Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank colleagues for raising a wide variety of topics. I could not agree more with Senator Wall. I read with interest this morning our plans to ban the current practice of bookies being able to ask people to come in and bet, on a reduced number of numbers, on either a EuroMillions or a weekly lotto draw. It is very welcome. The national lottery, as an organisation, does tremendous good. It provides enjoyment for people, notwithstanding that we have been talking about gambling and will be talking about it later this week in the Seanad. One of the most enjoyable programmes for some of our citizens in the past year has been "Telly Bingo", which is broadcast every week. The weekly trips they make to their local community halls have been closed down and curtailed and "Telly Bingo" on a Tuesday, Thursday and Friday is a real lifeline for those people to be able to continue their activities. I commend them on continuing to do that.

Senator Byrne and the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, both raised the importance of the debate we have requested with the Minister of Finance in the House on the future of banking. The announcement of KBC last week was yet another significant blow, not least for the customers of KBC in Ireland but particularly the 1,300 people who earn their livelihood working for that bank. In the past ten to 15 years we have experienced a real lack of competition in banking in this country. We have had a variety of players who were supposed to induce competition and we know that for the clients and the Irish customers, that has not materialised. Now that the numbers of banking players here are reducing significantly it is time we revisited the report from a number of years ago in which Indecon said that the Irish society marketplace - the infrastructure - did not suit a public banking system. That society has changed a great deal since that Indecon report was produced. I believe there is a real need now, and Senator Hackett gave a very good example of it. I note Mr. Noel Kinahan has, on a number of occasions, asked that a public pilot for a public banking system be conducted . I believe it would be worthwhile for us to do that now.

I support the calls for a banking forum. I would say to Senator Byrne that the only concern I have is that we tend to talk ourselves to death in this country. What we need now is action. We do not need another 12 or 24 months of navel-gazing and talking to ourselves about what needs to be done. We all know what needs to be done, which is that serious competition, even if it is by the State, must be introduced into this marketplace. When I have a date for that future of banking debate for the Seanad I will let everybody know. I thank the Senators for raising it.

Senator Conway raised the requirement for certainty around Shannon Heritage on whether it is to remain in the Shannon Group or come under the remit of the OPW. I will write a letter to the Minister today and revert to the Senator with regard to the response.

A number of colleagues raised the very sad death of Jennifer Poole over the weekend. I read last night what her father had to say and it was heartbreaking. It highlights again the severe problem we have with domestic violence in this country. We have had a number of debates since we constituted last June but it is timely that we would have one again. I will ask the Minister to come into the House and have a debate with us again. I would like to express my sincere condolences to Jennifer's family, and to her two small lovely children, on behalf of all of the Members of this House.

Senator McGreehan warmly welcomed the announcement this morning of the significant number of apprenticeships that will be supported and financed by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. I wish to acknowledge that it was Senator Keogan who made the suggestion here last July that a significant number of those apprenticeships should be within our public service. I want to put on record that the announcement this morning that 750 of those would be is credit to Senator Keogan. The one aspect that made me a little angry this morning was the fact that we have to incentivise employers to take on women. What the hell is that about? Do they not realise how hard-working, industrious and great we are? The fact that we would have to incentivise any employer to take on a woman shows just how far we still have to go on that.

Senator Boylan raised the disjointedness of our systems that attempt to regularise the owning of a dog. The fact that we have so many dogs in this country and so few licences tells us that system is not working and we have a problem. It seems bizarre and stupid that we would have a database that does not have any data on it. I will send a letter on that but I will ask for a debate. In the grander scheme of things it probably will be something we will do in the coming months, as opposed to the coming weeks, but I will revert to the Senator.Senators Seery Kearney and Black both raised a shocking report from the Health Research Board last week. I know we get these reports every single year. I am always struck by the fact that they refer to consumption in bottles of vodka. As I do not drink vodka, it is not something that I would think about. When it is announced in such stark terms, however, it highlights we have a serious problem. It is acknowledged by many - we see it on social media - that people have been using alcohol as a crutch for the past year. It certainly is one of the issues on which we will have serious talks about supporting people as we come out of recovery.

Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about the need for a debate on housing and construction. I will certainly organise that. I will also send a letter to the Minister today on the Senator's specific questions about rural housing guidelines.

Senator Sherlock talked about the national childcare scheme and the universal subvention. I will send a letter to the Minister responsible today with the Senator's specific questions. Once I receive a response, I will come back to the Senator.

I can tell Senator Cummins that I got such an incredibly great smile from the phone call that I got from one of the community employment, CE, supervisors on Saturday afternoon. Michele Rohan is a wonderful woman and a CE supervisor in Galway. She has been doing significant work, as have all our CE supervisors for time immemorial since the programme was established. I know from first hand that, on the ground, they actually do a hell of a lot more than what it says in their book. It gave me great pleasure to hear there was a breakthrough and acceptance by the Ministers for Social Protection and Public Expenditure and Reform of the negotiated agreement which had been conducted over the past several years. I wish them well and hope the CE supervisors will be happy with the proposals put to them today. We all look forward to a speedy resolution because, by God, they have been waiting for it long enough.

Senator Crowe talked about the hospitality sector. It is a real concern that many in that sector may have got employment elsewhere, if they were lucky enough. It is nice and fills us with hope that we are now starting to talk about recovery plans for certain sectors. I will bring the Senator's concerns to the Minister's attention.

I am sorry that Senator Mullen did not receive any correspondence from the Department of Health. That is a real shame. Archbishop Martin's comments this morning reflect the views of a large part of our society for whom worship is an incredibly important part of their lives. It is a real shame what was done over the weekend. I will endeavour to get the Senator a direct answer today. I will come back to him later.

Senator Kyne talked about the healthcare plans in Galway. There is a need for a debate on Sláintecare. I will try to arrange one as quickly as we can. We need to start talking about recovery and the issues we would normally be talking about as parliamentarians now that we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Senator Gallagher talked about the absolute importance of having input into the terms and conditions of what is a very welcome announcement of An Taoiseach of a review of the North-South interconnector. This was the first political issue in which I ever got involved. Having run, unsuccessfully, in the general election of 2007, I recall the first meeting on this matter was held in a hotel in Trim with more than 7,000 people. That is how long - 14 years - EirGrid has been pig-headed on this issue. The refusal still to even acknowledge the possibility of putting the North-South interconnector underground defies logic. The announcement last week that the Kildare-Meath line will be put underground has only served to incense those who live in Meath, Cavan and Monaghan. I have no doubt that Senator Gallagher is right when he says EirGrid has wasted a decade. If it does not come down off its pig-headed stance, it will be wasting another decade. The people of Meath, Cavan and Monaghan will not accept being ignored for much longer.

Senators Ó Donnghaile and Craughwell both raised the issue of what will be a significant week in Northern Ireland. It is incumbent upon all leaders, North and South, east and west, to make sure we resolve the issues raised by both sides in the past couple of weeks. The former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, made a good suggestion yesterday that it might be time for an American envoy to come in, bring some clarity to the issues and find a way out of the path that people are expecting we will end up on this week.Senator Garvey spoke about regional funding for airports. It really is welcome. The Senator also spoke with passion about breastfeeding. It is something she has advocated for in excess of 20 years. It is very annoying to think that a doctor would so easily dismiss a woman's attempts to try to breastfeed her baby by saying, "Just get the baby onto solids". It defies all of the logic and all attempts by the State to try to encourage women to do it in the first place.

Deputy Chambers spoke about something that made me smile. I have only one little brother, who is 12 years younger than me, so it is a long time since we had nappies in buckets and the lovely little packets that one had to bring to the toilet. Senator Chamber's point is something about which we should seriously concern ourselves, given that our climate agenda is very topical and is on all our minds. We should be highlighting the amount of waste caused by nappies. Fair play to Senator Chambers for bringing the matter up.

I wish to talk about the two women who spoke so eloquently this morning about their experiences. Stalking is probably one the of the most hideous and insidious things any person can do to another human being. It goes to the root of a person's own personal security. This is as true of being stalked online as it is true of being stalked in person. I commend the two ladies this morning on baring their souls and allowing people to hear the realities of it. It also highlights that we have a serious problem with sentencing in the State for crimes that we do take seriously. It shows that maybe the State and society do not really deem the crimes to be as serious as they are for the people who have experienced them and who must live through them.