Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Senator Horkan made the point that diplomatic relations are always important. Diplomatic relations have been never more important than now in terms of the relationships that we have with both EU countries and countries outside of the EU. I would like to add my voice of congratulations to Mr. Rodney Walshe who has served as Honorary Consul General in New Zealand. It is quite incredible that he has given 40 years of service in a voluntary capacity. I wish him well in his life and I have no doubt that he will continue to work on behalf of Irish people, particularly in New Zealand.

Senator Horkan also made a special plea for people to be vigilant on the roads over the forthcoming bank holiday weekend. It has been a very tragic year as many people have been killed and injured who were pedestrians, car drivers and motorcyclists. As the Senator said, a lot of this about enforcement and education but vigilance is also really important. As he said, accidents happen a split second. I agree with him that we can all use our social media accounts to call it out and to say how important road safety is. I thank him for his suggestion. The Senator has also asked for a debate on Dublin Airport and I certainly will request that.

Senator Joe O'Reilly spoke about the budget and improvements for children, and the need to do more with CAMHS and to reduce waiting lists. Last week, a number of us met the Taoiseach about a child poverty unit. I made the point that children are doubly disadvantaged, particularly those who need extra interventions and supports. The child poverty unit certainly has a role to play in all that. The Senator has made a noble call and this issue is something to which we always need to respond.

Senator Mullen spoke about the Joint Committee on Health meeting last week in terms of the review on abortion legislation, the survey of 58 women who had undergone abortions and professionals and the mandatory three-day period. He questioned the independence of the independent chairperson. I will not comment on that one way or the other. I am not a member of the joint committee. I have no doubt that Senator Mullen made his views and observations very well known at meetings of the Joint Committee on Health, as he does here and he is perfectly entitled to do that. The Senator mentioned that there was no mention or query about the practice in other jurisdictions. We always need to examine best practice in other jurisdictions and, therefore, it is important that we call for the information to be made available. I recall when the report came out asking questions about the 2% of women who had not come back after the three-day period. From memory, I was told at the time that this may have been due to women miscarrying or whatever. We need to have a little bit more on the matter.

Senator Boylan spoke about Gaza and the welcome release of hostages. Again, she painted the very horrific picture of what is happening there. Everyone is bearing witness to the horrific and shocking situation that we are seeing in Gaza. As I have mentioned before, having visited the region and made friends both in Gaza and Israel through a kibbutz in which I worked, it is shocking to see the situation in hospitals. The Senator outlined a number of statistics. Yesterday, we learned that 1,500 pregnant women are expecting babies in the next 60 days. Obviously, they are getting ready to deliver but there are no supports whatsoever for them at the moment. The Senator was right to call out the European Parliament and the US. I do not know how anyone can say that a ceasefire would only help Hamas and I was incredibly shocked when I heard that.