Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is another link between us and the Netherlands. I pay tribute to both Jimmy Leonard and Michael O'Kennedy, who passed away during the recess. I was at the funeral of Michael O'Kennedy in Nenagh last week. I did not know Jimmy Leonard well, but he served in the Chamber for a long time. Michael O'Kennedy had a distinguished career as a Minister, Senator, Deputy and a European Commissioner for a period. I pay tribute to both those gentlemen. I offer my deepest sympathies and condolences to their families and friends.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for wearing the flower symbolising Organ Donor Awareness Week. I am wearing mine and I am sure other Members are wearing theirs too and will be over the next few days. It runs from 23 April to 30 April. It is staggering to see how many lives have been saved and improved by the unfortunate and tragic death, in many cases, of those people. Sometimes it is very sudden, such as a car crash, while other times it is anticipated, but it is still very sad when somebody dies. In many cases, multiple lives have been saved with the gift of life when one person's life has been lost. A system is being looked at where those who want to opt out can opt out, but almost everybody else is included. I know there is sensitivity around that. I think more than 1 million people have already said on their drivers' licences that they are happy for organs to be taken once they are no longer in a position to use them themselves. I encourage as many people as possible to opt in and to let their family and colleagues know.

I raise the issue of delays in the processing of various forms by the public service. We are all inundated by passport forms. The online passport applications and renewals are fantastic. Anything that does not involve any human interaction and is automated seems to work in a streamlined way, but it should not take eight weeks for a new child's passport to be processed. I presume that much of that is due to backlogs. We need to clear those. It also applies to work permits and visitor visas. Every Member of the Oireachtas is hounded daily by frustrated people. They put in their applications, which come back after five or six weeks to say something is wrong, then people go to the back of the queue again.

I congratulate the gardaí on the detention of five prominent gang members who were recently involved in a prolific amount of crime. There is a problem with our justice system where we seem to allow people who have committed many crimes back out to commit more crimes. We need to have a debate on public service delays and on crime.