Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am just not aware of the debate this morning at the committee. We will make that debate request to the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, at the earliest opportunity. I take on board Senator Gavan's comments. In this House in particular, we are very good at debating human rights issues across the globe. Last week we had a motion on Iran, which I tabled. It received cross-party support. Nobody is suggesting that there is not a problem in Yemen. There is a massive crisis there. We know of the numbers of people who have lost their lives and will continue to lose their lives without proper support. There is a shared vision in this House to address human rights abuses across the globe. That is evidenced by the many debates that we have in this House on issues. We debate not just Ukraine but also issues around Afghanistan and Iran. There have been other debates happening in the House. I welcome the tabling of a motion, perhaps from the Senator himself, about Yemen and I would look forward to debating that in this House at the earliest opportunity.

Senator Keogan spoke about the energy prices. I was at that committee meeting this morning. It was sobering and a very clear message that this is not going to be a short-term issue. We will be dealing with colossal energy prices because of the global issues that every country is facing. It is predominantly because of the reduction in gas supplies from Russia, about which we learned this morning that the European Union imports 40% of its gas from Russia and we are now just getting 9%. The numbers are just not stacking up. Particular solutions were put on the table this morning by our two witnesses around ensuring that we have proper gas supplies, that we look at increasing the use of renewables and the really important message that we try to reduce our consumption because that is the thing we can do best in the short term. It would be difficult but it is doable, as one of our witnesses pointed out this morning. I take on board the Senator's comments about the rising prices across economies and where we are heading. Thankfully, because Ireland's economy has been well managed in recent years, we are in a position to weather that storm and we are doing quite well on that front. That does not mean that we will not have challenges. The recent budget package put forward by the Ministers for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform, and the significant support across all sectors of society, including business and citizens, show that we are doing a good job on that front. We only have to look at to our very close neighbours to see what can happen when an economy is mismanaged and how quickly things can deteriorate.I hope people recognise that a good job is being done by those in government on that front.

Senator Murphy raised a specific issue relating to Roscommon. I send my best wishes to that community and those people and thank the Senator for raising the matter. I do not have an answer for him with regard of the restrictions there but it is important that it is raised in this House. It might be an appropriate subject for a Commencement matter because it is quite specific. We can then take the issue on after that and see what we can do with it.

Senator Cummins spoke about the tenant in situscheme and a bus service in Waterford operated by the Lynch family and welcomed the fact that Bus Éireann and Local Link are taking over that service and there will be no loss of service to the community there. Senator Maria Byrne spoke about the waiting list for driving tests. She welcomed the sod-turning by the Minister for Health of the 98-bed facility at University Hospital Limerick but said there was still a challenge there in terms of numbers on trolleys. Thankfully, the number does appear to be coming but it still needs to be addressed.

Senator Craughwell commended highly the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and agreed that he has done good work. He is the first Minister to hold that office so there is probably nobody to compare him to directly but it is worth noting that it was Fianna Fáil that brought in free second-level education in 1967. Because of that, the money was no longer needed for scholarships. That money was then redirected into the higher education grants we now have. Higher education grants through local authorities were introduced by Brian Lenihan Snr. in 1968. This opened up third level education to thousands of people across the country. Free second level education and third level grants really assisted people in getting into third level education. It was a transformative period in education and one not to be forgotten. I commend the good work currently happening.

Senator Burke requested a debate on forestry. He agreed with the suggestion that time should be allocated to elected members of local authorities to take time off from work where they do not have to use their annual leave. I think lots of people would agree with that. It is easy to implement in the public sector but difficult to implement in the private sector. We do not want a two-tier system so it is definitely one for the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Peter Burke, to consider.

Senator Carrigy raised the lack of services for children with additional needs and the difficulty faced by the HSE in hiring staff. Senator Boylan spoke about the emergency powers Bill that will be going through next week. It was requested that pre-legislative scrutiny be waived at committee. We will have those Bills next week. I do not have the schedule but there will be a group leaders meeting on Thursday to discuss next week's schedule so we might be able to discuss that. I take on board the Senator's issue around the treaty. Perhaps we could have a debate on this in the House. That request could be submitted to the Leader's office and we could try to get it scheduled.

Senator McGreehan spoke about the sheep sector and requested a debate on the future of the sector. She also congratulated RTÉjr for the Lámh signs included in its broadcasting. Senator Ahearn requested a debate on Irish Water with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which we will request. The Minister will be in the House next Thursday to deal with the residential tenancies Bill and a more general debate, so that may be an appropriate time to raise that issue with him. Senator Lombard asked for a debate on forestry, specifically questions around why the plan has not been rolled out. Senator Dolan spoke about Westdoc. I am aware of the challenges there. I would even question what kind of service those included in the service are getting because during any of my interactions with it, I have been told to go to accident and emergency, so there are challenges there. There is a huge limit on what it can do. If you have one or two certain symptoms, straight away it will not deal with you, so it is a limited service depending on where you are even if you are included in that bracket. Senator Kyne welcomed the redesignation of the four hospices from section 39 to section 38 organisations. This move was also welcomed yesterday. It is fantastic news so well done to the Minister for Health and the HSE.

Senator Ward spoke about socialising opportunities for new mothers. I concur with his remarks. I know from personal experience that public health nurses tend to get involved in that space. It is quite ad hocand is not uniform across the country. There are mother and baby or toddler groups. The public health nurse would usually direct new mothers as to where to go to get information. I find family resource centres tend to provide that information but, again, I am not aware of what the situation in Dún Laoghaire is like. It probably relates to the lack of uniformity. It depends on the public health nurse and the information they have. There have been significant difficulties over the past couple of years where those groups were not operating, particularly during Covid, and lots of mothers missed out. Because of that, there were many resulting mental health issues, isolation and trauma. These groups are hugely important and having a more standardised and uniform scheme implemented through the hospital system would be really good. This would be a good subject for a Commencement matter to get the ball rolling on the debate.