Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Senator Ward spoke about Seachtain na Gaeilge, which is important. We should all learn from Paul Mescal and use a cúpla focal, agus mise freisin.

Senator Ward mentioned the exhibition pertaining to the 26 females who are or have been MEPs, which was opened last week by Frances Fitzgerald.Obviously we should support that and take the opportunity to see it.

Senator Ward also mentioned the number of refuges for victims of domestic violence and welcomed the good news that Dún Laoghaire is about to open one. I know that when Councillor Mary Hanafin was mayor last year, that was one of her priorities. That said, while it is welcome that the number of refuges will double, we will still only be at 50% of the capacity per head of population that is outlined in the Istanbul Convention. It is good to see progress but we have nowhere near the number refuge spaces we should have.

Senator Ward also made a plea for an improvement in the rates paid to lawyers working in the criminal courts. He said that the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform needs to make a decision on this forthwith. I have no doubt the Senator will raise the matter with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe.

Senator Casey, along with Senators Conway and Cummins, spoke about the importance of the Thomas Meagher flag and how wonderful it was to see the celebrations over the weekend. They all complimented the Leas-Chathaoirleach on his work on this. Senator Casey also raised the issue of short-term letting legislation and argued that it is important to have a debate on it. He outlined the link between tourism and accommodation, both of which are intertwined, and made the point that the short-term letting legislation could be useful in cities but that rural Ireland is different. He called for a debate on dividing the country vis-à-visthe short-term letting legislation. He said that Fáilte Ireland has a critical role to play but that the focus should be on cities. We will try to arrange that debate, which is important, and will contact the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media regarding same.

Senator Mullen called for a debate with the Ministers for Health and Education on the new proposed relationships and sexuality education, RSE programme. He asked "Who is he?" in reference to the Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin. He is a former Taoiseach and a former Minister for Education who actually introduced the very first RSE programme over 20 years ago. As we know, the world and society have changed since then, not always for the better, so it is important that we have an updated RSE programme.

One of the best things I ever did in my life was volunteer with the Samaritans many years ago. The training course I undertook taught me an awful lot about respecting and understanding difference and about being non-judgmental. We all need to respect difference. We do not always have to understand it but we should try to treat each individual with respect and dignity. I happened to be in a home recently where transgenderism and cross-dressing came up on the television and I heard the parent of two primary school daughters speaking about it in a very natural way. I attuned my ear to the conversation because it is something we are all concerned about. We want respect in the debate we have. I certainly have no issue with the House having a debate as long as there is sensitivity, respect and tolerance. We will ask for that debate.

Senators Martin and Malcolm Byrne spoke about Congressman Brian Donnelly who was a true friend to Ireland. He worked in a bipartisan way to support peace and was a very strong advocate for Ireland, not least through his work on the Donnelly visa.

Senator Boylan spoke about the eviction ban and said that this Government does not care about those in need of housing, which is certainly not true. She did acknowledge that the eviction ban was not going to solve all of the problems with housing.According to an announcement made last night and again this morning, new measures have been rolled out, including introducing 1,000 targeted leasehold units, securing 1,500 tenant in situpurchases in 2023. More than 9,100 social housing units will be bought this year, which is huge. A new opportunity to buy will be put in place to give tenants the first right of refusal on their home and a cost-rental backstop will be put in place to allow approved housing bodies, AHBs, and local authorities buy units for cost rental where the tenant cannot buy or qualify for social housing. According to the figures, almost 30,000 units were built in 2022. That is the highest number since 2008. That is very significant and something we cannot lose sight of. Almost 7,000 social housing units were built over the past 12 months. Though it is a disgrace they were empty in the first place, 1,500 empty council houses were returned to use.

There were other victims of the eviction Bill. I raised the issue of a young couple through a Commencement matter only last week. This was only one particular couple of the many who had come to me in this regard and who made many sacrifices to be able to try to buy a house. They bought a house, went sale agreed but because of the eviction Bill, they could not take ownership of the house or draw down their mortgage. Their mortgage had gone up at this stage by €200 a month and if the eviction Bill was to go on beyond April, it was going to rise by another €100 a month. That was a situation where they were a victim and ended up going back to their parent's homes. It was a difficult situation, and I am sure it was a difficult decision for Government to make. There is the scenario where some people may decide to sell or whatever, but there will be many people in rented situations who have good relationships with good landlords and they will be able to continue. It is always important to say that.

Senator Clifford-Lee raised the imminent sale of Nazi memorabilia through which people could profit from the most horrific human rights abuse of the past number of generations. It is wrong that an auction house in this country is making money on the back of an instance of the most horrific human rights abuse. Holocaust survivors live here. The next generation following the Holocaust survivors also live here and as we all know, trauma passes through generations. The Senator is correct that nobody should profit from what happened and legislation should be introduced. We certainly will contact the Minister in that regard.

Senators Emer Currie Joe O'Reilly and Michael Carrigy spoke about the "RTÉ investigates" programme. It was shocking. I did not see the whole programme; I saw a little bit of it. It is dreadful to see how this area is unregulated. People are putting their trust in so-called professionals and it has a huge impact on people. CORU and the Minister have made an agreement to phase regulation in. It is not happening quickly enough. I also spoke here recently about Therapists for Change because psychotherapists also want regulation. They want to be involved in CORU and they should be able to help with much of the work that is needed but at the moment, they cannot because they are registered. It is quite shocking to see that those without any qualifications whatsoever are being used. We will speak to the Minister on that.

Senator Sharon Keogan called for a debate with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on the tech industry. The Senator is absolutely right. It is very concerning when we see what is happening around the world and its impact on Ireland. We will most certainly look for that debate.

Senator Malcolm Byrne spoke about the Antarctic Treaty and the Shackleton Museum. We welcome him back from his recent trip there and look forward to hearing more about it. We will write to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Martin, regarding the Antarctic Treaty and ask about that. As regards the report the Senator mentioned and concern about the Naval Service in terms of both operational ships and the number of naval recruits, we will look for that discussion. We had quite a long discussion in December on the Commission on the Defence Forces but we will look for another one. Senator Joe O'Reilly also looked for some comfort with regard to waiting lists and assessments of those who are waiting. Covid unfortunately exacerbated this. We will speak to the Minister of State and see if we can have a debate on that.