Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I can see that the Senator is here. It is great to see it happening. We are not too far behind. I wish all the businesses well and I hope it goes well. I imagine it will.

The Senator raised the issue about the Northern Ireland Minister of Health awaiting confirmation from the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, about a meeting. I do not know the ins and outs of that particular correspondence. I have no doubt the Minister is probably up to his eyes with the cyberattack but that the meeting will happen at the earliest opportunity. The Senator is right to bring it to the floor of the House.

Senator Byrne raised the issue of Belarus as well as the theatre, arts and hospitality sectors. The comments of Senator Byrne relating to Belarus were strong and we all share the sentiments raised. The question of 30,000 people being detained needs to be addressed. We cannot simply brush it under the carpet or express outrage every few weeks and then move on to the next topic. I hope that the events of yesterday and the meeting this evening will mark the start of real change in tackling this issue and standing with the people of Belarus to deal with it.

Senator Higgins raised the issue of human rights on many levels. Senators Higgins and McGreehan raised the issue of the report from the Children's Ombudsman relating to Traveller accommodation. It should be a cause for concern for every citizen that any child in this State is living in those conditions. I listened to the reports this morning about rodent infestation, lack of sanitation and children having increased respiratory and skin difficulties. We should be ashamed that any child in this State is living in those conditions. There is an onus on the local authority in the area to do something about it urgently. I have no doubt those conditions are not isolated and indeed are replicated in many parts of the country. I hope the local authorities throughout the country are taking note and assessing the services and accommodation they are providing to citizens in their local authority areas. Moreover, I hope that we can make real and meaningful change on this.

Senator Martin raised the issue of accountability in Gaza. I too was unimpressed, if I can put it that way, with the weak response of the United States at the UN Security Council in respect of Gaza.Rumblings would suggest that President Biden did have a word behind the scenes and that ultimately the ceasefire did come about. Certainly, it took far too long, too many lives were lost and almost 70 children lost their lives in those 11 days. Let us not forget that and that the situation is far from over.

Senator McGreehan raised the issue of epilepsy and Traveller accommodation. She spoke very well about the need to address the ongoing lack of decent treatment of the people in the Traveller community. I hope that the report will start some changes on that front.

Senator Ahearn raised the issue of rapid antigen testing. Earlier Senator Ardagh raised the issue, which she has done for quite a number of weeks, of rapid antigen testing not as the only means but one of the ways to open up the aviation sector. I believe that has merit and cannot see why we are not using antigen tests. I know that if one gets a negative test it does not mean that one does not have Covid but the test is an extra layer of security and would assist in getting things up and running. I was unaware of the value of the Heathrow slots, which was an important point to make. That is the history that our country has in terms of its links to the United Kingdom. The loss of those routes would cause significant damage to the Irish aviation sector. There is no doubt that the sector has had a difficult time and many jobs rely on the industry.

Senator Ardagh also made an important point about the EU digital certificate that we have signed up to. It is my understanding that the Government is fully committed to signing up to the certificate and its implementation. We have a six-week period to implement the scheme. We are eager to implement it as fast as possible and, hopefully, before six weeks in order to get things up and moving as quick as we can.