Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Senator also said that a third of people voted for abortion. Actually, more than 66% of our citizens voted to remove the eighth amendment. That is the factual position. That amounts to two thirds of the country. However, I agree with the Senator that the views of people with a pro-life position need to be facilitated, should be given a space to be articulated and should be respected. We must do everything that we can to ensure that the review is done in a respectful and balanced way, and that it is credible and legitimate. I agree with her on that point.

Senator Murphy raised the increased cost of fertilisers for farmers. He put some stark figures on the record of the House regarding a doubling of the price of some of those fertilisers. Farmers have had a very difficult period. They are trying to adjust to the climate agenda and they are doing a good job on that front. They have also been dealing with very volatile weather conditions in the past number of years, which has made things more difficult, and now they are facing this price increase. It is certainly something for the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine to take on board. Perhaps it can do more detailed work on the issue on behalf of the farming community.

Senator Lombard referred to planning issues and the fast-tracking of particular projects. In particular, he raised the issue of the flooding scheme for Bantry. There have been four floods in that area in the past 18 months, which is a lot for any community to cope with. I agree with his comments. The Taoiseach has announced a complete overhaul and review of the planning process. He is due to receive a report on it before the end of next year. It is a huge undertaking and has never been done. The idea and the aim of the review is to try to speed up the planning applications and processes to deliver those flooding schemes and other schemes for communities such as those in Bantry.

Senator Gavan once again raised the issue of University Hospital Limerick and the difficult situation that patients face there. The numbers on trolleys are far greater than they should be. We should not have anybody on trolleys. It might happen in the case of one or two people, but anything in excess of 80 or 90 on a daily basis is a huge number. I extend my support and solidarity to the staff working in the hospital, in particular. It must be so difficult for them. I welcome that there has been investment to try to deliver the 96-bed unit and other supports. However, I appreciate that it has not alleviated the issues there at the moment. It is a significant investment. I am not going to comment in great detail on the issue because I am not a public representative for the area. Senator Gavan and others have far more knowledge of the issue. We must consider step-down facilities, home care packages, the fair deal scheme and all the factors that cause people to take up beds in hospitals. If we can get people out sooner, it should help alleviate the problem. I agree that something has to be done urgently. I think 2023 is a long time to ask people to wait for the issue to be resolved.

Senator Fitzpatrick welcomed the national childcare scheme announced by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth yesterday. It was a significant announcement. We have been talking about this for a long time. As I said yesterday, it is a start and a plan. Now we need to deliver it. We need to deliver a reduction in fees for parents, better pay and conditions for the workers and to ensure access is universal. The childcare fees that parents are paying currently are unsustainable. As the Senator pointed out, the fees are a barrier to people, predominantly women, from entering the workplace and getting back to work. They cannot afford to go back to work, which should never be the case. She also welcomed the acceptance of preliminary business case for the DART+ programme to extend greater commuter services in those areas.

Senator Buttimer requested a debate on the review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018. I agree with that. We hope to have a debate on the issue in the Chamber at the earliest opportunity. It is unlikely to happen before the end of term because we only have next week. Similarly, I am not sure we can deliver on the Senator's the request to get the Minister in to the House by next week, but we can try. It could be early next year. The vaccination programme will continue well into next year. That will give us an opportunity to see how the winter goes, have that debate with the Minister and get an update for the House. We will certainly have a debate on the review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018.

Senator Hoey alerted Members to the Fórsa Respect for SNAs campaign. SNAs are seeking recognition of their qualifications, a minimum qualification standard, a recognition of the work they do and also the level of responsibility attached to the work they do. I agree with her comments on the work SNAs do, the variety of work they do and the responsibility they have to deal with on a daily basis. Every child's needs are so different. We ask a lot of our SNAs. They are not getting the respect that they need and the acknowledgement of the work that they do currently. We previously addressed issues around childcare workers. We now know that the correct term for them is "early years educators". We must carry out a similar campaign for SNAs. We must ensure that they are given the respect that they deserve.

Senator Blaney raised the issue of the railway strategic review announced by the Minister for Transport and the Northern Ireland Minister for Infrastructure in recent days. He highlighted the role that the shared island unit plays in connecting the island and made a call to those in the north west, in particular, in counties Donegal, Tyrone and Derry, to engage with the railway strategic review. Connection on the island is most important. The review will examine other rail connections throughout the country and the western rail corridor will be part of that.

Senator Ahearn welcomed the €15 million in funding announced by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media for the tourism business continuity programme. The Senator is correct that it is effectively a pre-emptive strike in acknowledgement that 2022 is probably not going to be year that we had hoped it would be for the tourism sector and for all those small businesses that sustain communities throughout the country. I think of my own county of Mayo. Many tourism businesses are finding it difficult and are not feeling as positive about next year. However, domestic tourism has been good in many of those areas. The extra boost, which is a significant sum, will go a long way towards helping those businesses survive next year and ensuring that they are around and can continue to create and maintain employment in those communities.

Senator Malcolm Byrne concluded by welcoming the €36 million in the regional airports funding for Shannon and Cork airports. He placed on the record of the House some stark figures, including a reduction in passenger numbers at Shannon Airport, which I was not aware of, from 1.5 million to 300,000. That is a huge drop in numbers for the airport. Of course, Shannon Airport is hugely important to the strategic development of the mid-west and to all the counties feeding into that. I hope that that money will go a long way towards maintaining the airport for the year ahead, allowing it to keep its staff and grow the passenger numbers back to what they were. The Senator also raised the issue of the abuse of front-line workers when they are asking people to comply with public health guidelines. All Members will join with the Senator in asserting that such abhorrent behaviour is unacceptable. We have a whole new appreciation for our front-line workers after the past year and a half. Any abuse of those workers when they are just trying to do their job to protect the public, is unacceptable.