the all-too-common practice with our young children of waiting lists for those who appear to have extra, special and additional needs in their very early years. There is a myriad of reasons those lists seem to be getting longer but we do not seem to be addressing any of them in the public community, other than the inclusion model that the previous Minister with responsibility for education and now the Minister of State with responsibility for special educational needs is continuing to pursue. If the Senator does not mind I will take the details of the child after the Order of Business and we can speak with the Minister to see how it can be addressed. A wait of 40 months for any parent with a child with special needs is an absolute lifetime.

Perhaps the lists continue to grow because parents are not responded to. These parents cannot wait for 40 months. If a child has speech or occupational therapy needs, families scrimp and save, making sacrifices in their own lives although they cannot afford them, to ensure the child gets the best available care needs if an early intervention diagnosis is made. I wish the family well and I will make an intervention on its behalf after the Order of Business.

Senator Pauline O'Reilly raised the question of religious discrimination being felt by many of our children in many of our schools. When I first came into public life, Ruairí Quinn was the Minister for Education and Skills and he attempted to redistribute patronage of our schools up and down the country. To the surprise of many, he found massive resistance in our communities when people were given the opportunity of changing the patronage of existing Catholic schools in villages. In my home village there are four national schools and are all Catholic-run. They are fabulous schools but when the opportunity was given to parents to change the patronage, they refused with each of the four schools. Sometimes we take two steps forwards and two steps back but that does not mean the Department should not continue to try to particularly protect the educational requirements for children in schools if they are practising the religion being taught in the school. I will ask for a response by letter today.

Senator Murphy brought up the sad passing of Mr. Mike Burns. I will speak to the requests of both Senator Murphy and Senator Black. The relevant Minister will be in on Monday week to speak on tourism but there is a standing request for the Minister to speak about the universal basic income pilot scheme that is particularly aimed at people in the entertainment and music industry. I extend my condolences to the wife and three children of the man about whom the Senator spoke. We do not really understand the effects of what people have been living through for the past 12 months other than those we can see. We will be living and dealing with the hidden effects for many years, including the fallout from them. The very least we can do is ensure financial security for the people whose incomes have been suspended for the past 12 months. I will again extend an invitation to the Minister to have a debate on the entertainment industry that takes in all our musicians and artists. We must continue the State support for them, although I hope it will not be for very much longer. The money that is available must get to the tables that need it fast. I thank the Senator for raising the memory of Mr. Burns today.

Senator Boylan asked for a full explanation of the process for a report issued by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I will get a response in writing and get it to the Senator as soon as the Minister replies.

In the passionate way only he can speak about sport, Senator Cassells raised the potential bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which was announced the other evening by the Minister. I am not mad about soccer but I noted with interest how Twitter lit up on Wednesday with all our male politicians and journalists so excited about it. If that excitement was replicated in all our towns and villages and by all of the people who love sport, it certainly would be something to get behind. I wish the team applying for it every success. It certainly will lift the country if we have something to look forward to.The Senator is right. We do not just need to rely on a feasibility study on the deficiency in our infrastructure because it has been heralded in recent years by different Departments. We are all aware that there are reasons things have been delayed. Some of those reasons have been bureaucratic, which we should get through, but a lot of it has been to do with funding. Various colleagues mentioned the massive €435 million investment that was announced, some of it on the back of Project Ireland 2040 but it is definitely money that has been invested in what we would consider to be the new Ireland and the regeneration of some of our much loved areas in Dublin city that will definitely be getting money. However, money is needed for every county in the country and I hope that feasibility study will again highlight some of the things we need to do.

Senator Moynihan brought up the welcome funding for her area in the south inner city. I will take on board the annual funding request and send a letter to the Minister on her behalf.

Senators Carrigy and Byrne talked about the welcome return to school of our children in junior and senior infants and in first and second class. I welcome our leaving certificate students returning to school. It is also welcome that all of those children with special needs are able to return full-time. We must ensure, for those children and for all of our children on their return to school, that this is the last time they miss a week of school because even that is too much. We all know the sacrifices our children have made over the past year and we need to ensure that does not happen.

Senators McGreehan and Bacik both brought up the programme that was aired on RTÉ on Wednesday night. I seem to find myself week in, week out commending the "RTÉ Investigates" team on its careful approach to highlighting issues that we would much rather not have in our past but that we do have in our past. The beautiful way in which it presented the programme with such care and compassion on Wednesday is a tribute to Aoife Hegarty and her team and I commend them. It highlights again another horrible and awful practice and brings to the fore the misogyny with which the State, church and medical profession treated women in this country for generations. I welcome the fact that the Minister will meet these representatives again. It is a similar situation to the victims of the mother and baby and county homes who we spoke of last week. I welcome Senator Bacik's Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2021 and I accept her proposed amendment to the Order of Business. Regardless of whose Bill we adopt in the coming weeks, I look forward to legislation coming in because these people who want their truth, as Senator McGreehan said, have waited for far too long for any legislation that would give them access to what they need.

Senator Craughwell brought up industrial relations and he is well aware that I agree with him in many ways. If we ask arms of agencies of the State to make recommendations to us, the least we can do as a State is to take on board those recommendations.

I am happy to accept Senator Ward's amendment to the Order of Business. I welcome the Taxi Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2021 and I will request the debate on mobile phone coverage he has sought.

Senators Byrne and Ward brought up Hong Kong. I will ask the Minister for a debate on China and will come back to them with a date as quickly as I can.

Senator Black talked about the music industry.

Senator Ó Donnghaile brought up the unilateral action by the United Kingdom's Government to extend the grace period for the Northern Ireland protocol for six months. Nobody could have put it better than the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, did on "Morning Ireland" this week. The EU is now negotiating with a partner that simply cannot be trusted and it is just not fair.