Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Exactly. This issue is really important, however. The people of Kerry need to receive the sort of service they are used to receiving. I agree with the Senator that the HSE needs to consult with all public representatives in the area to make sure that a satisfactory agreement is put in place.

Senator Sarah O'Reilly raised the issue of deportation orders. There are an awful lot more people coming into this country. There is absolutely no doubt about that. Changes have been made by the Minister for Justice in the months since he has been appointed. We have seen a number of flights on which people have been deported. Many people leave voluntarily; that has always been the case. We need to do more of it. We need to enforce it. The Senator said that these flights are just done to show that the Government is doing something. I remember two or three instances in the past two years when we were asked to put on these flights to bring people back to the countries from which they came. That is what is happening with the Minister. In saying that, the Senator is right; we need to do more and it needs to be fair and transparent. More people are coming in every single year. That means we have more approvals for people who are allowed to stay here, but it also means we will have more deportations, and we need to be able to facilitate that if they do not leave voluntarily.

Senator Scahill raised the issue of the UN report which indicated Irish teens are the least happy and the suicide rate is above the EU average. I agree with the Senator; how we manage social media for young people is one of the biggest challenges we have as a Government. I was debating during the week what we can do for under-16s in particular. I was actually amazed to discover that 93% of kids aged between eight and 12 have a smartphone, which is absolutely crazy. Young people cannot get access to awful lot of social media companies until they are aged 13, and then they need parental guidance between the ages of 13 and 16. There is no rule in place for every single one of them, however. They are all different. We need to be real. Young people are able to get on to these sites and are influenced by them, and they do have a detrimental effect. We are very lucky at the moment to have good weather outside. Senator Scahill has two young daughters and I have two young boys. The last thing we want them to be doing is to be on social media all day. We want them out playing and enjoying their youth. To do that, however, we really need to wake up as a country and certainly regulate it more.

Senator McCarthy raised the issue of Lyme disease, which is something I am not hugely familiar with. He gave the example of someone who had a bite and then had a very serious reaction to it. The fact is that these are preventable if caught early. The Senator is correct; if we can invest in early intervention kits to simply stop something as serious as what could happen from contracting Lyme disease, I certainly think we should do it. I suggest that the Senator raise that as a Commencement matter for the Minister.