Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To Senator Gallagher and Senator Boylan, I can only assume we all feel the same way with regard to the unilateral decision or intention relayed to us yesterday by Westminster and a Conservative Government. The statement of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, was incredibly strong and he speaks for all of us. As stated by Senator Boylan, the Stormont House Agreement is a treaty negotiated between all parties. It is the only framework that will be tolerated and used to deal with the legacy issues. Justice for the victims and the families left behind in respect of those tragedies and activities will be only dealt with by the framework agreed by all parties to address legacy issues. I acknowledge people's upset this morning.

Senator Black spoke about the "RTÉ Investigates" programme, which was raised by other colleagues the week it aired. It was incredible, harrowing television to watch in terms of the pain and grief families are going through and will probably continue to go through until they get answers that we do not have now. I join in the call made by my colleague, Deputy O'Dowd, at the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party last night for a public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic in our nursing homes in the early days and up until last Christmas. I would go so far as to say we need a public inquiry into the State's handling of Covid-19, but not to point fingers or to lay blame because everybody was floundering. Our nursing homes, private and public, were left bereft of staff. Without staff, all of the awfulness described in the programme came to be reality, although that does not justify it. We need to learn from all of the mistakes the State and the agencies and organisations of the State made in the past year. I have a terrible fear that although this is a horrendous pandemic and we are still in the middle of it, it will not be the last one for many of our children. We definitely need to have public inquiries to make sure we learn the lessons from what we have been through in the past 12 months.

On the issue raised by Senator Wall, when the Minister told me he was releasing the report this week, I knew this was the House to do it. During the past year of my membership of this House, I have heard many of colleagues speak passionately about the Jadotville soldiers, and so this is definitely the place to do it. The report comprises 500 pages. There are 45 pages in the executive summary. It will be released at 12 noon and circulated to Senators by email. I hope it delivers for all of the requests that have been made by Senators in the House over the past year and, in particular, the requests of the families and the last remaining gentleman who should be so well honoured for his service to the State. I look forward to that debate later.

Senator Pauline O'Reilly raised the issue of school transport and Senator Chambers raised the issue of the survey in regard to back to school costs. I am privileged to be in this campus serving the people for the past ten years. It is déjà vuin terms of the reports we get every year on the same issues. This time next year, we will be talking about school transport, school books, uniforms, crests and school bags again. Nothing changes. One of the most frustrating things about public life is how slowly the wheels move. While our children will be back at school before we return to this House in September, this is an issue on which we need to focus to try to bring about change. As suggested by Senator O'Reilly in relation to school transport, it is logical in terms of the climate challenges we face that our children would walk, cycle, scoot or take public transport to school rather than be driven there in trails of cars by mothers, fathers and so on. It is crazy that school buses on which there are free placements are passing out cars in which parents are driving their children to school. We need a new way of thinking. I will try to arrange that debate as quickly as I can when we return in September.I do not know where to start with Senator Keogan's contribution. As a person who has been a member of my political party since I was born - I did not have any choice; I was born into it through my father and grandmother - I know she feels that way about politics too. Her passion and loyalty to a party of which she has not been a member in a long time is testament to the kind of public representative she is. I thank her for her contribution. I am sure my Fianna Fáil colleagues are very grateful for her love-bombing.

I will finish up with two items. First, I am happy to accept the amendment to the Order of Business this morning from Senator Chambers. She opened the discussion we had about hospitality and Senator McGahan spoke about some of the words that were used in the debate yesterday. I do not believe anybody is happy about the legislation that was passed in the Dáil yesterday and that will, please God, be passed here tomorrow to try to get some of our businesses and employees back to work. It does disenfranchise some people. I do not believe that is something any of us want to do willingly. However, the other two choices - the rock and the hard place we are between - are to open up everything and allow the virus to rip through our young people, who have made so many sacrifices over the past 15 months, or keep everything closed and perhaps close down for good some of those businesses that have been closed for the past year. We really are between a rock and a hard place.

Senator Chambers is correct, however. We need to talk with urgency, from tomorrow or whenever the President signs the Bill, about how we get those people who are disenfranchised by this legislation to not be disenfranchised. The only way we can do that is by supporting Professor Mary Horgan. We need an urgency with the use of antigen testing in hospitality and transport, however. To be honest with Members, we have not seen that urgency in the past six, eight or ten months. That must be demanded by all of us and not forgotten when we go off on our recess tomorrow. I know we are all tired and everybody has worked incredibly hard under difficult circumstances for the past couple of months.

The message that has been sent out for the past year are that our children are safe in schools and have nothing to worry about. The message that was sent out yesterday by the CMO is that our children are no longer safe. Our summer camps are closed because they are not safe and yet, in six weeks, we are going to send messages to parents to the effect that it is safe to send our children back to school. It is either safe or it is not. Our message must be consistent. I know the virus keeps changing and we have to adapt. Our message has to at least be consistent and it has not been. I urge all Senators to continue to make that an issue over the next couple of weeks, as well as supporting the use of antigen testing in order that our disenfranchised friends, neighbours and relations are not disenfranchised for any more than the shortest time they need to be.

I recall former Deputy, Olivia Mitchell, when we had a meeting here approximately ten years ago, saying that words are all we have. That is really important. I thought it was a mad thing for her to say at the time given that we were in the Houses of power and I was new. Words are all we have, however. In this House and in the Dáil, words are what we use to express how we feel and to form legislation. They need to be used carefully and mindfully. I do not believe that some of our colleagues did that yesterday. That is doing a real disservice to what we do in the Seanad and in Dáil Éireann.