Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is unlikely to happen before the summer. We are at the mercy of Minister's office to try to get a date from him or from the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton. We will try to get that as early as possible.

Senator Boyhan spoke this morning about the Social, Economic, Environmental Forestry Association of Ireland, SEEFA, and the briefing that was organised by Deputy Jackie Cahill this morning in the AV room. There are ongoing issues with forestry. We will certainly request a debate with our Minister of State, Senator Hackett, in the Chamber at the earliest opportunity. Senator Boyhan is right that there are ongoing issues and this has been going on for a number of years, with particular difficulties in getting a licence to fell trees. As licences have been given to people to plant, they have a reasonable expectation that they would be able to fell those trees at a certain point, given they have invested in doing that. It is unfair to give a licence to go in and not come out, and that needs to be dealt with.

Senator O'Sullivan acknowledged that yesterday marked 100 years since the beginning of the Civil War, which he was right to say was a very dark day in Irish history, and what came out of that. He also welcomed the archives project at the Four Courts and commended those who have worked very hard to pull that together.

Senator Paddy Burke welcomed the funding from the Connecting Europe Facility, CEF, the EU fund around transport, in particular the €2.5 million for Irish Rail. He has specifically requested a debate on the reopening of the Athenry to Claremorris railway line - the western rail corridor - for freight purposes.

Senator Black acknowledged the fantastic Pride parade that took place in Dublin and spoke specifically about the LGBTQI+ community and the inclusion strategy, and trans healthcare. We will certainly request a debate with the Minister for Health.

Senator Maria Byrne congratulated Kitty Hickey, who is retiring from the local post office, and she also alerted Members to the Pride march taking place in Limerick on 9 July. She also requested that debate on transport and aviation, in particular in regard to Shannon Airport.

Senator Gavan spoke this morning about the housing emergency that has been acknowledged by Limerick Council and he referred to those countermotions. I have dealt with the housing issue in response to Senator Boylan. There are issues with housing and we know that. However, we have a Housing for All plan, we have record levels of investment, we have commencements going up and we have several schemes in place to try to assist people, in particular first-time buyers and first-start individuals and couples, so there is a lot of work ongoing. We acknowledge there are particular difficulties in the rental market and we know that a lack of supply is the big issue. With commencements going in the right direction, more homes are being built and coming on stream, and we are seeing affordable and cost-rental homes come on stream as well. The Minister is doing a good job in that regard. We also acknowledge that there are, of course, still challenges and we need to do more. That is why we are putting record levels of funding behind the housing policy.

Senator Conway spoke about the fishing industry and has requested a debate on that. He also acknowledged and welcomed the pre-budget briefings we have all been facilitated to attend by different groups, in particular this morning by Family Carers Ireland and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which were in Buswells Hotel. I attended both briefings. I would agree with Senator Conway's remarks that some of the statistics and figures presented to us were stark. When we look at Family Carers Ireland, for example, 69% of family carers say they are in financial distress and one quarter of family carers are cutting back on heating their homes and on food, so there are some very stark statistics.I agree with what Family Carers Ireland said this morning, that is, that its asks are ambitious but not unreasonable. I have no doubt but that Ministers with responsibility across all areas, in particular the Minister for Social Protection and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, will look closely at those pre-budget submissions.

Senator Mullen spoke about Roe v. Wade. It will not surprise him to hear that I take a different view from that expressed in his comments, although I respect his right to articulate those comments in this House. He made points about the debate not being over and about the kind of media coverage we have here in comparison with that in the United States. The debate is never over and there will always be conflicting views. Yes, the media landscape in the US is diverse, but it is ugly, and the reports are very often not factually correct. I am not sure we want to go down that road in respect of the media. For the most part, our media do their very best to be balanced and fair. Senator Mullen may disagree with me on that, but I think we have a better standard of reporting in this country than there is in the United States.

As for the Senator's final point about abortions being regrettable and the need to reduce their number, we both sat on the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which made some strong recommendations on trying to reduce the number of crisis pregnancies. We have a long way to go yet to successfully implement those recommendations. As a country, we have a long way to go to get rid of the stigma still attached to being a single parent, particularly for single mothers. We know that single mothers are more likely to live in poverty and to drop below the poverty line, their children likewise. We are still trying to implement and to roll out the recommendation to have free contraception for 17- to 25-year-olds. There will be money in the upcoming budget to that end. It is quite perverse to think that it is free to get an abortion but not free to get contraception. It does not make sense. Abortions are decisions that people do not take lightly. Making abortion illegal does not stop abortions; it just drives them underground. We know that from the evidence Senator Mullen and I heard at meetings of the committee.