Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Acting Leader and Cathaoirleach a good morning. I welcome H.E. Palm and Lieutenant Colonel Piso to our Chamber.

I wish to raise a couple of issues this morning, the first of which is the news yesterday from the Minister for Justice that there will be gardaí on duty at railway stations, starting at Heuston Station with a new Garda transport hub. I very much welcome this news and progress. I am keen to see this also rolled out in Connolly train station, which, of course, would affect my train line going through Dublin West and the interchanges to the Luas trams. It is important to trial this. It is good for tourism to have a Garda presence for people visiting the city. It is also good to look to other cities to see what works. Something that has been brought to my attention is that in Tokyo, Japan, there rae carriages for women at night. That is also something we could consider introducing on a trial basis.

I also want to mention the campaign the Neurological Alliance of Ireland has been running on multidisciplinary teams. I believe two community healthcare organisations, CHOs, are doing pilots in this area to which I want to lend my support. I have met in the course of my work and canvassing people who have young-onset Parkinson's disease. They are living with neurological conditions and see the potential for much more assistance with day-to-day support, and communicating the likes of the benefits of exercise and supporting well-being through information campaigns. It is a really important campaign. I want to see the pilots do well.

I also wish to mention the news yesterday that the report of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland on Councillor Patsy Kelly, who was killed in 1974, has been completed and released. He was failed by the police at the time according to this report. His family has been failed by the justice system and they will be failed by the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill if that is implemented in May. I take the opportunity once again to call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Taoiseach not to take anything off the table in fighting the prospect of this becoming law and people being cut off from routes to justice and truth for which they have been fighting for all those years.