Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

I am happy to accept the amendment proposed by Senator Keogan and seconded by my neighbour and colleague, Senator Sarah O'Reilly. I will revert presently to the substantive issue raised in the proposed amendment.

I thank colleagues for their many and varied contributions on a range of issues, all of which were pertinent and topical. Senator Ní Chuilinn raised one of the biggest contemporary issues, namely, the ongoing discussion regarding the wearing of skorts by camogie players. There is a nice piece on it by Miriam Lord in the newspaper today. Senator Ní Chuilinn is not only well placed to speak on this issue but passionately interested in it. She is a passionate advocate for women's participation in sports and their equality within sport. I was very happy to hear the announcement this morning that a special congress has been called for a few weeks' time to deal with this question. I hope there will be a sensible, realistic and modern-day outcome. I heard Aisling Maher being interviewed this morning on the topic. She made a very good point in expressing her hope that after this debate, we will continue to focus on camogie for the excellence and beauty of the game and its being one of the most wonderful traditional heritage games in our country, and that we will not just forget about it again when the feminist issue is sorted and put it back in the Cinderella spot. Aisling Maher, the captain of the Dublin camogie team, was correct to bring that into focus. I hope she will have the outcome to which she aspires. Well done to Senator Ní Chuilinn on raising the issue. I know she is passionate about it. I will take the matter to the Minister but I humbly suggest that the Senator also keep raising it with him. I hope she is correct that sanity and common sense will prevail this coming Sunday.

Senator Dee Ryan referred to University Hospital Limerick. It is always good to have a lot of new Members, as we do, but one of my vivid memories of the previous Seanad, if not the most outstanding memory, is of my great friend and colleague, Senator Maria Byrne, now the Leas-Chathaoirleach, and former Senator Paul Gavan, who was an excellent contributor, vying with each other to speak about University Hospital Limerick. They were outdoing each other with adjectives to try to show the gravity of the situation. They both did their job, as they should. It is sad that this issue is still ongoing and that Senator Ryan, who is a fearless advocate, must deal with it. I will take the matter to the Minister. We should have a debate on it. The situation there is a horror. There should be short-term measures to address the problems. I acknowledge there are plans for the medium and long term to deal with the many issues. It is not just a question of resources, as Senator Ryan knows well; there are management issues and many other questions. I agree with her that it needs an immediate strategy. It also needs a long- and medium-term strategy, a review of management systems and structures and an exploration of the systemic issues. I am glad the Senator raised the matter. That sounds like a horrible cliché but it is important to discuss it. It is shocking that we are back to the future, as it were, in trying to deal with the situation. As stated, there will be a long-term strategy at Christmas. However, we need to deal with this in the interim. Senator Ryan also referred to public transport in Limerick. My colleague Senator Sarah O'Reilly will agree that there has been a huge improvement in public transport in our area. This is one of the great legacies of the previous Government. There was a great improvement in the public transport network, and I hope that Limerick will not lose there. I know Senator Ryan, the Leas-Chathaoirleach and the fine people who represent Limerick will not allow it to fall off the agenda, but it is disturbing that there would be a deficit in a major city. That deficit needs to be bridged. I will take the matter up with the Minister for Transport. I humbly suggest that the Senator bring it to the transport committee also. Even if the Senator is not a member of that committee, she has right of audience. I recommend she does that or gets one of her colleagues to do it. I will certainly see that the issues she has raised are moved forward.

Senator Craughwell raised an issue that is dear to my heart for a very sad reason. There is a family who are neighbours of mine. They are good people who live in the Cootehill catchment area. They are a very well-known family and have a history of huge community endeavours spanning many years. One of the family's uncles, Tom Fitzpatrick, was Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil. One of the Fitzpatrick family lost their life in the awful tragedy a couple of years ago involving Rescue 116. That tragedy took the life of my young neighbour and drew a veil of sadness over our community, For that reason, I am very attuned to what Senator Craughwell is talking about. He made a very good point that the Air Corps is not a lobbyist on the issue. It is not an outside seeker of position. It is, in fact, central and should be the main entity here. The amount of money the Senator says has been spent - €800 million - is very high and calls the marking scheme into question. Needless to say, this issue will be raised by the Senator at the defence committee. I will make sure that it is brought to the attention of the Minister, arising from what has been said here. We will keep it on the agenda. It is an important issue, and I am happy that the Senator raised it. I salute and respect his bona fides and his knowledge of this matter.

Senator Nicole Ryan raised a question about the heartbreaking story of Melanie, one of her constituents, whose husband Dylan had cancer. He began chemotherapy and arrangements were made to have his sperm frozen. He gave his full consent for this. He signed the necessary forms clearly stating that Melanie could use his samples. Yet, when Melanie attended her consultation in January, those critical forms were missing from the digital system and there was only a hard copy that had not been scanned. They drafted a fresh document but now Melanie finds herself in a cruel limbo. Despite having legal consent and despite paying monthly to store Dylan's samples, she has been told there is no protocol for a widow in her situation. Of course, this is disturbing. She does not have the luxury of time. This needs to be dealt with. While the Senator called for debate on the whole area of fertility, grief, etc,, and reasonably so, both the specific case of Melanie and the late Dylan, God rest him, needs to be brought to the attention of the Minister for Health and investigated. Senator Patricia Stephenson, a colleague of mine, Senator Mullen and others on the Council of Europe, raised the question of Gaza. There is not one of us in this room, whether a Member or a member of staff, who is not tragically and painfully aware of the horror that is Gaza. That horror is increasing and has taken a shocking turn. It was genocide, a horror story with targeted destruction, of which children and women were the big victims. Houses were demolished and health schemes destroyed and there was no access for supplies. There was all of that but to think that an all-out ground offensive, a worse form of offensive, and the total demolition and takeover of Gaza are being planned and about to be executed fully, if not already mostly executed, is just tragic. I am heartened to know that the Tánaiste, Deputy Harris, is bringing the heads of a Bill on the occupied territories and trade with them to Cabinet.

RTÉ has raised the question of the Eurovision and there is a debate on it. All of this needs to be addressed. The Tánaiste made the point on "The Late Late Show" the other night that it is difficult to assess and control what is happening in the skies. Nonetheless, an effort must be made there too. Those points were well made by Senator Stephenson. There is not one person in this room or many a room who would have an issue with anything the Senator said or that Senator McCarthy said later. I spoke about this issue at the Council of Europe recently and posted my speech, in which I made the point that what is happening is a totally disproportionate response. It is of course necessary to say that what Hamas did on 7 October was wrong and that antisemitism is a horror. However, that is not what we are talking about. We are talking about a completely disproportionate, genocidal, inhuman response to a particular grievous incident.

Senator Costello raised breast care and the waiting lists for care, scans, etc., involved. This is a hugely important topic. Needless to say, it is a family issue and a people's issue. It is obviously a women's issue but not just a women's issue; it is a societal issue of gravity. I hope the position can be improved. I know the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is exercised about the issue. Having said that, it needs to be dealt with and we need specific results. The Minister should be invited to the House. I will make the Leader aware that we should have a debate on breast care and the ministerial response.

I have more than a passing interest and knowledge of Roscommon where I have a lot of good friends. Senator Scahill, my colleague and friend from the county, raised the pertinent issue of the hospitality sector. There are a number of challenges in hospitality. One that I anecdotally know about from experience and talking to friends is the huge staffing issue. As a result of societal change and for other reasons, it is very difficult to get staff for the hospitality sector. I am aware of hostelries that are closed for half the week and more for want of staff. That is a significant issue. There are also pricing issues. There has been a bit of a revival recently with the weather, and that is good.

Senator Scahill also spoke about bringing back the VAT initiative, which was probably one of the best initiatives of the then Government and Minister, Michael Noonan. I do not have to remind Senator Scahill, who is a man of extreme intelligence and rationality, that one of the issues with that initiative was the misuse of it by certain hoteliers and the price-gouging that occurred despite it. That has probably been its greatest enemy. That is not to take from the Senator’s argument, but the point needs to be made that it should not have been abused. Tragically, it was abused in the big cities, notably this one, and particularly at concert events and so on.That abuse lost public support for it. Having said that, the Senator's point is well made that there is an issue in hospitality. I would also remind the Senator, who is more than aware, that there have been rates remissions for the hospitality sector, that these have been very valuable, and they were an initiative of the last Government which will hopefully be continued by this one. I will take the Senator's point. We have an excellent Minister now, my neighbour in this area, the Minister for tourism, and I will bring the Senator's point to him. It is a point well made. He is actually visiting Cavan tonight and I will raise it with him personally on the fringes of that visit.

Senator Black, who is not with us at the moment, raised the question of the concrete blocks scheme. She acknowledged that Senator Boyle had raised this on the previous day. She was saying that there has been a delay in the payments. There has been a holding up of people who need the money to build new homes or to renovate their homes. The scheme is in a frozen state, not to flippantly use a term from conflict, and it was said that the scheme needs to be put into activity. The payments need to go out and people need to be compensated for the defective blocks, which is not their fault. I had the occasion to visit Donegal and to be brought around by former Councillor McGuinness to visit homes and see walls, and it was a horror to see the broken-down walls. It is through no fault of the homeowners who have mortgages and all of that. I will take Senator Black's point. We will bring it to the Minister. I will mention it to Senator Kyne again. Senator Black makes the point well and it needs dealing with.

Senator Davitt raised the point that genetic testing in Ireland is outsourced abroad and that we should have a national service. Without being patronising or showing partiality to a colleague of long standing, I do think Senator Davitt has a happy ability to bring very pertinent issues to the floor of this House and he is yet again correct. We do need to have this service within this country, to make it available here and not to be outsourcing it. We should never outsource anything that can be done in this country. Action needs to be taken on that.

Senator Mark Duffy raised the question of the ambulance response time in Mayo, specifically in Bangor Erris, if I heard him correctly, Belmullet and that area. I have a very good friend, Councillor Coyle, there, a wonderful individual and quite a character who has a huge family history in this State from its foundations. Councillor Coyle keeps me abreast of these things too. Senator Duffy makes a really good point that we cannot have a two-hour waiting time for an ambulance. My middle son was grievously ill a few years ago and thank God, the ambulance arrived within 20 minutes. Were the ambulance to have been an hour late, let alone two hours, I would not be standing here today. That is why I get the point, and anyone sane gets the point. We cannot have a two-hour wait for an ambulance. By definition, the need for an ambulance means that two hours is too long. Senator Duffy is right to bring this to the floor of the House. This point must go to the Minister. I humbly suggest that he raise the matter with his local HSE officials as well and that he gets it raised at local level. It needs to come on to the national and local forums. It is a horror. The Senator wants to wish his under-12 football team well in the all-Ireland and I think that is a reasonable wish. It is a great credit to them that they have reached the all-Ireland. I hope Senator Duffy will have a good day at the match and that they will win.Senator Andrews raised the pertinent question of the barriers around Mount Street, which I understand extend to the canal. Thank God, the tents are gone and there has been somewhat of an alleviation in the situation that gave rise to the barriers in the first instance. There was a health and safety exercise, among other things, at that time. The barriers should of course be removed. Dublin is a great tourism location. It is our capital city and attracts a phenomenal number of visitors during the summer. For that reason, anything that is an eyesore and blight on the tourism product and life for local people, traders and so on is wrong. The Senator is correct to raise this point. It behoves the Government and city council to respond immediately. Without getting into any party political issues, the Minister for Justice is quite local and should surely be as conversant as the Senator is on this issue. It is to be hoped he will respond and I have no doubt he will. The issue requires a response. As the Senator said, there are family homes, traders and so on close by. The situation needs to be dealt with and I will bring the matter forward.

My neighbour from down the road at home and somebody who is a fearless advocate for our community, Senator Sarah O'Reilly, pertinently and correctly raised an issue. One of our jobs is not only to seek investment in public schemes, works and services, but to also ensure that there is not wasteful investment and that there are results. That is as much a function of a public representative as to call for further investment. We must ensure that money invested is used well. The Senator made the point that the TB scheme had a disappointing outcome. I am of a certain age and happen to remember the scheme as a child. It was consistent over many years and the story did not alter over that span of years.. The scheme still seems to have the same aspiration and has not dealt with TB in any comprehensive fashion. The Minister will make announcements today, I gather. I understand that to be the case; I am not au fait with the elements thereof. I accidentally had a good chat with him when meeting an Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association, ICSA, delegation that was visiting the Minister, Deputy Heydon, this morning. It was led by our neighbour from west Cavan, Hugh Farrell, general secretary of the ICSA, and met the Minister to discuss the badger cull. Members of the delegation told me there was a staffing shortage in the section. It is difficult to recruit staff and there are not always enough resources to keep them going. It is lunacy that we would not adequately staff the section if the scheme has been in place for so long and is not getting the desired result. It is a shocking hole for money and a waste of public expenditure for 40 or 50 years. The matter needs to be dealt with. I congratulate the Senator for raising the matter. I will bring it forward to the Minister. It will be interesting to see what arises from the Minister's response today. I understand he will respond in a public sense today; I am anecdotally aware that he is so doing. We will have to see. He will make a statement shortly, if he has not done so already. I have no difficulty with suggesting a debate. It is reasonable that the Senator would call for that.

All I can say to Senator Kennelly, my Kerry colleague, is to remind him, in the spirit of personal and social banter, of the time we beat Kerry in 1947 in the Polo Grounds. Sadly, we are still dining out on that one. We have had some victories since, but that was the last big victory over Kerry. I never cease to remind him of it.To get more to the point, he raised a number of questions. He raised the case of the Gabrielyan family, who, he tells us, were the victims of flooding two or three times. He is right to advocate for them. It should not be the case they were flooded two or three times. The amount of compensation they have been offered is not adequate to provide an alternative home, and that is a nonsense. You would be better offering them nothing than gratuitously and insultingly offering them something that will not get an alternative home. It is a question that I humbly suggest the Senator pursue on a personal basis with the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, but it should and will also be brought to him as a consequence of today. It is hoped proper compensation will apply. It is very little in the context of our national budget. It is shocking that these kinds of arbitrary exercise take place and families suffer in this fashion. I agree with the Senator that something needs to be done. Am I correct that he said that they were three times flooded? Yes. That is the point I wanted to bring out. That is shocking. That adds insult to injury. It was a point well made and it will be brought forward. I suggest the Senator, as he probably is doing, go into dialogue with the Minister of State.

Senator McCarthy eloquently, as always, raised the question of Gaza and Hamas, as was raised earlier by Senator Stephenson. I responded then, and I make the same response to Senator McCarthy. It is one of the shocking blights on humanity. When our grandchildren get to be ten and 12 and are aware of the world, read a bit of history and hear things, they will ask us what we did about Gaza, did we go to the protests, did we stand up against what was happening, and did we speak against it if we were in public life. It is a shocking horror. It is a blight on humanity. It is terrible that it should happen in the cradle of civilisation and the cradle of Christianity. This inhumane action and collection of actions are terrible. Imagine keeping food, medical supplies and water from people. Imagine indiscriminately bombing and razing homes and people in pursuit of Hamas personnel, for example, bombing 1,000 people in pursuit of maybe two Hamas personnel. It is a travesty. I lack the English to properly describe it, and I think most of us do. I agree with Senator McCarthy about that.

Senator Boyle raised a point. I was a member of Cavan County Council for 20 years-----