Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We talk about being allies in this Chamber and I believe most of us are allies. However, we need to take responsibility for the things we say if they cause hurt or harm and make people feel less safe in Irish society because our words have real consequences.

I completely agree with Senator Currie that UK politics is experiencing a very turbulent time. This morning, the current Prime Minister, and soon to be former Prime Minister, used the term "Them's the breaks". Those three little words show his disdain and disrespect not just for his office but for the party he said he was so proud to lead in the last number of years. I believe and hope that when there is a new Prime Minister it will be the time, as Senator McGahon has asked, to have a debate on restoring the relationships we have not just with Northern Ireland but also with Westminster and our colleagues across the water. I know Senator Currie will play an enormous part in that.Senator Garrett Ahearn spoke about the five routes that have been picked for selection for public consultation on the new, much anticipated and much awaited road from Cahir to Waterford. I hope that we would not do something as Irish as to pick a route that would actually deprive people of an amenity, and particularly in rural Ireland where we do not have parks the way one might have in urban settings. I certainly concur with the sentiments expressed by the Senator Ahearn.

Senator Maria Byrne spoke about dementia support, as others did. Representatives of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland are across the road in Buswells Hotel following their briefing. If anyone has not yet managed to get over there, they might do so later on. The Senator also highlighted a debate request on public transport, as has been made previously, arising from the cancellation of the coach from Dublin to Castletroy, which is a tremendous pity.

Senator Victor Boyhan mentioned the Order of Business, as did other Members, and I will come back to this.

Senator Micheál Carrigyspoke about the Alzheimer Society of Ireland. The Senator also asked that the spinal muscular atrophy, SMA, test be included in the budget considerations this year. Another colleague had also raised this issue in the last week. It is a €5 test. It is nothing in comparison to the impact of catching that horrible disease early. The impact, especially for the families of the children involved, would be enormous. I concur with Senator and support his call.

Senator Dolan spoke about the future funding of higher education report. I look forward to having a debate on this, which I will organise as soon as I can once we come back after the summer recess.

Senator Hoey spoke about Our Lady's Hospital in Navan and the proposed changes by the HSE. I believe we have been listening to this for 12 or 13 years. I wish the people well at the rally on Saturday but a resolution needs to be found. We cannot keep having the same conversation. Ultimately, the clinicians are telling us that the service is not safe. Nobody wants a service that is not safe. We either fix the service and make it safe, or give the transitions to the other hospitals and ensure the transitions are given to the other hospitals. As the Senator said, we have examples that we certainly should be learning from, and they are not good examples. I thank her for raising the issue this morning.

Senator Mullen spoke about dementia care and the fact that we must value care. The Senator also spoke about the dangers of populism. I wrote down some of his words this. We need to set an example that we never play the person and we only ever talk about policy. To be fair, however, one can see, both in this House and the other Chamber, that there are lots of examples where we do not play the policy and we are concentrating on playing the person, which is a real shame. We all have a responsibility to make sure that we heed the Senator's words.

Senator Buttimer spoke about challenging respectfully. It is interesting that we are all on the same page about having respect, and not just for the people we represent or the debate we are having, but also for each other. Senator Boyhan also spoke about the dignity in work policy this morning, yet it does not seem to translate when we have the debates. We need to recheck ourselves and recheck our mindset as to what we think treating somebody with dignity actually means.

Senator Buttimer also spoke about Pride in the month of June. We have Limerick Pride on Saturday. The Cork trans campaign is ongoing and looking for support. The Senator is looking for a wider debate, particularly around LGBT supports for people with Alzheimer's.

Senator McGahon spoke about British-Irish relationships and how much they have deteriorated.

Senator Keogan spoke about re-examining the schedule next week, which I will come back to. The Senator also mentioned the advocacy group Transgender Equality Network Ireland, TENI. I wrote a note here on the standard practice of not impugning people. She made a reference to a particular gentleman who is not in the Chamber. I remind all of us not to be "stealing your clothes and taking your job". The standard practice of this Chamber, and all Chambers, is not to impugn anybody who is not here to defend themselves. I remind all of us about this standard practice this afternoon.

Senator Martin Conway spoke about the Alzheimer Society of Ireland's call for €20 million for dementia services in Ireland.

Senator Eileen Flynn spoke about Traveller Pride and the reports that we are going to discuss in this House - and I hope that all Senators will discuss it here next week - on mental health, health, education, accommodation and violence in the Traveller community. It is something we should all be mindful of, and particularly around some of the challenges that the Traveller community have that the rest of us do not and maybe do not appreciate. Senators could probably listen and learn a lot next week. I am looking forward to that.

Senator Sherlock asked for an amendment to the Order of Business this morning, which I am happy to take. She also spoke about the Why Not Her? campaign and welcomed Linda Coogan Byrne to the Chamber earlier this morning to support that campaign.

Senator Lynn Boylan spoke about Sinn Féin's motion on the Energy Charter Treaty. I assume that we will debate this during the party's next time schedule. I thank the Senator for that.

Senator Michael McDowell raised the Order of Business and I will come back to that.

Senator Seery Kearney welcomed the international surrogacy report yesterday. Finally we are on the roadmap to having equality for all of our children in the State, which is great. I am very mindful, and I did not realise until the Senator said it, that the report is so highly regarded that it may form part of a future international convention. On behalf of, hopefully, all of the Senator's colleagues I would like to put on record a very big thank you for the amount of work Senator Seery Kearney has done, along with other colleagues, in recent weeks to make sure of this body of work, which is so highly respected and regarded. We just need to get it into legislation as quickly as we can. I welcome that and wanted to put it on the record.

Senator Fiona O'Loughlin spoke today about the need for change around the recent awful announcement of what happened in the hospital in Cork with organ incineration. I cannot even begin to imagine what the families must be feeling. We must be mindful of the standards to which we hold ourselves in delivering public services, and by Jove, the HSE certainly failed in those standards to the families of those 18 babies.

Senator O'Loughlin also looked for a debate on inclusive transport, particularly with regard to a long overdue replacement for the motorised transport scheme, which was stood down in 2013.

I wish to pay our condolences, not only to our Fianna Fáil colleagues but also to the families of Councillor Jerry O'Dea and Councillor James Tobin. We acknowledge their passing recently.

I will now address the Order of Business, and specifically some of the comments that Senator McDowell made. We have a leaders' meeting every Thursday at which the Order of Business is presented to the group leaders. We get it and we agree or we do not agree at that weekly meeting what the Order of Business will be for the following week. This happens every Thursday, just in case the Senator is not aware.

I was in this Chamber last Thursday explaining to Members that I would probably be coming to them this week, somewhat reluctantly but there was no doubt I would have to do it, to give them the heads-up that I would probably be using the guillotine, and asking them to do all Stages of certain Bills this week. I said that I would give them plenty of notice and, indeed, I did that. On the third point, there was one request at the Order of Business on Tuesday from Members of the Opposition for us to revisit the schedule this week. We sat down on Tuesday afternoon, we revisited the schedule, and we changed that on the request of Members of the Opposition. This is why we got a new Order of Business yesterday. I am aware that the new Order of Business was not acceptable subsequent to that, but on the request change it, we did change it. The Senator's assertion that no attempt was made to discuss the business taking place is wrong on three counts. I ask him to withdraw that, just to be fair.

I totally accept that there are concerns around the schedule next week, and the Senator is entitled to raise his concerns on the Order of Business. He also incorrectly stated that he would have no opportunity next week. There will be an Order of Business on Tuesday and the Senator can object then. There will be an Order of Business on Wednesday and he can object then. The reason there is no Order of Business on Tuesday is it is an extra day and we do have a lot of work to get through. Please do not be the person who says, "Oh me, I never got notice before and I am really not happy". There have been, at numerous stages, discussions and information flow from myself and from the Seanad Office. I understand and appreciate that the Senator does not like the order next week but we have a body of work to do and I only have a certain amount of time in which to do it. That is the order as it is. It stands, as amended, only to include Senator Marie Sherlock's amendment.