Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join the Cathaoirleach in expressing my sympathy on the loss of Christopher Stalford. When I heard the news at the weekend, I genuinely realised how fragile life is. A 39 year old gentleman with an incredibly promising political future ahead of him has died. We all have no doubt he would have been leadership material in probably the not too distant future. It is an awful tragedy. On my behalf, and on behalf of all the Members, I extend condolences to Laura and his four children, to all his constituents, to party colleagues and to all his colleagues in the North.

Senator Ward asked how the current EU employment legislation will be transposed. From my experience of being a Minister with responsibility with employment, unfortunately I have to tell him that it will probably take years to happen. It took us a long time to get the last miscellaneous provisions Bill passed in 2018 but I will make inquiries with the Minister today and find out.

Senator Burke asked for a debate on tourism, which I have scheduled in the diary, but I will see if I can bring it forward now that the days are getting longer and we all have had a spring in our step in the past few days.

Senator Ahearn asked when the announcement on the town and village renewal scheme will be made. I do not know but I will make inquiries today and come back to him on it.

Senator Maria Byrne raised, and not for the first time as she has done so nearly on a weekly basis, as have others, the inefficiencies in University Hospital Limerick that are nearly unique to Limerick. I am surprised by what she said and that is why I texted her. I was under the impression that the Taoiseach in the Dáil a number of weeks ago had agreed to an independent review and now the Senator has been told the Minister on a visit to the hospital this week has said they are only considering it. That is not good enough. I will certainly make known the Senator’s views to the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Leader of the Green Party today. We have a commitment to make sure we improve those services. Hundreds of thousands of euro have been given to University Hospital Limerick in recent years but there has been no comparable improvement in services for the people of that region. It is not good enough.

It is lovely to see people back in the Chamber and around the Houses and normal life returning. I wish Senator McGreehan and her three little boys well. It is lovely to see them with their squeaky clean little faces and lovely hairdos and great to see them here. The Senator raised a really important issue. I heard the Minister, Deputy Roderic O’Gorman, interviewed on radio this morning on my drive to the Houses. He is one of the most thoughtful Ministers we have had in a long time. I am not being disrespectful to anybody in saying we all have to be a Minister on our first day in office without having been one prior to that. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has taken this issue to heart and has put Trojan effort into making sure this Bill takes into account all of the issues that have been raised with him during the past 18 months. I have no doubt when it is published this week some people will say it is missing this or that, but he had done an enormous body of work to bring forward the institutional burials Bill. I reassure the Senator that I spoke to the Minister’s private secretary yesterday and there is no doubt we will have this Bill passed by both Houses hopefully by the end of May or the beginning of June. That should be a priority for all of us. There are 796 little bodies buried that need to find a connection with their family members. It is incumbent upon all of us to make sure that happens as smoothly as it possibly can.

Senator Higgins talked about the Trade-Relates Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPS, waiver and the Tánaiste’s perception of what we discussed here before Christmas. I will certainly convey the Senator’s message to the Tánaiste and come back to her on it.

The Minister of State, Deputy Hackett, talked about Tulsa's recent review of accommodation services presented to Ministers last week and the need for timelines, which I think we will get in a few weeks when the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has finished her three-week public consultation review.

Senator Wall talked about the urgent debate that is required for GPs and I will organise that as quickly as I can.

Senator McGahon talked about having a debate on renewable energy targets that have now been set at 40%.

To answer the question raised by Senator Dooley, I certainly will try to arrange a debate on the topic of the request Senator Keogan raised this morning because it would be very apt to hear wider views on it. As to why there are delays with the supply chain, having listened to delays of diagnoses of whether women were depressed or menopausal, which they have had to put up with for donkey's years, is beyond belief.I will see what I can find out and come back to the Senator.

I thank Senator Gavan for raising the issue he did because I was trying to figure out how I would bring it up nobody else did so I am glad he brought it up. I had the privilege of meeting Julia and Lenka. Deputy Joan Collins brought them to me a number of years ago. They are two remarkable women, but they were incredibly vulnerable when I met them because of how badly they were being treated by their employer, the Ivy, the salubrious restaurant down the road. They were treated despicably by that organisation, and it gave me great pleasure to see the judgment that was handed down. The only thing that gave me a little bit of sadness was that they did not get four times the amount of money that was awarded to them. They had been treated despicably. We should name and shame every organisation that mistreats the people who go in and provide a service on its behalf on a daily basis and who give the best impression of that organisation. In the back rooms of such companies' premises, these staff are treated so poorly.

I have been in contact with the two ladies since. I want to let them know they are the reason we have the new legislation on tips. They are the reason we started that ball rolling a couple of weeks ago and we had the Tánaiste here a couple of weeks ago. They are the reason that will make me fight to make sure the service charge is included in the legislation and I have done a bit of research in recent weeks which I did not do when I was in the Department. The original agreement between the unions and the industry at the time, 48 years ago when service charges were introduced, there was no legislation covering it because it was an agreement between unions and the industry that the service charge would be introduced to make sure the people who were giving you the service got looked after and got paid well. That was because the wages were always considered too low to earn a living. There is no reason why any employer should take that to pay for knives, forks, their own bottom line, broken plates or whatever they are having themselves. It is for the people who serve us and that is where it should be going. I will work hard with Senator Gavan and others to make sure it goes that way and stays that way.

Senator Buttimer and others talked about NPHET in view of the fact that it was disbanded suddenly this morning. Colleagues have raised acceptance and delight at the fact that this time next week we will not have masks and the visible signs of Covid. Others, such as Senators Flynn and Higgins, have talked about the fact that there still is an air of cautiousness among some people. As a society, we need to make sure that we recognise both. There are people who will be gleeful next week and there are people who will still be scared and vulnerable. We need to make sure we look after those who are scared and vulnerable but also try to genuinely get down to whatever the new normal will be as quickly as we possibly can.

Senators Murphy and Currie talked about the work hub. Senator Currie spoke about the connected hubs and the extra 200 we are getting over the coming years, which will be great. Senator Murphy also sought a debate on the flooding of the River Shannon, which I will organise as quickly as I can.

Senator Keogan brought up the protests in Canada and I will try to organise that debate on a Thursday afternoon in the coming weeks because it would be interesting to do that. The Senator is right and she mentioned last week that there was little coverage of its so maybe it is a good time to bring it up.

Senator Malcolm Byrne talked about the Uyghur World Congress visit this morning. I note with interest the lovely email we got and I thank the Senator for his reply, which was well drafted. There is no reason not to shine a light when human rights violations are being made and to sing about them insofar as they should not be done in the quiet or in close corners.

Senator Flynn asked for a debate on direct provision, which we will organise.

Senators Sherlock, Martin and Craughwell, among others, talked about Ukraine and the sanctions I hope will be announced at some point in the afternoon. Each of them are right that the sanctions need to be as loud and reactive to the intolerable actions of the Russians last night as possible. They should not be tolerated by any part of a functional, normal and democratic society.

Senator Craughwell showed his dismay at the cost of the 945 pairs of socks. That sounds silly but you do not get to have a seat on the UN Security Council without lobbying all the people who make a decision. However, he has a point and he made it well.

Senator Conway talked about sending a letter to NPHET and looked for a debate on disability and digital papers for students of this year’s leaving certificate.

Senator O’Loughlin started the debate by condemning the Russian attacks and she again talked about the lack of ICTU affiliation for our Defence Forces and their powerlessness in talks on their pay. The Senator also referred to the Respect for SNAs campaign and Caoimhe O’Connor in her area, who will graduate as an SNA next week but who will not get the respect she deserves.As I said here before, the Respect for SNAs campaign deserves all our support in any way, shape or form we can offer it.