Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank colleagues for the variety of topics raised. To respond to Senator McGreehan, I wish the Cooley sheep breeders and farmers a very good year. It has been difficult for many people. I am happy to accept the Senator's proposed amendment to the Order of Business.

Senator Dolan raised the issue of St. Teresa's Special School in Ballinasloe. The best I can offer her is that I will write to the Minister for Education and ask for an update on the allocation and the negotiations to extend the accommodation of the school. I will send a copy of the response, as soon as it has been received from the Minister, to the Senator's office.

Senator Murphy, among others, talked about cancer services. The least we could do to honour all the people who are battling cancer is to resume cancer services, both day and long term, at the earliest opportunity.

Senator Ward raised the issue of water safety, with the hope and aspiration that some freedoms will be restored to us in the coming weeks and months. I encourage people to be safe and wish safety organisations such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, RNLI, continued success in their operations.

A number of colleagues raised the "RTÉ Investigates" programme that was aired last night. We need to have a debate on the subject and I have requested a Minister's presence to allow for that. I will propose later today an amendment to the Order of Business for Monday next. I apologise for doing so yet again. We should have that debate before the forthcoming two-week recess. People will probably be reluctant to listen to what we have to say before there is a full investigation but, given that the statement last night from the Department of Health indicated that there had been an investigation and that it is quite happy to stand over its actions, the least the Minister for Health or a Minister of State at the Department can do is listen to the concerns we will raise on behalf of the tens of thousands of families of children with special needs who were probably shaking with anger when watching the programme. I will revert to Senators later today when I have arranged for business on Monday to be rescheduled.

Senator Byrne talked about party youth wings. We all do as much as we can to encourage youth participation in politics, and one of the best ways we can do that is to allow them to have the franchise and to vote. I accept that some people are probably fearful of that but I do not think anyone should fear people being allowed to express their interest in the running of our country, whatever their age. I will support the Bill he mentioned and accept his amendment.

Senator Boylan raised an issue she feels passionate about. I am aware she has for many years been representing the families she referred to, as have many other politicians. My brain is screaming that I should not feel the need to ask a Minister to sign a statutory instrument. If a problem was unforeseen, it should be resolved, but I am happy to send a letter to the Minister for Justice on behalf of the Senator and the House. I will send a copy of the letter to the Senator's office.

A number of colleagues raised the issue of the misuse of vaccines. I will not refer to any individual or organisation by name. We have deprived the millions of citizens on this island of their liberty for the best part of 12 months, with no end in sight until we can vaccinate all our older and vulnerable citizens and front-line healthcare workers. The misuse and abuse of trust displayed yesterday and the sorry not sorry response given this morning are an absolute disgrace. I have written to Paul Reid and I know how angry he is, but anger is not enough in this case. This is not the first time this has happened but the second. I believe it has happened a second time because there was no retribution the first time it happened and we are still investigating that case. Sorry not sorry is not good enough. We cannot continue to erode people's trust. We have had a slow and relatively unsatisfactory start to our vaccination programme but we still have the support and good will of the vast majority of the people on this island. If there are further examples of abuse of power such as that which was displayed earlier, with the sorry not sorry response issued by the people who abused their power, we will soon find that we will not enjoy the trust and support of the vast majority of the people on this island. It is just not good enough.Many speakers this morning raised the fact that today is Daffodil Day. We would all probably be celebrating it in a much more active way than we are, which is why it is more important that each of us uses every action and stream of communication that we have, as most of us are on different forms of social media, to encourage people to support the Irish Cancer Society's virtual campaign. I do not think there is a family in Ireland that has not been touched either by somebody who has battled cancer or lost a battle with cancer. We all know the enormous contribution the volunteers and the people who work with the Irish Cancer Society extend to the people and their families who are going through that battle. It is one of the most worthy organisations that we have. I know it would be very welcome if we could encourage everybody to support and donate to it.

Senator Davitt referred to a piece of catch-all legislation, which I think would be very worthwhile. I will inquire today of the Taoiseach's Department how we could do something without having to go individually to every single registrar or licensee organisation to see if we can do a roll-over for a year. We had a debate a couple of months ago on the registration of nurses and there was seen to be some reluctance. It would be a really important signal for the State to send to those organisations and it would probably not cost an awful lot of money to say that we are all in this together and this is our part to play. I will follow up on the matter for him today.

In response to the issue raised by Senator Ó Donnghaile, I think this is an exciting time because there does seem to be momentum and energy building on the constitutional future of the island of Ireland. The debate is growing. I am very supportive of the suggestion he made this morning that we could perhaps make time available at our next meeting of the Seanad Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight, CPPO, to have a discussion about establishing a Seanad committee so that we can participate in that debate. What is more important than talking to ourselves, a real conversation needs to be had and we must set out a stall and future vision for a united Ireland. Those conversations need to be had in every single family, school, household, social group and in pubs when they reopen. That conversation needs to be had with every citizen on the island of Ireland. Perhaps we could schedule that at our next meeting of the Seanad CPPO.

Senator McDowell raised the intimidation by China recently exposed yet again. Members are aware that the debate was rescheduled a number of weeks ago at the request of the family of Richard O'Halloran. I am happy to reschedule it, but we must wait for them to give us permission again. I thank the Senator for reminding people of their privilege and freedom in voting in the election in the coming weeks.

Senator O'Loughlin raised Turkey's recent withdrawal from the Council of Europe convention. Her colleague, Senator Chambers, mentioned it at the beginning of the week. I will again express the sentiments that I expressed then. I do not think the language in the statement that issued from the Council of Europe goes far enough. Actions speak louder than words. Our words and our response from a European perspective to Turkey withdrawing from the Istanbul Convention needs to be far stronger if our intent is as we hope it should be.