Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)

I thank all of the Senators who have contributed to this morning's Order of Business.

First, Senator Mary Fitzpatrick spoke about the elimination of violence against women and gave us the horrific statistic that about 35% of women in Ireland have been impacted by gender-based violence. About one in four have experienced sexual violence at the hands of an intimate partner. As we know, more than 100 women have been murdered over the last ten years by a current or former partner. She is correct to raise that. We are in the UN 16 Days of Combatting Violence Against Women. It is important on so many levels that we have these conversations. It is not just about legislation or supplying refuges and safe spaces for women. There has to be a strong conversation with men and between men and boys in terms of the values that we have as a country about kindness, respect and about all of us collectively calling out when we see them casual inferences that are belittling women, because that is where it starts. I know that the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, has done a lot of work in this area and is continuing to do so. He has increased funding for Cuan and for safe spaces. He is also working on significant legislative change, including the removal of guardianship rights where a person has murdered their partner, limiting the disclosure of counselling records for victims and Jennie's law, which I have worked on myself with Jason Poole. While there are a lot of measures coming from this House, we also need to make sure in society that domestic violence and the way it is viewed changes.

Senator Fitzpatrick also brought up the issue of Dublin fire brigade and the fact that it is in existence since 1862 and is currently under threat. As Deputy Leader, I totally support her call to have a pause on the proposed changes awaiting a full review. We have to ensure that we have fully functioning fire services in Dublin and across the country.

Senator Kelleher spoke about a situation in UCC where the affiliation of the youth wings of political parties has now apparently been stopped. Two particular parties, Fine Gael and the Social Democrats, have been prohibited from starting. This is completely wrong. There has to be one rule for everybody. I hope this will change. It seems to be a common-sense response to ensure that it changes. It is something we can bring up with the Minister for higher education and to ask him to address because it is certainly not correct.

Senator Joe Conway spoke about the issue regarding a fish kill in Cork. He has raised it before. It is shocking to hear that things have not improved and that there have been high levels of ammonia detected only in the last week or two in terms of what is going into the water. We do know that Cork County Council, the EPA and Uisce Éireann have been working on this. Obviously, there is still a huge gap between what they are doing and getting the right result. I agree with the Senator that this needs to come before the Oireachtas environment committee. I will speak to Members of this House who are members of that committee and ask them to bring it forward and to liaise with Senator Conway.

Senator Andrews spoke about the ceasefire in Gaza. It is concerning. It is a ceasefire by name only, I think. We all have to work collectively and internationally to try to ensure that it is a working ceasefire and that the aid is there. The fact that 327 people have been killed by the Israeli forces during that ceasefire period is testament that it is a ceasefire in name only. In terms of the occupied territories Bill, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, when she became Minister for foreign affairs last week said it is her first priority. We know that any legislation that comes from the Dáil and the Seanad needs to be robust. I understand that officials are working on it. Obviously it would be better if all countries implemented the same legislation Europe-wide. That would be sending a really strong message. It is unfair to say that nothing is happening in relation to it because it is.

Senator Brady spoke about dog attacks on livestock and the fact that half of the dogs impounded do not have microchips. It is shocking that two thirds of fines are not paid. The legislation is there but it is not being implemented. We need to have a look at a review of the legislation. That might be something that we could ask the agriculture committee to look at. It is an important issue and it comes up time and again. As the Senator says, we are not at Christmas yet, but particularly as we will be heading into spring and lambing season soon, it is absolutely a concern. There is a disconnect between the legislation and the implementation, but we will take it further. I assure the Senator of that.

Senator McCarthy made the suggestion that the ESB connections should be treated in the same way as water connections. We know now because of recent policy change that the Minister, Deputy Browne, has introduced that developers can do that work themselves. That was an important policy change. I support that we could do the same with electricity. We will certainly bring that message back to the Minister. That should accelerate house delivery.

Senator Margaret Murphy O'Mahony spoke about the recent road deaths. The most recent was in my own County Kildare last night. Sadly, somebody was killed in a car accident.Sadly too, there have been a number of fatal accidents over the past two weeks. Our thoughts and prayers go to all the families of those who have been killed. A lot of people have been injured as well. These people are our neighbours, friends and part of work or college communities. It is shocking and has a huge impact on communities. We will look for a debate with the Minister on road safety.

Senator Nelson Murray spoke about the game in Bulgaria last night where the women's under-19 team played Sweden. I did hear a clip of that this morning. I did think “Ooh” when I heard the British national anthem was played but, fair play to the girls, they started singing themselves. They stood up and sang loud and proud. Even though they did not win the game, they won the moment. We will ask the Minister for sport to write to all international sporting organisations to make sure that something like this never happens again.

Senator Craughwell spoke about the article in the Financial Times about defence. We live in a world where the geopolitics are changing all the time. We have to support all of those in our Defence Forces. I want to pay tribute to all the men and women in the Defence Forces who do a terrific job. The Government and the Minister for Defence have committed to the recommendations of the commission report. There were three levels. They committed to the second level and is implementing that.

Senator Boyhan spoke on the debate on HIQA in the mid-west, which is coming up and which it is hoped there will be a good attendance for. It is important. Senator Ryan called for this and we were happy to facilitate this and ensure it happened. We hope all Senators from the mid-west will be here to contribute to that. Senator Boyhan also spoke about mental health reforms and highlighted that tomorrow, I think, is the last day for amendments.

Senator Martin Conway spoke about the need for weather readiness and localised weather forecasts. That is something we will discuss. Last week we looked for a debate on that.

Senator Scahill spoke about fire services that are doing great work and the NOAC report evaluating all the different local authorities, which highlighted the big disparity. No matter where anyone lives, they should have access to the type of services the fire brigades offer. It is concerning there is a glaring omission in some local authorities. That is why it is so important that in the latest housing plan “building communities” was part of its title. It is about looking at everything that makes up a community and, of course, safety is one of those elements. We will ask the Minister to look at that and to see if we can have a debate about more consistent delivery right across the country.

Senator Mullen spoke about the EU Council announcement yesterday on regulation to combat child sexual abuse and the fact that an EU agency is being established. We are all concerned about the threat AI poses to everybody, not just our young people. We have to ensure we do not allow our young people to be exploited. We have to bring in very strong regulations to ensure they are not exposed to pornography. Coimisiún na Meán has over 300 people working for it now. Only earlier this week, it gave a presentation about its work and it was at the European Affairs committee about three weeks ago too. The call for stricter rules on age verification is a worthy call and something we will bring to the Minister and the AI committee.

Senator Sarah O’Reilly spoke about the mass abduction of children in Nigeria from St. Mary’s School. The international community must respond. We will ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to engage with the Nigerian Government.

Senator Dee Ryan was the last contributor. She spoke of her delight yesterday when she saw, among other funding announcements for Limerick, the Cork to Limerick road, Limerick to Abbeyfeale road, Limerick to Foynes road, including the Adare bypass, and others. It is certainly a very good day for connectivity in Limerick. I know she wants to advance the metro rail link for Limerick and connecting to Shannon Airport. It is important for Limerick to bring resources and investment. We look forward to seeing how that progresses.