Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I add my condolences to that. Many of us of a certain age had the Sunday ritual that after Mass, we came home and the old record player was put on. Certain LPs were played and the Chieftains was one of the big ones in our house along with the Dubliners. Sometimes when these things happen so suddenly it is hard to even take it in but he will be sadly missed by every household in Ireland.

Senator Ahearn raised the welcome addition of nearly €900 million in resources to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for budget 2022. It is significant recognition that our businesses have struggled over the past 18 months and that we need to be there for them to make sure they recover. Some businesses excelled; they do not need our help and they have helped to recover the economy. Those businesses that are viable and vulnerable at the moment need to our continued support and that is welcome today.

Senator Ward raised the lack of a 24-hour bus service and the recent announcement that the Nitelink will not return. It is kind of bizarre and I am sure no one will thank me for saying that only a short number of months ago, we announced a provision for a night-time mayor to have a night-time economy. I recall standing here and wishing I was young enough to think I could be out until 2 a.m., 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. but nobody will be out until that time if they have no way to get home. A little bit of joined-up thinking would not go amiss in this. If we are going to have a night-time economy, we have to have ways for people to get into it and get home from it so that is something that needs to be brought to the Minister's attention.

Senator Seery Kearney talked about the welcome changes to the NCS and what gives me hope is when something is amiss and then somebody listens and fixes it. That is positive and for that to happen as quickly as it did is welcome. It gave me a little bit of pleasure this morning to see that the hot school meals programme has increased tenfold from when it was first introduced as a pilot programme a couple of years ago in Dublin 8. I hope we get to a situation soon where every school gives a hot meal to our children every single day. The Senator is also right that we need a debate on sexual education for our younger children and on age appropriateness so I will ask for that debate to be organised in the coming weeks.

Senator Burke asked for a debate on the National Ambulance Service and other colleagues have raised that in recent weeks. The request is in with the Minister but I will go back and see if we can get it moved up the list.

Senator Maria Byrne talked about the maternity hospital in Limerick and the sole perinatal services outside of the capital that we have there. She is right that it is a requirement for every one of our 19 maternity services and hospitals to have their own perinatal support services for our women and their partners.

Senator Carrigy talked about the 88 Bank of Ireland branches that closed and one of them was in Skerries, where my office is. On Friday evening, people were crying and hugging staff who had served the town for decades.The Senator is correct, and a pattern is evident. When one of our pillar banks leaves a town, the second pillar bank then automatically moves because there is no competition left in that town. The second bank does not need to be there. There has been a shift in banking culture. What is poor about this change is that every Irish citizen had no choice but to support our pillar banks for the past ten to 15 years because of the bloody mess they got themselves into. Those banks feel now that making decisions like this supports communities. There is something amiss. I support and commend the Senator on what was said. Those organisations, such as our credit unions and post offices, that remain in our communities to serve the people should get our thanks and support. We should support those organisations by using our feet. I commend that happening.

Senator McGreehan talked about the welcome addition to the disability budget this morning. She is right, however, that a debate is needed on how Departments and Government agencies are going to ensure that they adhere to the criteria relating to people with disabilities. We must ensure that we honour people with disabilities and treat them with dignity and respect.

Senator McGahon referred to the extension of the help-to-buy scheme. It has helped many young couples to buy houses and will continue to do so for the next year.

Senators Malcolm Byrne and Craughwell asked for a debate on China. That request has been made. Our colleague, Senator Buttimer, raised the matter last week or the week before. I will chase it up again today. I will also send a letter to the Polish ambassador today to question the actions, some of them outrageous, over the weekend. We will wait to see what kind of response we will get.

On the point made by Senator Ruane, the response from Owen Keegan to the student's union says a lot about him. I am sure that reaction will probably cause him to reflect on and consider his comments in the days to come. That is all I will say about the matter.

I concur with Senator McGahon regarding scooters. He is only just home from spending time in Rome at the weekend. I spent a few days there during the summer and scooters were scattered about everywhere. It was necessary to step over them. It must be a minefield for people who have small children in buggies and for people in wheelchairs. When our scooter scheme regulations come into effect, we must ensure that we treat it like our bike scheme, which is well managed and maintained in Dublin and some of our other cities.

Senator Cassells spoke about the moving stories recounted by Rory O'Connor. He is right. I do not suppose for a second that the extension of tax reliefs announced by the Minister for Finance earlier is to encourage the gambling industry in the same way as was done by the welcome move to encourage the film industry in recent years. It is incumbent on us to be careful to ensure that we do not allow companies in certain sectors to gain tax reliefs through the back door.

Senator Mullen talked about anti-Semitism and the need for a debate on that issue. I will arrange that as soon as I can.

Senator Dolan welcomed the budget, and especially those aspects relating to her home county of Roscommon.

Senator Ned O'Sullivan spoke of his surprise at the growing sense of anti-Semitism here and of the need for a debate on the issue. I will organise that.

Senator Moynihan raised an issue that my colleague, Senator Buttimer, addressed only a few weeks ago. I refer to the donation of blood by gay men. It seems ludicrous that we have not updated our standards and assessments to meet European norms. I will raise this issue with the Minister.

Senator Ó Donnghaile talked about European rail travel passes. I will check with the Minister, but I am certain we ensured that INTERREG and all the PEACE funds remain applicable to the island of Ireland. We will continue to act on behalf of the people of the island of Ireland. I will double-check that for the Senator, though, and respond to him today.

Senator Craughwell spoke about Chinese aggression against Taiwan and the need for a debate on this topic. More importantly, he again eloquently described some of the conditions in our Defence Forces and in the Naval Service and his worries in that regard. I will raise his concerns with the Minister today.

Senators Currie and Chambers opened today's proceedings by talking about the little boy, Adam Terry, featured on the radio this morning. I had tears in my eyes listening to the report. I suppose most of the women listening to the programme did and maybe most of the men as well. I do not say this lightly, but it is reflective of us and our State that a mother of a ten-year-old boy finds herself having to go on a national radio programme to plead for the supports and the bloody operation that her child needs to have a chance at a normal life. What was most heartbreaking this morning was listening to her and knowing that the best opportunity that he had has already come and gone. I do not know how she was as eloquent and dignified as she was. I will send a letter to the Minister today. I ask all the Senators to send letters to the Minister because I am not sure how effective my one little letter will be. We, as parliamentarians, must respond to the situation of this mam and her little boy.

I will not have an opportunity to speak on the budget later. We will all have our ding-dongs as to whether this or that was included or whether enough was allocated. Some €1.5 billion of taxpayer's money has been directed to be spent today in order to allow our country to recover from what has probably been the most horrendous 18 months for people and to restore the services interrupted during that time. Most important for me is the need to rebalance our economy and restore order to our finances. We needed to be generous for the past 18 months. I have no doubt about that. A tremendous amount of money has been spent, but it was well spent. We must now get back to being prudent, however, and to ensuring that the value for money we get out of allocating taxpayer's money is achieved by making sure that funds go to the most required and urgent services. The case of that little boy this morning is a prime example of where our money needs to go.