Regina Doherty (Fine Gael)
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I thank Ambassador Ildefonso Castro for coming to the Seanad and for his service to Ireland; I wish him continued success.

The Order of Business is No. 1, statements on the report of the Commission of Investigation (IBRC) on the transaction in relation to Siteserv, to be taken at 2 p.m., to conclude at 2.30 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, all Senators not to exceed seven minutes, on which time may be shared, and the Minister is to be given no less than five minutes to reply to the debate; No. 114 (4), Private Members' business, motion on breast-feeding, to be taken at 4 p.m. with the time allocated to the debate not to exceed two hours; and No. 2, Air Navigation and Transport Bill 2020 – Committee Stage (Resumed), to be taken at 6 p.m. or on conclusion of No. 114 (4), whichever is the later, and to adjourn at 8 p.m. if not previously concluded.

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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I join the Cathaoirleach and the Leader in extending a céad míle fáilte to the ambassador. He has now left the Chamber but we were delighted to have him in the Seanad.

When we returned to the Chamber yesterday after the weekend, we spoke about the sadness of all that happened in Creeslough. All of a sudden last night, a lady named Amber Barrett lit a light. Anyone who knows Donegal and the region from Kerrykeel, Portsalon and Milford to Creeslough will know that what happened on Friday affected not only all Donegal people but also Amber Barrett. It was remarkable and wonderful to see her go down on her two knees, grab her armband and kiss it, and dedicate that wonderful goal, which means the Irish ladies football team will go to the World Cup, to those ten people. At an extraordinary time of depressing and sad news this week, I do not know about the Cathaoirleach or the rest of the Senators but I find it very hard to be joyous. It was such a terrible occurrence that it is hard to go about one's business in the usual way, yet last night, Amber Barrett lit that light. It was like a night-light appearing out of the dark. In some way, it must be great news for Donegal, despite all the trauma and tragedy. We heard her refer to her grandparents who come from Creeslough and live in the area. She is an extraordinary young woman. Along with everybody, I extend my sincere congratulations to the Irish football team and Vera Pauw, an extraordinary woman. I am sure the Government will put adequate funding in place to help them with their World Cup trip. It will be great to see the Tricolour there. There is something special about the team, the management and the players. They all seem so united and happy as a group and it is a wonderful thing to watch. I would not miss any of their matches on TV and I hope to go in person to some of them shortly. It was a fantastic night.

I raise a new programme by Agri Aware that we should promote. The initiative, Farming Through the Seasons, enables Irish schoolchildren to learn all about what happens on Irish farms from farmers themselves. Agri Aware launched this plan to provide virtual farm visits for all schools. I understand there is a large take-up at present and I urge all schools to get involved. I know the Leader agreed with me on my next point some months ago. We should all realise how important agriculture still is to the economy. It is worth €14.5 billion in exports and employs several hundred thousand people on farms and in agribusiness. It is a major contributor to our economy. Sometimes we do not realise the great product we have that is recognised throughout the world - Irish food. Even in terms of where crops come from, as some people do not know, this initiative will be a wonderful experience.I urge all schools to become involved in it. It is a wonderful thing to do. We will help to promote it in any way we can. I am certainly doing my bit for it today.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I also welcome the Spanish ambassador to the Chamber. I join the Senators who yesterday paid tribute to the families, friends and neighbours of the people of Creeslough following the tragic loss of ten human lives. I extend the sympathies and condolences of the House to them on their tragic loss. What happened was unbelievable.

I raise an issue in regard to some organisations that are anti-drink. They express reservations about Drinkaware, arguing that the organisation should have no influence on the promotion of education for people in regard to anti-drinking because it is funded by the drinks companies. Some of the organisations in question are funded by the taxpayer and taxes are collected from drink and cigarettes. This is a case of double standards. Any organisation that can help to prevent excessive drinking and the abuse of drink and drugs is to be welcomed. I welcome anything that Drinkaware does in promoting an anti-drinking and anti-drugs message. It is a bit rich of organisations to complain about those who are doing great work because they are funded by drinks companies when the organisations in question are themselves funded by the taxpayer and money collected from taxes paid through drink and cigarettes.

Tom Clonan (Independent)
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I have a question. I want to move a motion and I wonder if I need a seconder.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Yes. The motion can be seconded later.

Tom Clonan (Independent)
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I propose to move No. 114, motion 3. This is a motion related to the matter of the current pay claim sought under the scheme for Senators’ secretarial assistance to make a recommendation to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform that Seanad secretarial assistants be permanently regraded to the role and remuneration of parliamentary assistants. I hope I will have a seconder later.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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The Senator has moved an amendment, that No. 114, motion 3, be taken without debate on the conclusion of the Order of Business.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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I second that.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Senator Clonan will have to be here for the conclusion of the Order of Business.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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I would like to know what is going on with the Intreo office for Dublin 7. I have raised this issue a number of times. I have written to the Minister and requested a meeting with him. Indeed, I asked the Leader to request that the Minister meet members of the local community. More than 1,500 people have signed a petition calling for the Intreo office for Dublin 7 to be reopened. The office serves the communities of the Navan Road, Cabra, Phibsborough and Stoneybatter. I am sure Senators are familiar with the area, which has a population of more than 10,000. When the office was initially closed in April, we were told it was being closed temporarily and that there would be no interruption or change to services and that some maintenance and upgrading works were to be undertaken on the building. In July, I was told the building situation was being reviewed and there had been an increase in costs due to construction inflation but, again, there was no significant change proposed to the services. I have now heard that the office is closed permanently and that a division of the Garda will be relocated to it on a temporary basis. This means that 40 front-line staff who would present a human face, on behalf of the State, to people in need when they apply for a service have been unilaterally and without consultation withdrawn from the community of Dublin 7.

Let us stop and think for a moment. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, which type of people would be affected by this? The reply I have received has suggested that people go online, make a phone call or download a form. That is the type of approach that a commercial entity, a bank or other entity that does not have a social conscience or social responsibility, might take. To give an example, people who are looking for the additional needs payment cannot apply for it online because there is not a portal to do so. They now need to get a form, fill it out and submit it. God knows, when they will receive a reply or any other form of human interaction. The same goes for the supplementary welfare allowance. There were no fewer than ten welfare officers serving the Dublin 7 community in that office.

This decision is hugely disappointing. It is devastating for the local community. I ask the Leader to use her offices on behalf of the people of Dublin 7 to address this issue with the Minister. I will also be addressing it through my Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party channels.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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Yesterday, I read in the Irish Examineran article from 1985 about Cork County Council being under exceptional financial pressure with its budget and needing £2.3 million to stay afloat. I read the Irish Examinertoday, 37 years later, and it features a similar headline. The council now needs €24 million to stay afloat. It is amazing that this issue occurs on a continuous basis. How do we fund our local authorities and ensure they are providing appropriate services for the people? I was opposed to the new arrangement in Cork when the city boundaries were extended, taking the rate base away from the county. We are seeing the knock-on effect of that decision now. According to the Irish Examiner, we have a local authority in a county the size of Cork writing to three senior Ministers asking them to intervene in order that it can have sustainable funding going forward.

It is appropriate at this time to have a wide debate about local authority funding and how and where it is provided. We also need to debate the role of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General in regard to local authorities and if it should have a say on whether they are spending money appropriately. Over the past 40 years, we have put a plaster over a gushing wound. We need a root-and-branch review of what happens and how it happens to make sure we do not have another headline of the same nature in 37 years' time.

Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Leader to organise a debate on the changes proposed under the 2023 Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, programme. For some years now, the Burren region of County Clare has been a specially designated zone under the Burren programme, which was developed by Dr. Brendan Dunford. It is about the appropriate management of the grassland that makes up the Burren, done in a sympathetic way with nature, working with the farmers in the region to ensure the environment is not just protected but enhanced and allowed to develop in an appropriate way.

I understand the plans for the new agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, as opposed to the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, and rural environment protection schemes, REPS, that went before, will have a significant impact on farmers on the designated zone of the Burren. The plan is to widen the designation to include many other areas, including in south Galway, the islands and a wider part of County Clare. While this is to be welcomed, unfortunately the devil is in the detail. It now seems that those who have done an immense amount of work in a sympathetic way to protect and preserve the fauna and flora of the region are going to be at a disadvantage. It now looks like the average payments made in the past will become the maximum payments. That is perhaps good for those in the wider region who will see an increased benefit. However, those in the core area of the Burren will take a significant hit or cut in payments.That is not fair or appropriate. People developed a coherent programme from the very start that was science-based and science-led and has worked tremendously well. It was a pilot project that is now recognised across Europe. A number of years ago, along with the then Commissioner for Agriculture and other experts across Europe, I went to see how farmers could play an important role in protecting and preserving the unique characteristics of areas such as the Burren. I would like a debate on the ACRES programme so that we can tease out in detail how we might be able to re-engineer things so they meet the needs and expectations of farmers. If farmers are not properly remunerated under this programme, the incentives to protect and preserve the unique characteristics of the Burren will be lost. I appeal to the Leader for a debate with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine at the earliest opportunity. It will give him an opportunity to discuss the matter. I am sure others have local interests. If the Leader could organise such a debate, it would be great.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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Yesterday on the Joe Duffy show, a woman rang in to say she was seven months pregnant and went to a well-known department store to use a toilet. She was initially told that she could, and then a supervisor came along and said she had to have a medical letter to justify having access to the toilets in the department store. She had to leave the facilities, at seven months pregnant. She felt it was self-evident why she might need to go to the toilet as a matter of urgency. She went to a small coffee shop some distance away.

In the UK there is a bylaw right to go to the toilet if one is pregnant, including in a policeman's helmet. That is how old the law is. I presume it is not exercised nowadays. We seem to be in a culture of incrementalism. We have yet as a species to recognise that women, in particular, and other people get pregnant and may need to go to the toilet. We do not put services in place or require services to be provided in public spaces. If planning permission is being granted for a department store, at the very least it should have public toilets which are accessible without a jobsworth denying people access to them.

I question the idea that women have to acquire rights slowly in the workplace. It is a matter of gender discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy. It would be the most litigated case of discrimination against women and pregnant people in the Workplace Relations Commission. We still seem to have a mindset that does not recognise that we need the propagation of the species to happen. We need the next generation. We should put supports in place. I am not quite sure where to go with this issue, except to express outrage that there is no accommodation for women and that someone who is obviously pregnant should be asked to produce a letter.

I understand there are occupiers' liability issues, companies may not want to have facilities, there may be issues around drugs and so on. However, it is a basic human necessity. It is not something we can put off until tomorrow. When you gotta go, you gotta go. Perhaps we need to have a discussion on gender or on occupiers' liability legislation. I know that legislation is being reviewed by the Minister for Justice. We need to have a discussion on how basic and fundamental human rights and necessities are being vindicated as we go about our normal daily lives.

Marie Sherlock (Labour)
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Like so many others, I was overjoyed to see the women's team make a remarkable breakthrough in qualifying for the World Cup next year. I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Vera Pauw, Katie McCabe and all on the team. As has been said so many times, they are an inspiration to all girls in sport across this country. I refer in particular to the words Amber Barrett spoke last night with regard to her relationship to Creeslough and the dark times in Donegal at the moment.

It is important to say that just five years ago a number of those players, along with Stuart Gilhooly in the PFAI and Ethel Buckley in SIPTU, had to call a press conference to talk about how they were treated like fifth-class citizens. It is great that the FAI has responded. However, I would like the House to have a discussion with the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers, to ensure proper resources are put in place for women's football in this country. We know just one of the players plays here in Ireland. The rest have to go abroad, which is brilliant if they want to do so. In terms of the support for players and allowing them to play professionally here, it is not an option right now and I would like to have a discussion on that in the House.

I also want to call for a debate with the Tánaiste on the range of business supports available at the moment. Over the past 24 hours there was a report by Fergal McCann and Niall McGeever from the Central Bank on the level of distressed businesses at the moment. Some of the figures in the excellent report are stark and frightening, in particular the role that loan forbearance is playing in keeping some of these companies open. This is not just about companies, but also the jobs that are at stake. I would like to have a debate in the House on what will be put in place. We have the temporary energy support scheme, the details of which we need to see. There are other measures that need to be taken to ensure jobs are not lost on a massive scale this winter.

John McGahon (Fine Gael)
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I have raised before in the Seanad the vision for high-speed rail on the island of Ireland, in particular between Belfast and Dublin. I am raising it again today following a meeting that Deputy Carroll MacNeill and I held last week with people who want to support the concept. This would be one of the largest infrastructure projects on the island of Ireland. It is something that will take 20 years at a minimum. If we started on day one with all of government behind high-speed rail, we would not have it on the island of Ireland until 2024.

One of the key reasons it should be between Belfast and Dublin to start with is because that is the economic engine of the island of Ireland. The vast majority of the population, about 2.3 million people, live in that area. When high-speed rail is introduced, it will cut the journey time of approximately 2.5 hours to just one hour. That is the economic reason for the project.

There has been a great deal of talk in recent weeks and months about a united Ireland. One of the key things we need to do between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is to try to increase co-operation through infrastructural projects. I firmly believe that if we can show that we can make this island economically viable through infrastructure like high-speed rail, that will do a lot to bring both communities together.

There has been some talk about strategic rail reviews and feeding into that. What is needed is a Minister, similar to Séamus Brennan in the 1990s who deregulated the airline market to allow Ryanair in, who will come along and say we are absolutely doing this. It will take time and will be unpopular. People will question the need to do it when it is 20 years away, but it could be one of the largest infrastructural projects on the island of Ireland and would have a huge benefit North and South. It is something we need to consider strongly.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I ask the Leader to facilitate a debate with the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, on the HSE winter plan. The €169 million plan was announced yesterday, yet today we were told by Liam Woods from the HSE, who spoke on the national broadcaster, that the recruitment process to hire a consultant from beginning to end takes up to 40 weeks. We all agree that 40 weeks from today means it will almost be next summer before the relevant consultants are approved and appointed in our hospitals.

As part of the debate, I ask that the Minister for Health answer questions pertaining to the new elective hospital for Cork. I want to commend my colleague, Deputy Colm Burke, on his work on this. It is a bit disappointing that as we come towards the end of the tenure of the Taoiseach we do not have the location, foundation or scaffolding in place to start the new hospital. I hope the Minister comes to the House to announce good news before the Taoiseach leaves office in December.There is an issue with bed capacity in our public hospitals, whether we like it or not.

The second point I would make as part of the debate is that we are, we are told, looking at a twindemic of Covid and flu again this year. I encourage and ask all Members of the House to support the HSE's campaigns on the booster for Covid and the flu vaccine. It is important we support the HSE on both those issues because the flu vaccine will help most particularly the vulnerable groups of our society and the booster vaccine those of us of a certain age and beyond.

Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael)
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Like other Members, I congratulate the Irish ladies' team on its fantastic success last night. I was, however, very disappointed by videos that surfaced late last night and this morning of the chants of "Ooh, ah, up the 'RA". Senator McGahon has talked about projects to build co-operation in our country, and we have our shared island unit. What happened was not appropriate on what was a fantastic night for Irish sport. A very strong statement on it needs to come out from the FAI. It really took the gloss off the victory for me.

I wish to speak about palliative care beds, an issue I have raised in the House before, and the fact we have just one palliative care bed in St. Joseph's Care Centre, Longford. I have given figures before of numerous families' loved ones passing away in an acute hospital or in a bed in a home in another county. That is not acceptable. We have been fighting with the HSE over recent years for just one additional bed. I want the Minister for Health to come into the House and give us a positive answer to that query. Only in the past week I had a case in which an elderly man in his 80s was not able to come back to his own county and his elderly wife was not able to travel to visit him. It is not acceptable. We have put investments into Tullamore and now a regional 16-bed unit, but the major population areas in my constituency, which are Mullingar, Athlone and Longford, need sufficient numbers of beds also. It is only right we give that right to the families of people coming to the ends of their lives.

I thank the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, for her announcement in the past half hour on the community centres fund. She is a very proactive Minister, especially for us in rural Ireland. The fund is a fantastic initiative. A significant number of projects have been funded, with more funding to come. I just hope that, before the year is out, additional funding will be put in to look after the larger infrastructure projects that are needed and that for centuries have been at the heart of all our communities.

Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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The issue of policing is one that all of us grapple with regularly. The announcement in the budget that 1,000 additional gardaí will be allocated and provided for is very welcome. However, the issue of allocation and where those gardaí eventually find themselves in our local towns and villages is one I think we all have concerns about. When we raise that in here, if we have a debate in this Chamber and the Minister for Justice addresses us, she will, of course, defer to the line that policing matters and where gardaí are placed are matters for the Garda Commissioner. Then we raise it at our joint policing committee meetings, which is our forum to do so, and we speak about the fact we need gardaí in Navan, Ratoath or wherever else and, of course, we are then told it is a matter for the chief superintendent. That is all well and good, but there is a political problem here, and it is historical, with where gardaí were placed over a number of years and with the fact that, when people retire, other gardaí are brought in but that Garda strength has not kept pace with the urbanisation of the east coast in places like Meath, Kildare and Wicklow and where greater resources are needed. Actually, a disproportionate advantage is given to those growing counties. What prompted me to raise this is that my town of Navan, with a population of some 36,000 people, does not have a second patrol car. Having spoken to local gardaí, I am told that to man that requires an additional 12 gardaí to make sure the shifts are covered so that that is in place. It is not a simple case of just two gardaí but a case of 12.

Tonight we have a public joint policing committee meeting in Ratoath for County Meath. One concerned resident from Navan wrote to me ahead of tonight. He says that what finally prompted him to correspond with the committee was that he saw the welcome from many quarters to news that 58 CCTV cameras are being installed in Navan. His first reaction, however, was to ask what sort of a town must have 58 CCTV cameras watching it. He asks if that is where we are as a community and a society. I hope we are not going to replace badly needed visible human interaction with CCTV cameras. We need to make sure we are putting the human resources into our communities, not just to keep them safe but also to give the people that sense of human interaction. I am calling for that debate because it is not simply a matter for the Garda Commissioner. The resources start in the Department of Justice and with making sure we allocate those resources, and that debate needs to happen.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I join my colleagues in congratulating the Irish women's soccer team. It is phenomenal. It was great to hear the players speak about how inspirational it is and will be for future generations of young girls watching the team now. They will consider taking on football and, it is to be hoped, will play again. A local player, Heather Payne from Galway, came through Ballinasloe Town AFC and is playing with them as well.

I acknowledge the incredible funding that has come through the Department of Rural and Community Development, through the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. We see in excess of €700,000 coming into County Roscommon for more than 30 centres and community halls across the county. In Galway we see about €860,000 coming in for nearly 40 community halls and centres. There are so many aspects to this, including retrofitting, renovating, painting, green initiatives and solar panels. All of this means there will be a real sense of pride and activity for the volunteers in those local areas doing that work. There will be a real sense of seeing that progress happen in the next few months. It will also be a real boost for local tradespeople because that work will happen in the coming months and that fund is to benefit people living in towns and villages.

I acknowledge the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, who came to the House this morning to speak to us about the expansion of Westdoc services for the Ballinasloe area. There was a public meeting held on Monday evening with public representatives. I acknowledge also the support of Senator Murphy in a serious, urgent crisis and for a case that has been made and that needs to be taken into account now for the expansion of Westdoc services for those GPs in the Ballinasloe and east Galway area who are at crisis point right now. There are GPs retiring and they are not being replaced. Nobody wants to go into a role in which they will work a one-in-eight rota. They are in a rota. They have attempted to join Westdoc and the HSE and the community healthcare organisation, CHO, in our area have put in the request. However, it is not happening. I would very much appreciate any support on this. We hope to meet with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. Any support regarding these services would be very important.

Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail)
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I wish to bring up the issue of the burdens facing businesses in Ireland. There was a recent review that found that approximately 10,000 businesses are under financial strain and pressure at present. A lot of that is due to the warehousing of taxes from the Covid era. That has been filtering to an end. That is causing serious problems at a time when businesses are looking to a slowdown in our general economy, rising costs of power, staffing and spiralling inflation. The Leader might consult the powers that be in the Minister and the Department and have a serious conversation with the Collector General's division, which, in fairness, going by my work with it since I have been a Member of the Oireachtas, has always been quite empathetic to businesses that have a plan. That will certainly be needed to work with businesses, to work through this hiatus at present and to see them out the far side. The last thing we want is for these 10,000 businesses, which I think is approximately 4% of our listed businesses, to run into bigger trouble or hit the wall. I would appreciate if the Leader could do that.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the announcement about the community centres. For too long, community centres have struggled. They play a vital role in our community as hubs for people to gather, social areas for people to hang out in and places for young people to play sport.They have struggled, particularly during the pandemic, to keep their centres heated and maintained. The announcement by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, of a small grant will go a long way towards helping community centres.

We should acknowledge the work done by the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, in ensuring that all households benefit from the credit scheme.

I am concerned, as some people in health settings who are entitled to get the €1,000 pandemic bonus payment still have not received it. The payment was committed to in early January. We need to draw a line in the sand and the payments need to be made before the end of the year. It is farcical that the State cannot pay in a timely manner the €1,000 to everyone who is entitled to it. That is regrettable and I would like to see it addressed.

Seanad Éireann, under the Cathaoirleach's leadership, is doing a wonderful job commemorating Seanad 100. The events and the recognition of minority voices within the Seanad are welcome. Seanad 100 should spur an interest and a debate in the House on the future of the teaching of history. A number of years ago, history was threatened as a core subject on the junior certificate curriculum. Thankfully, that idea was reversed and the threat was removed. We need a long-term strategy for the teaching of history and its place within the structure of education. How can we move forward with positivity unless our young people understand their past?

Emer Currie (Fine Gael)
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Last night, I felt so much pride as an Irish woman and as a mother of two girls to see Ireland's women's football team reach their first ever world cup. It was touching that a Donegal woman scored the goal. It came against the backdrop of one of the most traumatic weeks that we have experienced in a long time. We saw the PSNI and Garda working side by side in Donegal, we saw emergency services from the North and South working side by side and we saw politicians standing shoulder to shoulder. It is devastating that, 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement, the girls would want to chant what they chanted. For such a moment of pride and joy for the entire nation to cause hurt and division is a pity and a disappointment to us all. After 12 July, I stated in the House that there should be zero tolerance of sectarianism. I am saying the same thing now. The Seanad is considering the constitutional future of the island and we are speaking about a shared island, potentially with shared sports teams, so to hear chants like that sets us back. I feel I need to say that, after such a momentous occasion, what happened has left us with a heavy moment and it needs to be reflected on.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I join with others in supporting the proposal on Seanad secretarial assistants' pay. The Leader is committed to it, as are all other Senators, so we do not need to discuss it at any great length today. We know the shortcomings and we have promised to address this issue many times, but we have not got it over the line. That is a disappointment, given that there is support for it across the Houses. I hope that we can work collaboratively in support of our amazing secretarial assistants, who support us every day of the year in doing our jobs in the Seanad.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his leadership and work on the select committee on the constitutional arrangements of the island of Ireland. Our committee meetings on Fridays have been excellent and well attended. Young people of this island spoke over the past two weeks about wanting to be part of the solution, about integrated education and about their prospects. The solidarity and purpose they showed were great. It was an eye opener. I have attended many such gatherings, but never anything with the same focus, intent and positivity. I thank the Cathaoirleach for that and for bringing the initiative to the House. I thank him for pioneering and for continuing to push for Seanad reform, which has been the hallmark of his tenure. His time is not done yet and we will have other days to thank him, but his work and that of his office are paying dividends.

If Senators can make it to the Chamber this Friday when Northern voices will be one of the themes, it would be positive. As well as engaging, we must listen. I would like to see more people on this side of the House next Friday to balance the other side, where every seat will be full. When I left last week, someone asked me how many Senators had been in the House, but I had to say that it was a select committee, not the House. That does not stop people from coming and engaging, though. To be fair to the Cathaoirleach, any Senator who was present and wanted to engage and ask questions was fully facilitated by him. I thank him for that.

Tom Clonan (Independent)
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Hear, hear.

Regina Doherty (Fine Gael)
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Senators Boyhan and Clonan are proposing an amendment to the Order of Business, which I will be happy to accept and support. I thank them for that.

Among other colleagues, Senators Murphy and Currie spoke about the momentous occasion that happened last night with the Irish women's team. Today and yesterday, Labour Party representatives asked for a debate on ongoing and professional funding for our female soccer players, particularly given that the national team will now head off to Australia and New Zealand to represent us. Senator Murphy spoke with great clarity about how Amber Barrett's integrity and heartfelt display of emotion last night captured everything about the team, including the support she got from her team members around her emotional speech on how Creeslough had affected her and put her in such a sombre mood in the days leading up to that momentous match. Everyone was overwhelmed with emotion last night because of their win and the poignancy of what they said afterwards.

I agree with colleagues, though. I was naive this morning when I saw the clip because I thought they were shouting, "Ooh, aah, up Vera" in support of their wonderful manager. While it sounded like what we have all come to despise as a chant, I am genuinely dismayed that it turned out that I was naive. It puts a sad tinge on the occasion, but we need to get back to focusing on the team's future and our support for them. I thank colleagues for raising the team's momentous win last night and for saying that we all support them.

Senators Conway, Dolan and Carrigy spoke about the welcome announcement by the Minister for Rural and Community Development of community centre funding. For a long time, we in this House have spoken about how community centres are forgotten about, do not have money to fix roofs or install windows and must fund-raise themselves. I commend the Minister on her announcement.

Senators Davitt and Sherlock sought a debate with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on supports - this matter also touches on the remit of the Minister for Finance - for the 10,000 businesses that may be in a precarious situation because of warehoused debt. Since Covid in particular, we have always as a State striven to support businesses that are vulnerable but viable. The 10,000 businesses fall into that category. Additional careful consideration is required and I will organise a debate as soon as I can.

As she did on a Commencement matter today, Senator Dolan raised the expansion of Westdoc's services and the intolerable situation of us having given the HSE the money for those services but the HSE not having provided for them. That is not good enough.

Senator Cassells asked for a debate on the policing allocation. He is right, in that it is bizarre that the State provides the money but we let someone else deploy the resources autonomously in a way that does not reflect the needs of communities, particularly those communities that, according to the figures of the Central Statistics Office, CSO, in recent months, are growing.Senator Carrigy raised the need for more palliative care beds in his area. Also related to health services, Senator Buttimer asked for a debate on the winter plan and the looming event of the twin pandemic of Covid and flu which the HSE tells us we may face over the winter.

Senator McGahon spoke about high-speed rail and the bravery it would take for the Government to look at a project that would not deliver for 20 years. It is certainly something we can see has had a massive benefit in very advanced communities and countries throughout the world.

Senator Seery Kearney raised the story of a seven-months pregnant lady who was refused the use of a toilet. I do not know why we would need laws to ensure somebody was treated as a human being. If people see a seven-months pregnant lady in front of them, bloody hell, they should let her use the toilet. There is probably a need for a debate on where the gaps fall in our laws with regard to the provision of services.

Senator Dooley asked for a debate on the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, which has followed GLAS and REPS. He pointed out it needs some tweaking because some people will be less well-off despite the years of investment in our land.

Senator Lombard asked for a debate on local authority funding and spoke about the ongoing intergenerational precarious nature of funding for Cork County Council. We will organise that debate.

For the second week in a row Senator Fitzpatrick raised the issue of the Intreo office. At her request last week I made contact with the Minister about what was then a temporary closure but has now been announced as a permanent closure. There certainly has not been a satisfactory explanation from the Department of Social Protection on why this is a permanent closure and what is expected, other than the services to go into the cloud. It is not good enough.

Senator Clonan proposed an amendment to the Order of Business. Senator Burke spoke about the support of the drink aware programme in helping young and old people to be conscious of the effect drink has on them and to drink moderately.

Senator Murphy spoke about Agri Aware's farming through the seasons programme which is being rolled out to all of our schools. To my mind the only way we could probably enhance it is by having real tours instead of virtual tours to farms. There is nothing like getting muck on our boots and hands to realise the value of rural Ireland and for people to really see what is involved in the production of our top-quality food.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Senator Clonan has moved an amendment to the Order of Business: "That No. 114, motion 3 be taken without debate on the conclusion of the Order of Business." Is the amendment agreed? Agreed.