Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Cassells raised the online safety and media regulation Bill and the huge body of work that has been done by the cross-party committee. I do not yet have an indication as to when that Bill will come before us. I will raise it with the Minister and the Department today and come back to the Senator on it.

Senator Moynihan raised the TRIPS waiver and the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021. I read with interest the reports in this morning's papers. I do not have an answer to the questions and queries she raised, but I will raise them and come back to her.

Senator Gavan, as I mentioned, raised the TRIPS waiver. Senator Boyhan spoke about the welcome news from Barbados. The Galway County Council funding crisis came to the attention of all of us yesterday. I have submitted a request for a debate on local government funding. I am waiting for the Minister to come back to me with a date. As soon as I have that, a debate will be scheduled.

Senators Maria Byrne and O'Loughlin spoke about this week being disability week. I am attempting to have a debate arranged with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, even though she was with us last week. I will do my best to try to have that debate this week. If it cannot happen this week, I will arrange for it to happen as quickly as I can. It is incumbent on all of us to highlight, not only this week but particularly this week, the things that we take for granted that people who have disabilities have to deal with every week. Senator Maria Byrne spoke about the company, ParkMagic. It is an ingenious idea. We talk here frequently about the difficulties faced by people who have disabilities with regard to public transport. I do not think we have ever talked about public parking. In one incident involving a lady in Skerries, where the parking is on-street and there is often no parking space available to her, the council has refused to give her a designated parking space. She cannot walk any more than 5 m from her car to her house. She comes every day and the car parking spaces outside her home are taken. As able-bodied people, we take an awful lot for granted. We do not really understand or appreciate what people who have disabilities have to go through.We need to see through their eyes and initiatives should be supported. I commend the Senator on raising ParkMagic's initiative and app. I will send a letter to the Minister for Transport.