Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I add my voice of welcome to the Polish ambassador and her team. I welcome Mary and Liam and friends. It is a great privilege and pleasure to have them here.

This morning I hosted a tea party in Leinster House as a fundraiser for the Alzheimer's society. I thank everybody for supporting it, both Members and staff. We were particularly pleased to have such strong ambassadors and advocates in Brian Murray and his partner Una. It is wonderful when one sees people who are living with dementia acting as peers, and talking about the difficulties and the stress. This is both to remove the stigma and to make us aware of all of the supports that are needed, not just for people with dementia, but for those who are caring and supporting. It is really heartening to see the number of full-time clinics that are opening around the country. When I spoke to the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Mary Butler, she said that the 42nd clinic is opening this weekend in Dungarvan. Multyfarnham is opening in about two weeks' time. I am looking forward to the full-time, permanent centre for Kildare. We have never had one, and that is going to be opening in Kildangan at the end of June or early July. Some 60,000 people live with dementia in Ireland. It is important we support the tea day, which is formally tomorrow, and I encourage everybody to do so.

There was a match of epic proportions on Sunday, and I want to extend my congratulations to Dublin. We are not sore losers in Kildare, but I want to say how proud I was of the Kildare team and management. In losing and in commenting afterwards, the Kildare manager Glenn Ryan made a very valid point in saying that Croke Park is not a neutral venue when Dublin is playing. It is important that we send a message to the GAA that that is the case and that we need to have fairer, more neutral venues for two warring teams. We do it for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, so we should do it for Croke Park.

Over the weekend, I also attended an event in the Curragh run by the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel, ONE, the organisation for ex-servicemen and veterans. It does incredible work, and it has four houses for veterans who are, sadly, homeless. We are looking to have one in Kildare, which is the heartland of the Defence Forces, because we have veterans who need support. It is not just veterans. We saw recently where a young woman, a serving soldier, and her child were made homeless, and there was no place for them in the Curragh. The Tánaiste has given a commitment that houses would not be demolished there. It is hugely important that in addition to those ten houses another 50 are added for serving and retired personnel and that we have an ONE premises in Newbridge for the St. Conleth's branch.