Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First, I thank everyone for their kind wishes. They are greatly appreciated. I could not agree with Senator Gallagher more. There is a race to digitalise society, which is grand, because it is much more efficient, less costly and much easier to manage but there is a whole cohort of people who cannot even send a text message. That should not be a judgmental kind of thing. It should be a recognition that there are people in society who we need to cater for. There are needs right across the spectrum.I commend the Letterkenny venue on doing what it did for the Donegal-Fermanagh match over the weekend. It should be rolled out in every aspect of life. Digitalisation is great. People can put in a passport application online on a Monday and have it in the post on a Wednesday morning and that is fabulous. However, we absolutely have to be mindful of the people who cannot do things in the new ways we are asking of them.

Senator Craughwell spoke about, as he has quite a lot in the past couple of weeks, our referendum. He is probably accurate in his concern regarding information and misinformation. I concur with him and advise people the booklet we have received from the Electoral Commission is truthful, honest and 100% accurate. I advise everybody who will receive it in their household to have a good read so that they know exactly what they are being asked to vote on on 8 March and, more particularly, what they are not being asked to vote on, which is important.

Senator Martin Conway spoke about the concerns he has with some of the teething problems we have heard about with the bottle return scheme. The most obvious issue was brought up by last week by our colleague, Vicki Casserly, who is councillor in Lucan, probably because she is living the life that Senator Conway lives. Something is going on that perhaps the rest of us do not appreciate. The machines are not accessible for people who have disabilities. There are major problems for people who have vision issues and it absolutely needs to be addressed by the organisers.

Senator Boyhan raised the issue of St. John of God Hospital. I am dismayed by the announcement of St. John of God last week. It came as a great shock to both the HSE and the Minister. It probably should not have come as a shock, given the negotiations and that difficulties the St. John of God Hospital has been has experiencing for the past number of years have been made known to Brendan Gloster and staff in the HSE. I hope the decision is not final and there is room for people to come back to the table and address the issues. St. John of God, like many other organisations that provide services on behalf of the State, is a wonderful organisation. The service users and clients who go there are all gorgeous people. The 3,000 staff we have go over, above and beyond to look after the people they work with day in and day out. It must be an awfully uncertain and unsure time. A resolution needs to brought as quickly as it possibly can. It needs to be done. I will ask for a briefing for anybody who wants it. We will see if we can get an official from the Department to come and speak to people who are interested in finding out what is going on.

Senator Alice-Mary Higgins spoke about social justice and healthcare. She is very passionate about that and has been for a long time.

Senator Ahearn is looking for news on when the announcements for sport capital funding and grants will be made. To be fair, all of our sports clubs have received confirmation that their applications are all good and they are just waiting to hear the good news. From being with the Minister last Friday in my own neck of the woods, we will get announcements on equipment before we get announcements on the capital projects. The final negotiations between the Minister and the Department of public expenditure and reform as to how much money he will have to spend are coming to an end, which will be great. We will all know, please God, sooner rather than later.

Senators Erin McGreehan, Emer Currie and Fintan Warfield all welcomed the positive news coming out of Northern Ireland and the shared island fund of the Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin. This morning, nearly €1 billion was announced over the next number of years that will benefit the likes of the A5 motorway, the observatories, the planetariums and the much-needed involvement and improvements in Casement Park, which is all very welcome. It shows that when people have hope, good policies and good politics deliver positivity for people. That is evident. I welcome that.

Senator Keogan spoke about a 50% reduction in mastectomy products for ladies who have had the awful cancer diagnosis and then changes and alternations to their body. I am at a loss to know why that would be done and I was not aware of it. I will make representations today and we will see what the reasons for it are, but I cannot think of any justification as to why. If a means test was introduced, it might a different thing. Women at such a vulnerable stage in their lives need to be supported and not have to be picky about what kind of equipment and clothing they would wear thereafter. I will come back on that later today.

Senator O’Loughlin spoke about the passing of Alexei Navalny last week. It is probably fair to say that none of us believe he passed away of natural causes. The two-week retention of his body that the Senator mentioned is just awful. His poor wife continued her plea at the Munich Security Conference even though his death had only been announced in the previous hours. One has to commend their patriotism to their people and to the political future they would like to see in Russia, as opposed to the cruel, brutal and barbaric one that the Senator described. I thank her for raising that.

Senator O'Loughlin also spoke about the attack on Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri. I listened to him on the radio the other day speaking about the awful experience he had. It is shocking that there are people in our country who are mean-spirited and racist to the extent where they would actually harm somebody.I thank the Senator for bringing it up this morning.

Senator Clonan asked for a debate but also the establishment of the task force that we all know is much needed. There does not appear to be any co-ordination between the multiple services that children in Crumlin, Tallaght or Temple Street hospitals need. He is looking for a debate and I will certainly see whether we can organise that.

Senator Cummins asked for a debate on our national aviation policy, particularly in line with his wishes for regional developments in Waterford, Shannon and Cork. We can certainly ask for that. Today, Senator Dooley opened by looking for a debate with the Minister, Deputy Foley, on the recent circular on the work of principals and the allocations of special needs resources to children who have additional needs in our schools up and down the country. I will try to organise that.