Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Members who contributed today. Understandably, the main topic of debate was the elections, which I think have been exhausting for everybody, whether you are contesting or supporting candidates, and even being in the count centres until the early hours for the past few nights to watch it in action. It is a fascinating exercise to watch and see the scale of it, particularly the European elections and seeing the ballot papers, the count centre and all of the staff. Credit to those people who are working on our behalf to make sure that we can conduct elections. It is fantastic and, as Senator Seery Kearney said, it is a privilege to be able to vote in open and free elections and have a democracy. It is worth protecting and acknowledging that.

I think it was Senators Dolan, O’Reilly and others spoke about people who have lost their seats as well. I commend them on putting themselves forward, particularly existing councillors who might lose or have lost their seats; it is a difficult day when people have put so much work into something and it means so much to them. It is a difficult day for their families and supporters as well. I acknowledge all of those. When it is good it is good, but on a bad day, it feels bad.It will pass, other doors might open, and it is important to stay involved. Some counts are ongoing. We had two recounts in the same area in Mayo. It came down to one single vote, similar to what Senator Ward said. If you are going to lose, you want to lose by more than one. It is difficult. I am fascinated to watch all of that in action. I concur with the remarks of Senators regarding the media and local press in particular. There are still journalists and other media personnel in count centres who have been there through the night, broadcasting and writing up. I thank them for their work as well.

Senator O'Loughlin spoke about it being National Carer's Week. I listened to Newstalk Radio on the way to work this morning. That issue was being discussed. It was on the "Lunchtime Live" programme today as well. There is still a lot of work to be done in terms of carers, particularly around respite, to give people a break when they need it. It should be available without a battle, which is often the case for people. In particular, there are carers who are caring 24-7 for people with very challenging, full-time needs. They are in a particular bracket that requires more focus and more support. I acknowledge that it is National Carer's Week. I hope to see increased supports for carers in the upcoming budget. The Government has done a good job in the past four years and did its best for carers, but there is still work to be done.

Senator Dolan spoke about democracy in action and about her own local area and two candidates who went forward who did not make it this time. However, there is always the next time as well. Congratulations to them.

Senator Craughwell spoke about his experience attending the D-Day commemorations in Portsmouth and the way that UK veterans are treated there, in contrast to how we deal with our veterans or our Defence Forces here. There is a marked difference between the two countries. We need to do more to acknowledge the work and the service of our veterans across our Defence Forces, be they Army, Navy or Air Corps. I concur with the Senator's remarks on Billy Kedian's exceptional service and his loss of life in defending his comrades as well. The Senator also wanted to congratulate the Independents on their day yesterday, in terms of local elections. As Senator Horkan pointed out, they did not quite win in terms of numbers and the mathematics. Everyone can interpret the elections in their own way.

Senator Joe O'Reilly spoke about the recent dog attack and the woman who lost her life in Limerick. I concur with his remarks. We have to pick up the pace in identifying those breeds that are dangerous to the public. Sometimes we are quite good at setting up review groups and different committees to assess things and look for reports but there is a consensus now that certain breeds of dogs need to be banned. They have been banned in other countries. We have to move more swiftly on that front. I extend my sympathies to the woman's family and her community as well on that loss of life. There was a separate dog attack as well in which a young boy sustained severe injuries to his face.

Senator Malcolm Byrne, along with Senators Cummins and Seery Kearney, acknowledged the fantastic results we are seeing from Athletics Ireland in Rome. They are giving the country a great boost, in particular our female athletes who are fantastic and flying the Irish flag. We have great hopes for the Olympics as well after seeing this. I congratulate them on their fantastic results.

Senator Cummins requested a debate on national aviation policy. I have made the request. I will repeat the request to the Minister, Deputy Ryan and the Department and see if we can get him in. I suggest to the Senator, if it is possible also, to table a Private Member's motion on the topic. That is something I would absolutely be happy to schedule. That might accelerate getting the Minister into the House.

Senator Seery Kearney spoke about the elections but also smartphone use and the motion that was passed. I will follow up to see if any follow up work has been done as a result of the motion. There probably has not been a huge amount done, following the motion. I want to knowledge the work done by the Department of Education and the Minister, Deputy Foley, in terms of issuing guidance to schools. Parents are looking for help. That guidance has been really welcome. In a school where it has worked, parents have come together and there is a collective approach. However, it becomes more difficult in bigger schools, to get all parents on board. Nobody wants to be the only parent whose child does not have a phone when every other kid has a phone. There seems to be a tradition coming in where, around the time a child is confirmed, phones are purchased. It could be in fifth or sixth class. I do not think any child needs a phone in primary school. There are huge dangers. There is evidence building, as the Senator said. We have to try to protect our children from the online space. That is not to say there are not advantages to technology.We want children to be able to use the technology that is there but adults are addicted to their phones, never mind children. We can at least self-regulate better. There is a lot of work to be done in that space. Social media companies work to make sure children become addicted. They want children on their platforms earlier. They could absolutely enforce the digital age of consent if they wanted to - the technology is there - but they choose not to. We are going to have to deal with that through legislation and regulation.

Senator Mullen made the point that there are certain moves and election trends we could look at. These elections threw up things for us to reflect on. The Senator is right when he says there are messages to be taken from them. The Government parties have done very well in these elections, which is a good takeaway; the centre has held. People want stability and want the Government to continue the work it is doing. We have not lurched to the extreme right, which is great. However, there has been an increase in support for those types of candidates. That is democracy. The normal, middle-ground, reasonable politicians, as I see it, have taken the bulk of the seats across our local authorities and that is welcome for our society, for our democracy and for making sure we have stability in the country.

The Senator also raised concerns around making sure we have enough time to debate the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022. Of course we will have time to debate the Bill in the House. We look forward to that debate.

Senator Currie raised concerns around knife crime. She asked for support for the community safety partnerships and said we should all get behind them. We need to support community policing and involve the community in it. Knife crime is a particular concern. I agree with the Senator's remarks about getting in early and investing in communities and preventions. There is a correlation between knife crime and disadvantaged communities. We have to look at that. I would love to see more work and investment into youth diversion programmes, youth services, working with disadvantaged communities and making sure children have the supports they need from an early stage to, hopefully, prevent people from going into a life of crime.

Senator Ward spoke about the value of a single vote and a candidate's brother who was away on holiday. It is a lot to lay on one person. I am sure there were other people missing as well. It goes to show that every vote counts and every person's vote counts. It is important that we vote. Senator O'Loughlin referred to the turnout. It is not where we would wish it to be. We want to increase turnout in elections. It is low. A significant number of ballots in the European elections were left blank and that is something we need to work on.

Finally, Senator Flynn outlined the need to change a phrase in the context of a motion we are taking today without debate in the House. She spoke about the need to change "child pornography" to "child sexual exploitation material". It is worth following up with the Minister in this regard. There is Private Members' time available to her group to bring the Bill to the next Stage. I am happy to work with Senator Flynn on this and I commend her on her work in that regard.