Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are eight now. I raised the issue on the floor because I was disappointed to see there were only five submissions and the closing date was 19 May. As the Senator said, it is an important area. A lot of good reforms have been carried out. Those who have concerns need to put their submissions in. The Senator is absolutely right to highlight it.

Senator Craughwell spoke about Ryan Cornelius, who has been in prison in Dubai for 17 years. I genuinely do not know anything about the situation but I note his wife is Irish. If Senator Craughwell sends me the details, I will forward them to the Tánaiste's Department. We will see what kind of movement we can get. Senator Craughwell also spoke about the Air Corps decision to move the CASA aircraft to Shannon and the decision to move the Garda helicopter to Edmondstown. He said that we have to be careful to make sure we do not lose highly skilled Department of Defence personnel in that area. We will ask the Tánaiste, separate from the debate on Gaza, to come to the House on that matter. They need to be two separate debates.

Senator Scahill spoke about the safe routes to school. They were designed for a specific reason; he is right about that. It is disappointing to hear they are not being continued. We will ask the Minister to come to the House on that matter and for it to be raised it at the transport committee. We could also ask for it to be raised at the education committee. It is important. They money spent was not huge but it made a real difference to make it safe for our children.

Senator Andrews spoke about the Glass Bottle site. It would be disappointing to lose the 550 affordable housing units. We are not doing enough on affordable housing. There are also concerns regarding the 350 social housing units. I cannot see a situation because of Part V in which they would be lost but I appreciate the Senator's concerns. I suggest he submit a Commencement matter specifically about the site. There are other partners. It is a significant area and Dublin badly needs it. He has our support. He also mentioned the sad passing of Garda Kevin Flatley. We had a minute's silence for him yesterday. It is so tragic. Everybody I know is completely shocked by it. He seems to have been a very fine man and was doing overtime in an area he would not normally be in when this happened. We think of his wife, daughters, family, neighbours and the community.

Senator O'Reilly spoke about the possibility of personal injury awards being increased by 17%. The Government did not suggest that; it was the Judiciary. The Judiciary presented a report to the Minister for consideration. The Senator is correct that it suggested a 17% increase. I raised this matter last week on the floor of the House. It would be incredibly regrettable. Businesses would go out of business if there was an increase. It would lead to increased legal fees. I am sure all Senators will join me in asking the Minister, although he has to consider it, not to recommend this. We are with Senator O'Reilly on that.