Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I just want to follow on from Senator Dooley's statement. It is a very interesting point. There is a cohort of Irish women in Irish society who are, unfortunately, on non-contributory pensions because of the way society acted. It is logical that this matter should be looked at. I could mention many people who came into my office who never met the criteria and do not have the ability to meet them.

The issue I wish to raise this morning is where we are with Covid. It is an unusual statement, I know. It has been said that we need to make sure our society is moving on, getting out there and interacting with people. In particular, older people should be able to move on with how they lived their lives before Covid. There is an interesting dynamic going on. The Cathaoirleach, being from Cork, would know this as well. We have huge issues with how we do our funerals in Cork. Traditionally, we have always done funerals exceptionally well. You could go to a removal at a home and the body was then taken to the church and left in the church overnight. People had the opportunity to go to the church in the morning and then you had the burial. There is a very bizarre scenario at the moment where the body only arrives at the church minutes before the funeral begins and is buried afterwards. It is becoming an issue. As we have moved on from Covid, the idea of people's loved ones being in a funeral home for the night before with nobody around them, rather than being in the church setting where so many of them would want to be, is becoming a big issue. Unfortunately, it is not being looked at. People are shy about saying it. They are generally shy about saying something is not right. I think it is not right. I would be really worried if one of my loved ones was in that scenario. We need a change here. The body should go be able to go to the church and stay in the church that night. As the Cathaoirleach will know very well from Cork, at the moment we have the bizarre scenario where they are turning up two or three minutes before the funeral and rushed to the graveside. We do funerals well. We do them really well. We need to go back to how we did them before because people need that opportunity.