Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach and colleagues. Senator Cummins raised an issue that beggars belief. First of all, I do not actually believe we are building very many two-bedroom houses in our social housing stock. It makes no sense to put two small children, whether they are the same sex or not, in one bedroom when one knows full well that in a number of years that bedroom will not be sufficient for them. We will end up having to move families from a house or home, or an area in which they have settled, into another area, which beggars belief. I will raise the issue with the Department and revert to the Senator. I believe this needs much more of a debate than this medium this morning.

I cannot even begin to tell Senator Murphy how disappointed I was to hear him raise the issue this morning of Mr. Robert Pether. To read the article yesterday, however, in which Mr. Pether's wife stated that her husband is getting more support from the Egyptian Embassy than he is from ours, is really and truly heartbreaking. I understand and appreciate that the gentleman himself is not an Irish citizen but his wife and children are. They are the ones who are severely impacted by the fact he is being detained illegally in a foreign country. I will contact the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, again today to see what help we can give and revert to Senator Murphy.

Senator Pauline O'Reilly raised the report of the Environmental Protection Agency which highlights just how long a road we have to travel. We are all very cognisant of the fact that we do not have very long to travel that road. A 2% emissions reduction year-on-year will do absolutely nothing for nobody. Obviously, there are people in the country who will tell us that 7% is not enough and we probably need to be at 10%. We all know the challenges around that, however. We certainly cannot suffice with 2%. We have an awful lot of work to do. I thank the Senator for raising that issue.

A number of colleagues today and yesterday raised the issue of the homophobic behaviour we have witnessed in this country over the last number of weeks, not only in Dublin but also in Waterford, which is genuinely surprising. I said this yesterday but I will repeat it again today. First, it is a time for us to be happy and celebrate that Ireland is such a warm, open and loving country. We recognise that love is love and it does not matter what shape or size a person is; that is his or her right in this country. A small number of people, however, will try to build back up again those walls that have been torn down. We certainly will not allow it. It is, therefore, important for us to continuously state that we are very happy and proud of the nation's response in treating all our citizens with equality and respect in the last number of years. We need to keep saying that loud and often.

Senator McGahon spoke about John Stewart Mill. I tend to find that I get my opinions tested every single time I tweet something on Twitter or speak on a radio station. It is, therefore, certainly not an echo chamber in which any of us are living. I totally appreciate the point, however. It is a very innovative move for the Finnish Government to start its teachings in its primary school sector. I will ask for a debate but it will most likely be in the autumn, just to let the Senator know.

Senator Cassells brought up some emergency funding that is needed for St. Patrick's classical school, which is a beautiful building and historically very important to the town. I obviously know it very well. I will write to the Minister today and request the funding. Perhaps we might even try to arrange a meeting for the local representatives to see if we can impart how important it is and how urgently funding is needed. I will do that today.

Senators Hoey and Paddy Burke raised the issue of research that is being funded by the Government regarding a four-day week. It is not necessarily just a novel idea. It is something that will probably happen and be accepted, or become acceptable far quicker, because of what the country and our work force has gone though in the last 16 months. It would, however, be very worthwhile and would massively change people's quality of life, as we believe home working and remote working will do. I very much welcome the funding that has been put towards that report and look forward to reading it.

Senator Paddy Burke made a very valid point, however. We are striving to make sure that we give as many employment rights as we can to people who do not have them through sick pay, automatic enrolment in order that they will have pensions when they eventually get to retirement age, supplementary payments that will come from both the State and the employers, and indeed, the living wage. Businesses have been through the mire for the last 16 months, however. A tremendous amount of them are only surviving and reopening because of the financial supports that are being given to them by the State. We cannot, therefore, put so much on businesses' shoulders all at once so that they will not be able to stand up. We need to make sure that we support them but also ensure that we extend those rights to employees over the coming years.

Senator Crowe raised the issue of the western rail corridor, as did his colleague, Senator Chambers, yesterday. I find sometimes that when reports are commissioned by certain groups or individuals, the outcome of those reports tends to suit their narratives, as happened with the State a number of months ago. Professor John Bradley's report has shown just how inaccurate an outcome can be, or how many sides of the story there actually are, when we are speaking about making investments in and improving people's quality of life. It is a no-brainer that the western rail corridor should be reopened. I wish the Senator success and support him in that ask, as all his local colleagues are doing.

Senator Mullen raised the issue of national maternity hospital ownership. As I suggested to colleagues yesterday, I am attempting to table a debate on that issue in the Chamber in the next number of days. Once I have secured the debate and the Minister has time in his diary, I will let the Cathaoirleach know and we can all arrange for speaking time.

Senator Maria Byrne spoke yesterday about a really welcome announcement for Limerick city, which will now be the gateway city to the Wild Atlantic Way. We all know how successful a tourism project the Wild Atlantic Way has been in recent years. It is very welcome to see Limerick included. I genuinely congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, on the work he did with the Limerick Women’s Caucus and the funding that was announced yesterday. We should have a caucus in every single county. Women need to support each other. That is not a twee thing to say. Women have a different experience in political life than men. We certainly need at least the support of each other, as well as our male colleagues, to make sure we have a proper balance of men and women in our public discourse.

Senator Horkan this morning spoke about a need for extra resources. In one respect, social media is a huge blessing because it gives us access to information we might not otherwise know about or see. To see the fight - or scrap - that happened on Dublin's O'Connell Street at the weekend, however, was the most unedifying thing I have ever seen. It defies logic in my head, although perhaps that is just the way my parents raised me, as to why gangs would organise to come into town to look for trouble as if there is absolutely nothing else to do. We have a serious issue because it seems to be an activity that is not just taking place in our city centres. We saw it recently in Howth and Malahide, and we had trouble in Skerries over the weekend. We definitely need a debate on resources. I said to the Cathaoirleach yesterday that perhaps if our gardaí were not doing some of the things they were asked to do over the last year, they might have more time and resources. It definitely needs to be looked at, however.

In contrast, Senator Ruane this morning raised the need for a debate on the other aspect of the issues we have in our Garda and policing force. She is absolutely dead right to say that just because 99% of what the Garda does is to be applauded and supported, and gardaí are courageous in the aspects of the work they take on and are absolutely supported by us all, there are not bad apples in every single profession in every walk of life. I believe, therefore, she is right to ask for this debate. Again, I will try to arrange that in the autumn.

Senator Boylan spoke about Pride and the rise in LGBT legislation across Europe, which is something we should all be very mindful of and work towards unravelling. The European Union should be front and centre on this. Again, she raised the Women's Aid report, which is shocking. We spoke about that in this Chamber yesterday.

Senator Garvey spoke about people-centred towns and was a rock of sense this morning. If we are designing roads, we are not really designing them to be shared; we are designing them for cars, trucks and buses. Perhaps, therefore, we should take a different approach and look at things. One thing of which I am absolutely aware, both from personal experience and from my family, is the respect, or lack thereof, that we have for cyclists on our roads, particularly certain types of cyclists who go out on a Saturday or Sunday morning. We all need to remember that everybody is somebody's son, brother, mother, sister or friend. We all pay road tax because most people who are cyclists on the road have cars or access to public transport anyway. We need to be respectful of each other in a far more meaningful way.

Senator Wall spoke about and highlighted the much-supported, albeit by a smaller group than would support male sports, return to women's sports, particularly camogie and women's football. I will take this opportunity to acknowledge the equal funding to women and girls in GAA announced by the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, only a couple of weeks ago, which will hopefully make a massive difference.

Senator Conway raised the extension of the hot meals programme for schools by the Minister for Social Protection yesterday. It is very welcome and will maintain some of those families over the summer period until they can come back to school. I would like to see the expansion of the hot meals programme not just to every DEIS school in the country; it has an equal impact on every child. If a child is given a hot school meal during the daytime, he or she will have a better educational experience. That is true of all children, no matter where they live. The Senator is correct when he says we need a strategy for long Covid, however. I will try to arrange that debate as soon as I can.

Senators Craughwell and Wall both raised the RACO report. We were due to have a debate on that issue.We had to postpone it because of the Palestinian-Israeli torment that arose. I will try an arrange to have a debate as quickly as I can. The RACO report is very worrying and should leave a lot of people worried as to future of recruitment to our Defence Forces and what they are they going to do.

Senator O'Loughlin opened proceedings by talking about World Blood Donor Day. The inequitable treatment of people from the LGBTQ community in Ireland versus how they are treated a couple of miles up the road and in most other European countries not sustainable. I will write to the Minister for Health to ask him to review the guidelines and come back to us.

I welcome and give my full support to the call for the new national park that is being sought to be created in the Senator's lovely county of Kildare around the Bog of Allen. It would be wonderful to have a new national park located so close to Dublin city where people could go. That would be a wonderful attraction for the area.