Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a lot of showing off today. I add my name to the good wishes to Cáit. I cannot believe that she is retiring because she is far too young, but we all agree that she is an absolute pro to her fingertips. She is a lovely lady and I wish her well.

Senators Fitzpatrick and Sherlock both raised the Fórsa campaign that was launched yesterday, #RespectforSNAs. It is one of the largest groups of workers in the country, with 18,000 members. Anybody who has a child with a special need that has had the mostly positive impact of a special needs assistant on their lives will know the value of the contribution of a good special needs assistant in the life of a child. I speak personally in that regard.

I also happen to have a member of my family working as a special needs assistant, so I know the commitment that they give. This is not anything to do with school management or principals, but I wish to refer to the treatment of special needs assistants, in particular in secondary schools for the couple of weeks at the end of May when the school finishes but the SNA contract does not finish. Apparently, we scurry around trying to find stuff for SNAs to do, be it moving furniture, painting walls or putting stuff in teachers' cars because they must work for those couple of weeks as part of their contract. There is not a child in the school and if we ever want to start showing respect for the profession of SNA, a good place to start would be to respect them and to allow them to finish work when the recipients of their care finish school. If ever a Fórsa campaign deserved our respect, this is definitely one. I commend the Members who raised the issue this morning.

Senators Ahearn and Lombard raised the agricultural correspondent position that has been vacant for months in RTÉ. The best thing I can do is write this morning to Dee Forbes on our behalf to find out what is going on. I have seen a clamour in the industry from people looking for jobs in RTÉ over the years. It is such a prestigious place to work that it is unfathomable that the role has lain vacant for so long.

A number of colleagues raised the welcome extension of the EWSS for the hospitality industry. We are all well aware of the impact last week's restrictions and announcements had from the perspective of being devastating on mental health and from a business perspective. It is vital to keep the continuity going between the employer and the employee.

Senators Dolan, Murphy and Ahearn referred to the very welcome announcement by the Minister for Rural and Community Development this morning. She always has great news to give from her Department. The town centre first plan approach is vital to the revitalisation of many towns and villages around the country. It is important that the Government has put its money where its intentions are. The €100,000 grant per town will make a significant impact on the development and revitalisation of towns. It is welcome that it will be structured and planned for and that the money that is required for the revitalisation will feed through the system. I congratulate all of the towns that have been picked and I hope it will give an impetus to the towns that have not been picked to make sure they are picked the next time. I wish everybody well.

I am going a little bit around the houses. I acknowledge Senator Black's contribution. I will try to arrange a debate on Palestine as quickly as I can after Christmas for her because I know how important it is. I congratulate the Senator and her colleagues for the letter and the contribution to the European Union's campaign. More importantly, I invited the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, yesterday. We had a group meeting with my Fine Gael colleagues yesterday and I can guarantee her that the sentiments she expressed so well this morning are probably shared by everybody in this House. I asked yesterday if the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, could come to the House. We have a space at 3 p.m. next Wednesday afternoon. I have asked if she could come to explain exactly where the €50 million is going. I cannot believe that such ambiguity and concern still arise given the enormous allocation of €50 million that is being given to an industry. I appreciate that it will not go far enough to fulfil the security that is needed in the industry, but it is still a sizeable amount of money and I do not think it is acceptable that we do not know what it is going to do, where it is going to go and how people can access it. Orla in my office is chasing the Minister's people this morning to make sure that we can secure the debate for the House next week. I appreciate how important it is to Senator Black and all colleagues.

Senator Maria Byrne spoke about the 12 all-stars that Limerick finally has. I congratulate them. It is a lovely achievement for the recipients and their families.It is a lovely time to show the reward and support that people have for the commitment to sport in Ireland, and the excellence that we have in all of our counties. Limerick is showing its excellence this year.

Senators Ó Donnghaile, Chambers and Sherlock talked about the very ominous Bill that passed in Westminster yesterday. Even the name of it is ominous. We need to immediately find the reaction from the Minister for Foreign Affairs and get a statement. Then we will watch it very closely so we can have a debate on it. It is utterly unacceptable, not even that we would have a potential hard border between the North of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, but the insinuation that we would genuinely racially profile people in their cars at Newry, or driving from Letterkenny into Derry, is absolutely outrageous. All it does is fuel the nationalistic urge that the Conservative Party seems so hell-bent on proving that it has in the United Kingdom, and its attitude towards migrants leaves an awful lot to be desired as well. It is a fruitless campaign and will lead nowhere except down a rabbit hole that will not fulfil any of the human rights obligations we all have to uphold. I will find the statement from the Minister. I ask the House to keep an eye on the issue and we will have a debate as that legislation progresses, and obviously we hope it will not.

Senators Barry Ward and Micheál Carrigy mentioned the novel approach New Zealand is taking with regard to trying to combat young people taking up smoking. I only read it briefly, but it was unique that it is taking a different approach to what we normally see in the western world, which is to try to dampen down. Senator Ward also mentioned the Winter Olympics boycott, and did Senator Mullen.

After congratulating Strokestown, Senator Murphy asked about the PUP. I sent a message to the Minister this morning. It is incredible that we would not allow new entrants from the art world on to the PUP scheme, given that is what we opened it for on Friday. I will double-check and come back and let him know exactly what the situation is.

I thank Senator Mullen for his contribution. It sometimes seems he comes in here and feels very isolated in his views; however, I do not think he is. What struck me is that often when he comes in, he is shouted down because other Members do not agree with his views or opinions. We need to remember to be mindful. As Members are well aware, I started off of a particular view at the beginning of the debate and I landed on what was a more compassionate view by the end of it. The only reason the amendment was adopted was because the vast majority of people listened to the debate and listened to each other. If we lose sight of the fact that people do not always share the same views, and that in this case hundreds of thousands of people changed their views because they listened, then we are on a hiding to nothing. I agree that it is as important that we listen to the one third of people who did not agree with the legislation as it is that we listen to the people who would like to extend the legislation. What the Senator is fundamentally right about is that the independent review is of the policy and of the practise of the legislation, and it is of all the minutiae, whether it is extending or restricting the legislation, or whether it was successful or caused issues that we did not expect. It needs to be managed by an independent chairperson, and therefore I concur with him and support him in that.

Senator McGahon talked about resuming the expressions of sympathy, particularly, he was mindful of our friend, former Senator, Terry Brennan. We all miss his smile. The Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Oversight, CPPO, will allow us to do that once we are sure that we are safe after Christmas.

Senator Malcolm Byrne talked about the Data Protection Commissioner, which is actually quite chilling, in relation to what he said on Tuesday. The report from the Norwegian commissioner states that if our Data Protection Commissioner proceeds with a judgment that she is going to give, it will have massive ramifications for all of our data. It is something we all need to keep an eye on.

Senator Sherlock welcomed the very generous and human approach to regularising our undocumented as announced by the Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee last week. I saw a video of some people outside the House who came in appreciation of her commitment and it was just lovely. It was unusual because most people come to the House to give out to us. That scheme opens up in January and will last for six months and will allow probably tens of thousands of people to regularise. As Senator Sherlock said, most of them are in caring professional positions in Ireland and doing the work minding us that we have all come to expect and require. We acknowledge that scheme.

Senator Boylan raised mental health funding. I can only say from experience that the funding is somewhat difficult to access and I do not know why, particularly, when there was money left over in the last couple of months. The HSE sent out project requests for the winter initiative. It was really difficult and most people did not get awarded the money. Maybe that is what we need to look at. We criticise the Government or the State for not spending money, and maybe it is the processes that are the problem. The problem is definitely not the people who want to access the money. The processes need to be looked at. I will send a letter to ask the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, on behalf of the House. It is an awful pity that we do not have multi-annual funding for this and the €20 million that was not spent this year would just roll over and people would be able to access it next year. I acknowledge Senator Boylan's contribution

Senator Boyhan raised the scoliosis waiting lists and the action that is required. The Minister for Health met with families and parents this week, but they need to see action and a plan. The Senator is correct and he is going to raise this issue on a monthly basis here, which will be very worthwhile.

Senator Kyne asked for a debate on greenways, and acknowledged the south Kerry project, which was a test case, from a legal perspective or a planning perspective. I will arrange that after Christmas. The request is in, but it seems as if that Department thinks that if something is a good thing or a good idea then we do not need to talk about it; we do not need to debate unless we have an issue. However, we do not always need to be debating issues; sometimes we need to highlight some of the good and positive things that are going on in the country.

He mentioned the public sector not being able to get the information it requires. As far as the Department of Social Protection is concerned, everybody who makes their contributions through their normal working life can just apply for a statement of contributions, and then they get a long list of where and when they worked and all their contributions. It should be no different for the public sector, so I will ask Ms Orla Murray to make inquiries and I will come back to him on it.

Senator Chambers opened today with a very welcome announcement. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has committed €200 million on top of the €900 million that the State already spends on our childcare. We all acknowledge that we have a long way to go, but it is a very welcome start. He has a plan of action over a multiple number of years to make sure that we reach what is the ultimate aim of having a State childcare system that encourages women to be able to go back to work, but, more importantly, allows them to be able to afford to go back to work, which is a plight for most of them today.