Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Dolan for informing the House about the Ballinasloe library and all the merits available from what is a huge resource for people. Sometimes we forget about them and they are just in the background of our villages and towns. I wish the horse fair in Ballinasloe every success for its 300th anniversary. I pray to God things will be back to normal by this time next year.

Senator Currie spoke of people showing leadership and I acknowledge the alliance announced yesterday by eBay, Liberty Insurance, the ESB and Vodafone. I wish to put on the record of the House that somebody who showed immense leadership on this particular issue, long before it was a topical one, is the Senator herself. Long before she was even appointed to this House, she was talking about and championing remote work. It is certainly something that has grasped everybody's imagination in the past 18 months. If there is anything we could take from this, apart perhaps a renewed appreciation of time spent with family, friends, community and loved ones, it is the real value of what remote work can actually give people, be it working from the home itself or from hubs. There is the improvement in our quality of life and that extra couple of hours to spend doing things we would much rather do, as opposed to sitting on buses or in our cars in traffic jams. I wished to put that on record and commend the Senator on her work. I wish Grow Remote continued success in the months and years ahead in continuing to keep the momentum behind remote working.

Senator McGahon raised an issue he has raised umpteen times in the House.I will write a letter to the head of the NTA today. It is disingenuous of the NTA to write back to the Senator telling him it does not know whether legislation is required. For God's sake, if the NTA does not know that, we could nearly give up.

Senator Martin described how important the freedom of the press is and reminded us that it is the 20th anniversary of Martin O'Hagan's murder. May he rest in peace. I value freedom of expression and the important role of journalists and how they report our stories. I wish to God we did not have to read so many leaks in the papers, as opposed to hearing the information directly from Departments, but I acknowledge what the Senator has said.

In that vein, Senator Clifford-Lee talked about a leak of which we were made aware last Sunday a week in theMail on Sunday. We were told on numerous occasions last week, in this House and the Dáil, that the leak was not true and we were absolutely committed to public transport. Unfortunately, it took until yesterday for us to discover, to our detriment, that the leak is absolutely true and we will not see sight nor sound of MetroLink until at least 2034. There is no doubt we need a debate in this House and the Dáil on the commitments of this Government to the sustainable modes of transport we have championed for so long.

Senator Conway talked about the Minister of State's announcement in this House of the waiving of the fee of between €400 and €600 for those who do not avail of the HPV vaccine for their children in school and then decide to get it afterwards. That is very welcome.

Senator Davitt asked if I could ensure the Eircode is included in the property price register. I will write to the organisation in question and ask for that.

Senator Warfield raised the issue of free access to contraception in light of the Government's commitment in the weeks before the budget. I hope to see that commitment lived up to and I thank the Senator for raising it today.

Senator Buttimer asked for a debate on public transport. We should have regional debates because one debate on public transport will certainly not cover the commitments in the programme for Government or the national development plan, which will be announced in the coming weeks, or the sectoral and regional interests we have to deliver to the people we represent. I will try to arrange those over the coming weeks.

Senator Ned O'Sullivan voiced his support for creating a new bank holiday.

Senator Craughwell asked for a debate on the reporting of the treatment of victims of sexual crime in this country. That is very relevant and I will organise it. He also wished the new Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Seán Clancy, well, as I am sure we all do.

Senator Carrigy talked about the loss of commercial rates our local governments have endured over the past 18 months and sought security for the coming months, based on the uncertainty of businesses restarting and being able to pay. A response on this should come from the Minister.

Senator Gallagher asked for a debate on the pressures on the health system and the worthwhile initiative the Irish Pharmacy Union has put forward, which is working successfully in other jurisdictions around the world.

I am happy to accept Senator Higgins's amendment to the Order of Business and wish her success in this matter in the coming weeks.

Senator Sherlock talked about today being International Safe Abortion Day and the Government review, which I hope to see before Christmas. We will then have a full debate on what will be required to amend and tweak the legislation. I hope much of it will be in the review and we can all support it. The Senator also raised Dublin City Council and the lack of recruits and resources for Dublin Fire Brigade. It is interesting, as I wrote to Dublin City Council only two months ago to ask about the recruitment of paramedics and I am still waiting on a response to my letter. If that is anything to go by, maybe we should not be surprised. I will the matter with the Minister for Housing, Heritage and Local Government on the Senator's behalf.

Senator Ó Donnghaile asked me to clarify why digital certificates had not yet been made available to all residents on the island of Ireland. I will follow up with the Minister today and come back to him on that.

Senators Pauline O'Reilly and Kyne asked for a debate on childcare. We seem to have been talking about this issue during the terms of successive Governments. I do not say this in a trite way. This Government is talking about childcare and what is required to make it sustainable and, from a career perspective, worthwhile. We were talking about it in the Government of which I was a Member and in Governments before that. We seem to be talking about the issue an awful lot but not doing much as regards taking the action required to deliver a sustainable sector for the people working in it and the parents and children who need it. It is beyond time we started doing something about it. I will arrange a debate on childcare as quickly as I can in the coming weeks.

Senator Boyhan talked about the new task force to tackle growing waiting lists. We need a debate on Sláintecare, for which Senator Gallagher asked last week. I submitted a request to the Minister and will come back to the Senators as soon as I can on the matter.Senator Kyne spoke about wages in the childcare sector. Senator Chambers opened today with Ireland's energy supplies and the insecurities in that regard. The Minister is due in to us on 2 November to have a debate on energy security.

Senator Boyhan asked for a debate on waiting lists. The Minister for Health is due in to us on 4 December and I have been informed that the Sláintecare debate will take place then.

Senator Chambers also gave her view on how the State should respond to all the front-line workers, who over the past 18 months have done tremendous and Trojan work in making sure we stayed safe, were minded and had food to buy in shops and transport to get to and from where we needed to go. The Garda had some tremendously difficult situations to deal with and I do not think its members should be forgotten. I do not believe we should start pitting parts of the public sector and the private sector against each other. I have no doubt it will be difficult to try to please everybody but what we need to do is to show genuine appreciation on behalf of all citizens of the State to all of those workers who made sure that we were safe and minded well over the past 18 months.