Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I express my deepest condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Vicky Phelan. She fought hard to live and she fought for others to live. I hope she is at rest. My thoughts are with her family and loved ones. I thank her for her work on behalf of all the women of Ireland.

It seems almost futile to go onto my next point after speaking about Vicky Phelan but I want to express concern about health and safety on the Dublin-Belfast train line. At off-peak times recently, there have not been enough rail carriages on the line, which is the busiest in the country. They are completely unsafe. People are squashed on to these trains. They are crushed. There are warnings at Dundalk that there is standing room only. It is really face-to-face room only. In the era of Covid, never mind any other health and safety issues, if people have a disability or any sort of illness, it is completely unsafe. We are coming up to a busy period of off-peak travel as people travel for shopping, to see family and for many other reasons. Iarnród Éireann and Northern Ireland Railways are aware of the problem. They are just not doing anything about it. We need an urgent resolution to this matter.

I support my colleague, Senator Ahearn, on having a debate on sheep. I have spoken often about sheep in this House. I was born and reared on a sheep farm. Sheep farming is part of the fabric of our rural community. Sheep farmers are getting older and sheep farming is an incredibly laborious job. We need to make sure we not only protect all sectors but that we place an emphasis on sheep farming because it has been the poor cousin for a long time.