Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to ask that No. 20 be taken before No. 1. My colleague, Senator Martin, will second the amendment. No. 20 is a Private Members' Bill relating to solar panels on public buildings and schools, which would remove some of the restrictions applying to domestic properties. Since we will be discussing the climate action Bill this and next week, it is appropriate that we consider what we do in a practical sense to ensure that everyone takes part in the climate transition. I hope that the Bill will get support in the House next week.

I was going to raise the issue of Professor Bradley's report, which Senator Chambers mentioned.We were quite disappointed when we saw the EY report. It was quite clear that incorrect assumptions were made in the report about Galway and Mayo. For instance, the number of people living in Athenry was completely wrong. It is a 200-page report and I commend Dr. Bradley on the amount of work that went into it. The Green Party always feels that if there is rail or other public transport infrastructure, the first thing to do is try to bring it back. Anybody involved in a greenway group would also say that greenways can be used where rail is not viable but we need to have a proper understanding of whether rail is viable. There is now a section in the country that is missing rail. We can go around three quarters of the island and then there is a missing piece of track. This is not something that is desirable. I would welcome a response from the Minister. I know the Minister has met the group on many occasions and is committed to looking at whether rail is feasible and I support this.

I am glad many Senators have raised the issue of the national maternity hospital. We need a proper understanding of the situation. I call on the religious orders themselves to be responsible because they are not doing themselves any favours in the eyes of the public when they try to change the facts and pretend they are handing over something to the State when it is actually going to another body. Let us have a proper conversation about this.

Last week, I called for a debate on maternity care and breastfeeding. Perhaps all of these issues could be looked at together and we could have an honest and open conversation with the Minister for Health. As Senator Chambers quite rightly said, we have been very clear that the maternity restrictions need to be lifted. However, we still have no response from the hospitals, although I would say that this week University Hospital Galway has lifted some of the restrictions, which is very welcome. They all need to be lifted at this stage.