Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The most common sentiment was the wishing of Christmas greetings to everybody and thanks to all staff. On behalf of the Leader and Deputy Leader, I concur with all the sentiments expressed. I thank the Cathaoirleach, the Cathaoirleach's office, Martin Groves and the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas such as the ushers, catering staff and cleaners. I also thank staff from all the political parties and groupings such as support staff, secretarial assistants and parliamentary assistants, Deirdre Chambers in the Whip's office and all the teams in policy offices within the political parties.

Senators O'Loughlin, Ó Donnghaile and Gavan spoke about the TRIPS waiver. I welcome the decision by the Minister of State, Deputy English, to support the motion on it yesterday. There was no intent to divide the House. He put Government issues and policy on that on the record. It is important that the House was not divided.

Senator O'Loughlin spoke about working as part of the Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters regarding personal transport schemes and the mobility allowance. These are very important schemes that were cancelled a number of years ago. The fact that they have not been brought back shows that it is not an easy problem to solve. I know the Ombudsman has advised that both schemes need to be revised to make them compliant under the Equal Status Acts as they were regarded as being discriminatory at the time, which is why they were halted. I hope we can get that sorted.

The Senator also mentioned the Women of Honour group. The Minister for Defence has agreed to a meeting and I hope that takes place soon. The Senator also mentioned the very important work of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service. She pointed out some individuals who are not allowed to donate blood but those who can donate should do so.

Senator Carrigy spoke about the establishment of the Oireachtas committee on autism, which will come before the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight today. There will be motion in the House afterwards. I compliment the Senator on his advocacy in getting that committee established. I am sure it will do very important work, once established. Senator Carrigy along with Senators Dolan and Maria Byrne spoke about the hospitality and entertainment industry and the advice to shop local and so say all of us in this very important period for the economy and businesses up and down the country.

Senator McDowell made a passionate contribution about the motion on the Uighur people. The motion states that Seanad Éireann notes the publication of the judgment of the Uyghur Tribunal on 9 December 2021 and accepts its findings. We should have a debate on that early in the new year. I have not seen the report. Perhaps it would be more advisable to have a full debate on it and accept it after that. I have not seen the tribunal's findings, which I am sure are fine, and am not sure if other Members have seen or noted them. Perhaps we could put that on the schedule for debate early in the new year so we can have a fuller thrashing out of that and arrive at a common position.

Senators Joe O'Reilly and Malcolm Byrne spoke about the situation in Belarus. The Leas-Chathaoirleach was particularly moved by the call he had. I am obviously not aware of the full details but I certainly concur with Senator Byrne. It makes us prouder to live in this country but with that comes the responsibility to assist those who are not as fortunate.

The Minister of State, Senator Hackett, spoke about her trip to Mayo, all the good work taking place there and across all of rural Ireland and the work of Sabina Trench, who I met at the opening of the Kilmainham playground and is CEO of South West Mayo Development Company. Senator Hackett spoke about the social farming model, which is hugely important for many.

Senators Ó Donnghaile, Conway, Buttimer, Maria Byrne and Craughwell spoke about the booster vaccine roll-out. The Minister for Health has announced some changes there, including the extension of the opening hours of vaccination centres from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week operating both walk-in and appointment-based clinics. We have been increasing capacity in vaccination centres and opening new ones, including Richmond Barracks and the RDS in Dublin and a further centre opening in Cork city in early January. We will be expanding GP practice participation from 75% to full participation nationwide and increasing the number of pharmacies participating in the programme to 700 from this week.Senator Byrne talked about the mixed messages on pharmacies. Hopefully, that advice will be followed from this week. I refer to the widening of the programme to those age 40 and over from the week commencing 27 December. There have been changes on the 15-minute wait period and other changes are being looked at as well.

Senator Hoey talked about the ongoing issues with children awaiting scoliosis treatment. As members of the health committee, both of us met with professionals working in that sector a number of weeks ago. They gave solutions, or certainly advice, as to how things can be improved. It is incumbent on Government to take those issues up and we need to keep the pressure on. She also talked about respect for transgender individuals. Much important legislative work has done, led by her party and by the former Minister of State, Kevin Humphreys, and supported by Fine Gael in the 2011-2016 Government.

Senator Hoey talked about the Cassells report. It has been a long time around the Houses and it is one of those issues that Governments have not been able to grasp, that is, proper and sustainable funding of the third level sector. Perhaps we will arrange a debate in the new year on that.

Senator Keogan talked about the empty chairs at tables at Christmas. It is a difficult time for anybody to lose family. That is why we continue to advocate the health requirements we have advocated, in particular in this pandemic, including getting the vaccine, having vaccine certificates, the use of face masks and social distancing.

Senator Horkan called for a debate on the road safety strategy, which Senator Buttimer raised that during the week. I am sure the legislation will be going through pre-legislative scrutiny, PLS, if it has not already done so, in the transport committee. It is important to recognise the positive initiatives that have taken place to reduce the number of road deaths over the years. As I said last week, road projects and the realignment of roads have the most important benefit of saving lives because they are works done to make roads safer. New roads or road realignments are about savings lives and preventing and reducing traffic accidents and making junctions safer and so on.

Senator Gavan raised the case of an individual trafficked in Pakistan. If he provides details, I will ask the office to write to Kilkenny County Council. There may be more media scrutiny of that particular case over the coming days or weeks.

On Senator McGahon's contribution, I will write to the National Transport Authority, NTA. I am not sure if the NTA has come into the transport committee to discuss matters like these. If it was to be invited in, I am sure the Chair of that committee would allow him to ask the questions he wishes to ask.

Senator Dolan talked about the work of Medtronic in Galway and the ramping up of ventilator production and the award to be given to CEO, Geoff Martha. It was great to see him receive the award from the Taoiseach recently.

Senators Ahearn and Buttimer talked about the issue of cybercrime, cyberbullying and cybersecurity. I understand that the pre-legislative scrutiny report on the online safety and media regulation Bill was submitted in early November and that a Bill on those matters is expected in 2022.

Senator Ward made a lovely tribute to Mr. Frank Callanan. I did not know him personally, but I have heard of him by reputation as a brilliant legal mind and someone who impacted so much on people's lives. I am sure he would have had a bright future ahead of him in terms of his career. It is a tragedy, and so close to the death of his father. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Senator Craughwell talked about the healthcare staff. Many front-line workers have been under huge pressure over the last number of years and they are all sick and tired of it. We hope this will be the last winter we will so worried about Covid and Covid viruses, but we just do not know. We certainly hope it is. I hope 2022 allows us to get back to the things we used to talk about and the things that we used to do and to some more normality in our lives.