Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleagues. Senator McGahon asked the $64 million question. I would love to know the answer. An obvious answer is that caring is a bloody hard job. Some of the conditions that the State has imposed on private care providers make it even harder for them to do their hard job. They make it harder to recruit people to do the hard job. One concerns the rate of pay, which is €11 per hour, although I am aware the HSE pays a little more. A carer might have to look after one person in Dundalk and another in Blackrock, County Louth, but the time taken to travel between both houses is not included in his or her working day. This is ludicrous. A genuine review of the national strategy on carers is certainly long overdue. It should be prioritised by the Department of Health. We met representatives of Family Carers Ireland and other such organisations in the past couple of weeks when they were on their pre-budget tour. There are certainly several small things we could do as a State and Government to go a long way towards providing the support structures needed for family carers, and improving working conditions and, hopefully as a consequence, the recruitment prospects of the private companies that provide the care, which is so valuable in our communities, on behalf of the State. I will write a letter to the Minister for Health and ask him about the status of the review of the carers strategy.

Senator Ward raised an issue we touched upon last week. I am referring to the video of the attack on the young Deliveroo rider, whom we all know is new to Ireland and who is probably working in the gig economy, being paid buttons and being mistreated. Senator Seery Kearney has met the Deliveroo people. I will not say that we need to accept that we will always have troublemakers in Ireland looking for trouble. When I looked at the video, the thing that made me feel the most shame was the crowd of Irish people standing around cheering on the tramps attacking the young man. What the Senator has described means we have a problem with the culture, including the changing culture, in this country. That is not something that is going to go away on its own.

I was dismayed to hear the assistant Garda Commissioner telling us on television on Monday that we do not have a problem, that we have vibrant cities and that everything is wonderful. This morning, I was pleased to hear our Minister for Justice not contradict but perhaps disagree slightly with the assistant commissioner and say there will be a new active policing plan introduced, not just for Dublin but for all the other urban areas where there is a growing antisocial behaviour problem. I am not sure whether that will address incidents such as the throwing of eggs at the Chinese woman getting off the Luas, as described earlier, and the name-calling or other forms of insidious racist behaviour that are a growing problem in this country. Maybe we need a more universal or national debate on how we can address this. I am not quite sure whether something like a citizens' assembly would highlight the matter but some forum needs to be found in which people can share, in full view of other Irish people, their experiences so people can realise just how important this issue is and how prevalent the problem is in society. I thank the Senators for raising it. I will revert to them on whether I can arrange a debate in the House.

Senator Byrne talked about the M20. We referred yesterday to what she raised, namely, the need for a debate on public transport. Several colleagues raised this yesterday. I have asked the Minister for Transport to come to the House to talk about public transport, particularly in light of the NDP developments and announcement on Monday. As soon as I have a date, I will revert to Senators.

Senator Carrigy mentioned the need for the Mullingar–Longford part of the Dublin–Sligo route to be included in the project in question. I hope to be able to give him a date for that as soon as I can.

Only in Ireland would something as bizarre as what Senator Ahearn described happen. Ireland is renowned for how empathetic its people are when somebody dies and for how communities, families and extended families come together to cherish memories and support families, so to be talking about money is just bizarre. I am not sure whether I can ask the Minister to write a letter; I can certainly try but we can write the letter to Tipperary County Council. I can certainly do that on the Senator's behalf.

Senator Cummins raised an equally bizarre matter that would happen only in Ireland. I am now in the Oireachtas for nearly 11 years. We have had the debate on school transport. I am referring to the bizarre way in which Bus Éireann tries to solve a problem in a way that only an Irish person would try to solve it. Every year, however, the same issues arise. The only thing I can say to the Senator is that tenacity will inspire him to seek a resolution, but it seems bizarre that we have to do as we do every year to solve the same problems for different people. I wish the Senator well and hope he gets for the family the resolution he is looking for.

I am pleased to have Senator Joe O'Reilly harass me weekly on the gambling regulations Bill. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, where the legislation is on the list of priorities and revert to the Senator.

On the CAMHS waiting list, I am aware of the matter. I will ask the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Butler, to schedule some time in the coming weeks to come to the Seanad to talk about her plans. She is well aware of the waiting lists for CAMHS. She is pursuing options to alleviate the pressure on the waiting lists beyond just recruiting more CAMHS personnel. She has been looking at some of the wonderful organisations that are assisting people under 18, such as Jigsaw and Pieta House. However, I will get her to come to the House to tell Senators about the work she is doing.

Senator Boylan referred to the overworked workforce that is Dublin Fire Brigade. It is particularly overworked at this time of the year. It should not be overworked at any time of the year. We definitely need recruitment. One of the Senator's colleagues mentioned the matter last week or the week before. I had reason to write to Dublin City Council a couple of weeks ago to ask it about its position on recruitment. I am still waiting on a letter to come back to me. I will certainly ask the Minister today on behalf of the House to revert to us on this.

Senator Seery Kearney mentioned the launch over the weekend of the Fine Gael policy on the care of the child. It represents a wonderful body of work. I realise people might believe I am saying that because I am a member of Fine Gael but I genuinely welcome the approach taken by the policy lab in Fine Gael because it is a new initiative for us. It is important that people feel policies are made from the ground up because, for far too long in this country, we have had policies that have been made from the top down. It is afterwards that one reflects on some of the obvious steps that should or could have been taken through policy. I welcome the body of work.

It is time for us to have a national conversation. Every year around budget time, we talk about needing more money for childcare. Every year, budgets are announced and we just tinker around the edges. We all know how important the years from zero to six, six to 12 and 12 to 18 are in children's lives. We certainly have not got it right yet and, therefore, I welcome the policy. However, I will ask about it. The Labour Party launched a policy last weekend on its childcare initiatives but it is time for us all to have a proper debate about what we would like to see as a State and put our heads together to determine how we can resolve the problem.

Senator Ardagh mentioned her support for the ECCE scheme, but again recognising that the providers who were in the building yesterday said it is not meet all the needs of our children or realising our ambitions for them. More attention needs to be paid to the scheme and the support network. The Senator suggested that childcare should be under the Department of Education. When Deputy Richard Bruton was the Minister in that Department, an idea was circulated that childcare providers could use the school system before and after school on the grounds that we own the buildings and that they are empty before and after school, when children have gone home or have not yet arrived. Actually, we do not own the buildings; the patrons own the buildings, which is a huge stumbling block. It is not unique to one particular patron. All the patrons own the buildings so it may be time to think about how we provide public services and pay for them to make sure we can get full value out of them.

Senator Keogan called for a debate on energy prices. The issue is topical. I have requested that the Minister come to the House to talk about it. In the budget this year, a top priority should be meeting the needs of the most vulnerable in light of us having introduced carbon taxes to curb and change people's behaviour. The arrangement for the most vulnerable will not be enough this year owing to the increase in prices because of supply shortages. The increases imposed by providers in the past couple of months, including Electric Ireland only this week, are not because of carbon taxes; there are other reasons.We need to be mindful of that because some of things that have been suggested this morning, while they might not be widespread, will certainly be true for some families. The Senator is right to raise the matter.

Senator Conway talked about University Hospital Limerick and the requirement for a debate on rural Ireland due to wastewater shortages. I will try to arrange a debate as soon as I can.

Senator Malcolm Byrne talked about Ms Frances Haugen. On a number of occasions the Senator has raised the issue of social media, its pervasiveness and how activities have not been curbed. What Ms Haugen has said sends chills up one's spine. Sometimes whistleblowers are treated with contempt and told they must be making half of it up. Even if Ms Haugen made up 10% of what she said yesterday then we should be incredibly afraid for the outcomes social media will have on adults, democracy and how we are duped but, genuinely, on how our children's lives are being shaped. I am not surprised that the requirement for the child and adolescent mental health services, the resilience in our children, and the vulnerabilities that we all see, even in our own families, have multiplied in the last ten years. It is also not really a surprise that this has occurred at the same time as an increased use of social media. I have four children at home and their phones are never out of their hands. I think that I am a strict parent but clearly I am not strict enough. We need to have a serious debate and not just in the Seanad or the Dáil but at a policy level so that regulations can swiftly be brought into place so that social media usage can be curbed and the algorithms benefit us as a people.

Senator Gavan talked about the Atlantic corridor and the N20 motorway. I appreciate his bona fides on this matter. I have asked the Minister for Transport to come in as soon as possible and I will probably attend the debate. The project is very much needed.

I cannot answer the Senator's question on Julian Assange but only because I am not as knowledgeable as I should be and do not want to say something that would be ignorant. It strikes me as odd that Mr. Assange, who is the gentleman who just highlighted major ills as he saw them, has suffered. I will research the matter and get back to the Senator.

Senator Mullen asked for an ongoing debate on the progress of vaccinations. Part of me thinks, holy God, is the pandemic not behind us yet but the Senator is right because booster jabs will be needed. Although I never think of it this way there is a need for an ethical debate because, as the Senator mentioned, not everybody believes the conspiracy theories or that people have other reasons. We should respect those reasons and not necessarily try to change people's minds. I will ask the Minister for Health to schedule a visit here for a debate in the next couple of weeks.

Senator Kyne talked about the welcome news about the Moycullen bypass and the awarding of a €30 million contract. The project has been very important to him and his locality for the last number of years.

Senator O'Loughlin mentioned the "Women of Honour" group and the response by the Minister for Defence and his Department to their experiences that have been shared in the last number of weeks. I would say that it is probably only the tip of the iceberg and it is not just in the Defence Forces that there is a repugnant culture, which we do not and would not like to admit exists. Perhaps it is time to have a commission on these matters covering all male-dominated environments and I do not mean to be disrespectful when I make that suggestion. For far too long vulnerable people, and in a lot of cases they have been women, never had an opportunity to speak out and express either their concerns or share their experiences. It is time that we shine a light on all things that are repulsive in Irish society and the State because it is only when one does so that one can do something about it.

Today, outside Leinster House, we will shine at a light at 1 p.m. when we, the ladies of the Oireachtas, and gentlemen are very welcome to join us, will march for maternity services. Albeit that the pandemic is nearly over and 92% of the adult population are, thankfully, vaccinated, the partners of the women who are going through the nine months maternity journey and giving birth and the care that is provided to both the baby and the mam afterwards, the partners are still being excluded. We do not have uniformity across the 19 maternity hospitals. We certainly do not have the same access that would have been provided pre-pandemic, which is all that we ask for. We ask for one nominated partner for any lady who is having and experiencing the maternity journey, and giving birth to much wanted children, and in some cases losing much wanted children. The one nominated partner should be given equal access to all visits, scans and pre-natal and post-natal appointments. The entire maternity journey should be shared because it was shared at the beginning and should be shared all the way through the journey. I invite Members to join us and march in solidarity with the women of Ireland who will be outside these premises at 1 p.m. Some of whom will bring their babies who were born during the pandemic, and demand better maternity care in this country.