Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The first thing I was going to do was to thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for having the moment of silence for peace yesterday. I very much appreciated that. All the schoolchildren from Scoil Bhríde Athgarvan appreciated that you came down and gave so much time to them at our St. Brigid's cross-making workshop. I thank everybody from across the House who came. It was wonderful to have the buzz of children showing parliamentarians and staff how to make those crosses. It was a very special day for them as, of course, it was for everybody across the county of Kildare and throughout Ireland.

I also thank the Department of Foreign Affairs for the excellent presentation last night and the film it put together about the creativity of Irish women across the world. It was wonderful to have the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Síofra O'Leary, and Professor Aoife Nolan who is now the president of the European Committee of Social Rights. It is great to have two such wonderful women leading the way in human rights and democracy across Europe. Well done to all of them.

Of course, there will be continued activities leading up to and including the bank holiday this weekend, which will lead us to the Brigid 1500 event next year. It is a really good time. We need moments of reflection like those in our lives when we can celebrate St. Brigid and her legacy. When I was growing up in Kildare, I always thought she was a very cool saint. When we see everything she stands for now, that is absolutely the case.

We often hear of and pressures on our hospitals across the country and it is right to call attention to that. It is also important to highlight when things go right. Over the weekend, unfortunately a family member of mine had to go to the emergency department and was admitted to Naas hospital. Although I was not there, I must say that the care and support given was incredible. It was second to none. There were no long delays. It might have just been a question of luck. I thank the staff at Naas hospital and other hospitals who give everything they have to ensure that all those coming through their doors are treated with dignity, respect and the care they deserve.

I wish to mention schoolbooks. We are very lucky to have excellent independent bookshops such as Farrell & Nephew in Newbridge and Woodbine books in Kilcullen. There are smaller shops which sell schoolbooks such as Natasha's in Rathangan. There is a lack of clarity about the free schoolbooks scheme to be introduced in September. It is vital that these independent bookshops and other shops have the opportunity to supply these schoolbooks, which provides a lifeline to keep them open. We need to send the message from here that that is really important to our local economy and our local shops.