Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also join colleagues in welcoming the easing of restrictions North and South over the past number of days, including in this House. I am sure that, like me, the Leader has missed seeing the school groups going around the building and members of men's sheds groups and other community organisations enjoying the tours and stopping and having a bit of craic in this House. It has been a real deficit for us all. I have missed bringing people into this House to engage with me in my role in the Seanad and hosting important and worthwhile campaign and lobby groups in the audiovisual room to give them an opportunity to engage with all Members of the Oireachtas. I am really looking forward to a time when we can do this as safely, compliantly and responsibly as possible.

In saying that, I also hope we do not forget the fundamental lessons we have learned over the course of this awful pandemic - the lessons of community and social solidarity and who front-line and emergency workers are when it comes to such a horrible crisis. We must learn the lessons of a lack of investment in healthcare provision and infrastructure across the State and redouble our efforts in this institution to address those deficiencies.

I also wish to discuss organ donation and the human tissue Bill, which the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, indicated at the end of last year would be a priority for him early this year. While it would do a lot of things, one of its core components would be to create a soft "opt-out" option for organ donation. Similar legislation is going through the assembly in the North. Given that organ donation operates on an all-Ireland basis in terms of the list through which people can hopefully obtain an organ, it is important that we harmonise that legislation and approach. In calling for that legislation to be brought forward under Government time, I respectfully ask people, because it is a personal issue, to consider becoming an organ donor if they are not already one and indicate to, and have a conversation with, their loved ones and those closest to them about their desires in this regard as quickly as possible.

This does not happen very often but I fully agree with Senator Ahearn about the issue of passports, an issue I have raised consistently. Like him, and, I am sure, many others, I have been inundated. It is going to be a bigger issue. The additional staff are welcome but we need more staff and infrastructure. We cannot become passport offices or passport office workers. The workers there do fantastic work in meeting the needs of people but there is a clear and identifiable need for more and we need to ensure it is met.