Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)

I thank Senators for their contributions. Senator Rabbitte raised the very important issue of the need for swimming pools in the country generally, and in Loughrea specifically, to support people living in the hinterland. She made an excellent point. To be fair to the then Minister of State with responsibility for sport, Deputy Thomas Byrne, he published a national swimming strategy last September, which included 55 recommendations for improving facilities, provision of new facilities, better coaching and increased safety awareness. The Senator mentioned that 120 people died by drowning last year, which is a very high number. I think of all those families, neighbours and communities left devastated. Another aspect of the national swimming strategy is to reflect our good success in the Olympic Games with our elite swimmers. It is important we give young people the opportunity to excel and come through.

It is really good news that the expression of interest by the group in Loughrea has been accepted by the LEADER programme. I acknowledge the work done by Colm O'Donnell, whom the Senator mentioned. It is so important we have volunteers like Colm and the people on the committees in different areas putting pressure on us as public representatives. I totally empathise with the Senator's point because Newbridge, with a population nearing 30,000, does not have a public swimming pool. We really need to prioritise provision in this regard. I will look for a debate with the Minister of State with responsibility for sport, Deputy McConalogue, on the report launched by his predecessor to see where the gaps are in provision, not only in Loughrea but around the country. I really hope we get a response and some support in regard to Loughrea. Senator Rabbitte's call in this regard was endorsed by our colleague Senator Curley.

Senator McCarthy spoke about the Housing Commission report from 2021. There is no doubt that homelessness is a blight on our society. It is shocking to see the numbers going up each year but it is unfair to say the Government is not treating it as a crisis. It absolutely is doing so and it is putting many measures in place. A number of different groups of people are impacted and we need different measures to meet their needs. People who are homeless must be the priority. Renters are also a priority, which is why we had a new strategy this week that seeks to strike a balance in the sector and bring rent surety, in terms of both tenure and cost. To be fair, the Government absolutely is treating the issue as a priority. The Minister, Deputy Browne, has developed a number of initiatives since he came to office.

Senator McCarthy made a fair point in regard to the implementation of the recommendation from the Housing Commission. As a member of the housing committee, he is well positioned to address those concerns. That committee is the best place to have an in-depth conversation with the experts who made up the commission. I have no doubt this will be a key topic on the committee's agenda. We talk about housing a lot, which there certainly is a need to do, but we also need to look at developing sustainable communities, which includes provision of facilities such as swimming pools, as Senator Rabbitte raised. My county of Kildare has seen rapid development, with a lot of new housing in Kildare town and Newbridge in particular. We are not matching that housing development with provision of the infrastructural facilities we need. That must be a measure for consideration in everything we do.

Senator Tully spoke about school caretakers and secretaries and the ballot this week on industrial action. I worked closely with Fórsa as Chair of the education committee in the previous Oireachtas. The union does excellent work. I support the caretakers and secretaries in what they are trying to do. They are the heartbeat of schools in every community. I will ask the Ministers for education and public expenditure to work on this issue over the next two months to ensure there is no delay in schools reopening on 28 August. I will ask that the Minister for education come to the House to discuss where we are with this matter and look at ways we can support our whole-school communities. All the staff within a school community do excellent work and we all rely on them.

Senator Curley talked about a five-year-old in Kinvara who came from Ukraine, has experienced a lot of instability in his short life and has now developed a support network in the town. I give my thanks to the community in Kinvara and the communities right around Ireland for supporting the Ukrainians living there. We have a situation now where the demand for accommodation for Ukrainians is falling away and we must take a value-for-money approach. Contracts are not being renewed, and should not be renewed, if there is not a need for such accommodation. We must look after taxpayers' money. I do not know whether the Senator has had an opportunity to liaise with the community engagement team. In similar situations, including in Newbridge, where there were a number of students living in the IPAS centre and due to do their State examinations who were going to be moved, people have been granted leave to stay to do their examinations. I recommend that the Senator liaise with the community engagement team. I am happy to give him the contact details if he does not have them.

Senator Craughwell referred to the Crotty case, which he also raised on Tuesday. I welcome his clarification that he does not in any way support the actions of Crotty, who is a former member of the Defence Forces. It is important to acknowledge that clarification.In a situation where a member of the Defence Forces is carrying out instructions from senior members, they in no way should be vilified in a personal way for the actions they are taking on behalf of the Defence Forces. Knowing many of them, as I come from Kildare, we have excellent people within the Defence Forces. It is very difficult for them when one of their own is in the spotlight for wrong behaviour. It is the same in any profession. It is the same in our profession as well, so we must always stand up for professions and the good, decent and honourable men and women who are there.

Senator P. J. Murphy spoke about the three pieces of bog in Galway that were designated SCIs in 2002 and about the ban on cutting turf. Under EU laws, these should have been made SACs by 2021, but that was actually done too late. The Senator spoke about the families who went out to foot the turf in April and there was a High Court injunction. As I come from the Bog of Allen, I am very familiar with the culture and tradition of bog cutting and I always feel it was such a shame we lost that and are on the point of losing it in other areas. The Senator has questioned the legality of the status and mentioned that an ARC can be written by the Minister. I suggest Senator Murphy put in a Commencement matter very specifically on this issue to get a very specific response from the Minister. Certainly, while we have to have respect for European law, we have to have respect for our environment and the heritage of our bogs. I recommend the Lullymore Heritage Park in Kildare to anyone who has not been there. It has done tremendous work in preserving the culture and acknowledging the bogs and the importance of employment, etc. I recommend people go there. I can imagine it is a big issue in Galway and for Senator Rabbitte, but we need to get clarity on it and we need to support the families there.

Senator Andrews spoke about the Oireachtas broadcasting workers and the contract being up for negotiation. I agree with the Senator that we need to have a fair resolution while that the contract is up for renegotiation. We should absolutely be supporting everybody who works in these Houses. During Covid, it came to my attention that the cleaners, who do an excellent job and were obviously particularly busy during that time, had no place to store their coats and no place to store their items. They were not allowed into our canteen to take a break or have tea or coffee. It was shocking but we were able to rectify it by bringing it to the attention of the commission and we need to rectify this too. I thank the Senator for raising it and it is something we will write to the commission about from this Seanad.

Senator Andrews also asked about background screening for Israelis who enter the country to see if they have been complicit-----