Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

And Senator Horkan, gabh mo leithscéal. We had a very positive meeting in Shannon Airport and with the Irish Aviation Authority. This afternoon Senator Maria Byrne also made comments about Shannon. It is clear there is a need for the Government to examine the legislation covering our aviation policy and for it also to examine the regional airport development programme with a view to ensuring Shannon and Cork are included in it in the future. I look forward to the Minister, Deputy Ryan, coming to the House as matter of importance. Our aviation policy needs to be updated and reviewed as a matter of fundamental importance given we are coming out of Covid and there are challenges in our aviation sector in terms of energy, the war in Ukraine and how we can attract people to come to visit our country.

Senators Malcolm Byrne, Hoey and Cassells in their contributions all praised the coming out of Jake Daniels, the first professional soccer player in a generation in England to do so. It is to be welcomed. I congratulate him as an openly out gay man myself on his courage and bravery in a very masculine sport that does not embrace equality or diversity in the way it should.Senator Cassells made a fundamentally important point that in the world of Cumann Lúthchleas Gael of which the Senator is a member, as is Senator Carrigy, David Gough as an out referee has been a champion of diversity, as has Dónal Óg Cusack, to be fair to him. We need more role models in the world of sport no matter what sport it is but particularly in Cumann Lúthchleas Gael given that it is our native sport and the one that is probably played in every parish in every urban and rural setting.

I join with Senator Cassells in calling on Cumann Lúthchleas Gael to raise the rainbow flag over Croke Park in June. Dublin Pride is the third or fourth Saturday of the month. It would be a fitting step on the road to equality. I am not telling the GAA what to do but in the same way that the Ceann Comhairle at the invitation of some of us allowed for and facilitated the rainbow flag to fly here in the Oireachtas, the people's house, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael is our national sporting organisation so it would be an extraordinary act on its part to take up the suggestion of Senator Cassells.

I hope this House will join in supporting the Pride flag adorning Croke Park not as a political gesture but as a gesture of solidarity and equality with all of us in this country - a republic where we cherish all of our children equally. I commend Senator Cassells for his contribution but, more importantly, as Senator Malcolm Byrne said, today is International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. In Cork we had International LGBT Awareness Week. We need such weeks, as we do Pride, and I commend Senator Malcolm Byrne for his leadership and the way in which he has been a very strong champion of diversity and equality not just in this House but in his personal and public life and I thank him for coming in here today.

I also thank Senator Hoey for her courage because it is important that we stand up to any type of bullying and violence and not just today but every day we stand in solidarity with people and ensure we tackle discrimination. Senator Malcolm Byrne is right. The online space needs to be addressed as well but today is an important day. It is important because all of us should congratulate Jake Daniels for what he has done and the role model he can and hopefully will become.

Senator Malcolm Byrne also raised the regulation of jet skis. I agree with him on that. It is critical that our beaches and coastal communities are kept safe and I thank the Senator for raising that issue. I will ask the Minister to come to the House to discuss that matter.

Senator Craughwell raised the issue of Cathal Brugha Barracks. I would be happy for the Minister for Defence to come to the House for a debate on the future of the barracks. Senator O'Donovan spoke about the need for a debate on housing. Like Senator Maria Byrne, Senator Gavan raised the issue of University Hospital Limerick. As somebody who is not from the region but who was a former Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health, I recognise that there has been investment by Government, including investment in staffing. A specialist team has come down to the hospital. We have had an extension to the hospital and infrastructure development. There is something fundamentally wrong that needs to be eliminated. The Minister for Health has not been shy in going to the hospital but it is important that the HSE and the Department sit down and take action if there needs to be accountability from the top to the bottom in the hospital itself. As a layperson, I would say there is something fundamentally wrong in terms of the structure. I may be wrong but both Senators Gavan and Maria Byrne have come in here repeatedly and raised the issue. There is something fundamentally wrong in this regard. I hope something will happen sooner rather than later.

Senator McGahon spoke very highly about the Creative Spark downtown hub in Dundalk and commended the two people involved in remote working hubs. He is right. There is a need for investment in urban infrastructure to create these hubs. I will ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development and possibly the Minister for Finance to come to the House to discuss this issue.

Senators Murphy, Horkan and Dolan raised the commemoration of the Famine and the new museum in Strokestown.We should all take up Senator Murphy's suggestion and invitation. It is important that we acknowledge the tremendous investment in the Famine museum in Strokestown. It is also important that we continue to remember the events of the Famine. As Senator Dolan said, no democracy has ever had a famine. We remember the people of Yemen today as well.

Senator Hoey raised the issue of SUSI grants. I would be happy for the Minister, Deputy Harris, to come to the House with regard to this important matter. The Senator raises a very pertinent point regarding people who received Covid payments being penalised.

Senator O'Sullivan raised the issue of Béal na Bláth and the foundation of Fianna Fáil. We congratulate the Fianna Fáil Members on their birthday yesterday. As regards the anniversary of Michael Collins this year, the decision of the Béal na Bláth committee is a recognition of our maturity as a nation. There is critical division but the fact that we are coming together in a decade of commemoration shows the maturity of the members of the Béal na Bláth committee who invited the Taoiseach and also the leader of Fine Gael, an Tánaiste, to the commemoration. I look forward to being there to hear both men speak on the tremendous legacy that Michael Collins has left his country and on the need for all of us to reconcile, north, south, east and west, to build an Ireland in which we can all be free to be who we are.

Senator Dolan raised the issue of the Roscommon passport and the Rossies of whom Senator Murphy is one. We should all remember that for two years, the leaving certificate class about which she spoke could not celebrate and the right of passage is beginning for it again. We wish the class well. We will have the Minister come to the House to discuss the Carrick-on-Shannon bypass and the need for infrastructure development.

Senator Horkan also raised the issue of bike week. I know he was participating in an event outside Leinster House today. He has been a strong proponent of cycling and an active cyclist. The Senator raised safety for cyclists and I hope the Minister will come to the House to have a debate on this issue in the coming weeks.

Senators Lombard and Carrigy raised the issue of Airbnb. Senator Lombard has been a very strong advocate for reforming the Airbnb sector. He left us with a very interesting statistic. In the coastal seaside tourist town of Kinsale, there are 150 Airbnbs and two advertisements on daft.ie. That paints a picture. I would be happy for the Minister to come to the House on the matter.

Senator Ahearn also raised the issue of bike week. He rightly referred to the extraordinary sportsmen, Seán Kelly and Sam Bennett. He also raised student accommodation, which is a huge issue that needs to be addressed at local level by local government and at national level by the Government. I would be happy to have the Minister, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State with responsibility for local government, Deputy Burke, come to the House. The Senator is right that it is about the student experience. It is unacceptable that students are having to travel from the University of Limerick to Tipperary or from Tipperary to University College Cork or Munster Technological University. We should not tolerate or countenance this. The struggle for accommodation is a real one and I thank the Senator for raising the matter.

Senator Carrigy also raised the important matter of the need for investment in the N4. He is right. It is about rural regeneration and investment in rural Ireland. He is right to raise the issue and ask that the Government continue to fund the N4 project. I am happy to request that the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, come to the House.

Senator Maria Byrne raised the 4% unemployment rate in Limerick, which is an extraordinary figure. She is right about collaboration. I also commend the vintners and Griffith College on an extraordinary development yesterday when an apprenticeship and third level degree programme was announced for those in the bar trade and hospitality sector.