Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Senators for their contributions. Senators O'Loughlin and Tully spoke about the tragic case of Clodagh Hawe and her three children. First, I acknowledge the incredible bravery of Jacqueline to be able to speak about this tragic incident that happened to her sister and her nieces and nephews and to write a book about it. Senator O'Loughlin raised the serious crime review findings. They need to be released. There is an opportunity for the Minister for Justice to come to this Chamber. The Minister, in fairness to him, has always been accommodating to come to this Chamber since his appointment as Minister for Justice. If there are 212 recommendations, it is important they are put in place as quickly as possible. I think everyone who heard the story of that murder from number of years ago would be heartbroken that innocent children were murdered by their own father. Senator O'Loughlin also raised the issue of electronic health records and sought an update from the Minister. I will ask the office to do that. I was in hospital for a number of weeks a year and a half ago after an infection. It is all done through paper. It would be so much simpler for all hospitals across the country if it were done electronically. It is something we have waited a long time for, and it would help the patients, doctors and nurses, and GPs in particular. I will get the office to do that.

I smiled when Senator Ní Chuilinn brought up the issue she raised. I was probably the only Senator - actually, Senator Clifford-Lee was another - who used to raise hyperemesis gravidarum in this Chamber. In fairness to the previous Minister for Health - most Ministers for Health receive a lot of criticism, and rightly so, although sometimes unfairly - he did an awful lot for women's health, and one of those things he did was to make Cariban available to women who suffer from hyperemesis gravidarum during pregnancy. As the Senator said, it is an incredibly debilitating illness. People think it is just morning sickness or normal pregnancy, or sometimes that people are overexaggerating how much they are suffering from it. It is something I am quite familiar with, however. It is important that changes have been made, but I agree with the Senator that it cannot be the case that some areas in the country receive the top-quality service they need but other areas do not receive the same type of service just because guidelines have not been updated and they are not as informed on or included in the health strategy. That needs to be improved. I will talk to the Minister about that issue.

Senator Tully spoke about the delays on appeals to An Bord Pleanála. Every one of us in this House has examples right across the country where we see delays. We all have different perspectives, but everyone acknowledges that housing and the building of houses is the number one priority for all of us. In fairness to the Minister for housing, that is why he is looking at ways to speed up processes, and An Bord Pleanála is one of them. The Senator is right; an awful lot of funding has been put in place to try to speed this up and there have always been delays in terms of objections. That needs to be looked at to a certain extent. However, we cannot have a situation where we are seeking to build houses, particularly for young people right across the country, and waiting 14 or 15 months for An Bord Pleanála just to make a decision. I will raise that with the Minister.

Senator Craughwell raised the issue of AIB shares being sold. He touched on the stress many people have suffered over the past 15 years in terms of loans or mortgages they had that were sold to vulture funds. It is an incredibly distressing time for those people and their families in particular. Unfortunately, I am aware of one or two people in County Tipperary who actually died by suicide because of the stress that was caused by vulture funds putting immense pressure on them and their families. That is something that certainly needs to be addressed. However, it is important that shares have been bought back by AIB. It has been a long time coming from where we were back in 2008. I take the Senator's points, however.

Senator Boyle referred to the fact that he was with his daughter in an accident and emergency department and witnessed a woman with disabilities who had been waiting for 10 hours. That is utterly unacceptable. I suggest that he write to the Minister on it. All decisions that are made in a hospital are made by people working in the hospital in terms of who is seen first or second, but it does seem utterly unfair that someone who has severe disabilities would not be prioritised in some way in terms of being looked after. I ask the Senator to write to the Minister on that issue.

Senator Andrews raised the positive news that the NFL is coming to Dublin. The Government is investing a significant amount of money in it. As a person who is from the city, I know the Senator sees the financial benefit of that coming to Dublin from an economic and tourism perspective. The Steelers and the Vikings are quite popular teams. I am an NFL fan. The event will be quite popular and I am sure it will be a very good weekend. In saying that, as the Senator knows, I am a very good supporter of the FAI and Irish football, and we need to invest more in grassroots football. The Senator was at the briefing two weeks ago with the FAI. It has put forward a really credible plan that can transform Irish football at youth level over the next ten years. As a result of Brexit, young, talented Irish soccer players cannot go to England until they are aged 18. I know the Senator is aware of that because he is very passionate about the issue. Damien Duff and people like that went to clubs there at age 15 or 16 but people now cannot go until they are aged. That means the quality of coaching and training needs to be up to a standard right across Europe in order that those players have top-quality international coaching during those important years of 16 and 17 to prepare them for when they move to the UK a number of years later and become Premiership players and players at international level. I take on board exactly what the Senator said. He made a very good point. The Minister for sport should come into the Chamber. I will ask the Leader's office to try to arrange that in the coming weeks.

Senator Kennelly raised the issue of Listowel Primary Care Centre, and the need for full restoration of out-of-hours SouthDoc services. I know he is very passionate about this. I suggest that he table a Commencement matter and bring the Minister for Health into the Chamber to discuss it. I was down in the Senator's county a couple of weeks ago doing a cycle around Dingle. One of my friends made the strange decision to take his hands off the handlebars while he was cycling up a mountain. He fell and I ended up having to drive him to the SouthDoc in Dingle to get nine stitches. The out-of-hours service was not on but, in fairness to the GP, he came in and did nine stitches for my friend. He should not have taken his hands off the handlebars, but anyway.