Regina Doherty (Fine Gael)
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The ambassador is very welcome.

The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the proposed approval by Seanad Éireann of the National Archives Act 1986 (Section 1(2)(d)) Order 2023, to be taken on the conclusion of the Order of Business, without debate; No. 2, motion regarding the proposed approval by Seanad Éireann of Regulation (EU) 2021/2303 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2021 on the European Union Agency for Asylum and repealing Regulation (EU) No 439/2010, back from committee, to be taken on the conclusion of No. 1, without debate; and No. 3, Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2021 - Report and Final Stages, to be taken today on the conclusion of No. 2 and to adjourn at 12.55 p.m., if not previously concluded.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I would like to ask the Deputy Leader to ask the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to come before the House at some stage, because it has been brought to my attention that there are discrepancies in the testing of public service vehicles between one county and another. I have evidence of a small transport vehicle that was given the okay in the county where a man bought it. However, when he brought it back to his own county, it failed. It cost him a considerable amount of money afterwards. The Department should carry out an investigation at the very least. Maybe the Minister for Transport should come before the House as well because there are other issues in relation to the testing of cars and there is a huge backlog. There are problems in that area.

I would also like to raise an issue highlighted in theIrish Independent today, which is the advertising of alcohol. We had many hours of debate in this Chamber on that. It caused considerable concern within our own party of Fine Gael at the time. On a number of occasions in this Chamber, we were accused of filibustering on the Bill that was passed. We see that the Bill is not being implemented in the way it was drafted, from an advertising point of view.

Alcohol Action Ireland plays a great role in the measurement of alcohol which it gives to various groups around the country. It was belittled in this Chamber by senior people, but I think it does a great job. It might be no harm if we revisited the whole area of the sale of alcohol, the consumption of alcohol, etc. I ask that at some time in the future we have a debate on how the Bill is progressing. I remember Senator McDowell raised concerns in relation to planning and the issue of putting up hoardings near schools. They were objected to at the time and it was a big issue. We could have a very good debate on the Bill that was passed and we could see how it has progressed since.

Michael McDowell (Independent)
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There are two matters I want to deal with today, the first of which is in relation to what Senator Burke was said about the alcohol legislation that was debated at great length in this House. Most of it was nonsense, to be honest. We have not yet put the unit price of alcohol in place and there will not be one unless there is an Assembly in Northern Ireland that will do the same on the Northern side of the Border, because it would have a devastating effect on off-licenses in the Border counties if there were to be a radical difference in the prices. That was nonsensical to start with. There is some evidence from Scotland where a recent survey has shown that it has had some effect on the consumption of alcohol by young people and people of limited means. However, with the greatest of respect, it was nonsense.

The second point I want to make about it is, as Senator Burke said, Guinness 0.0 is now being advertised all over the place, including on rugby pitches, on stands everywhere and on the shirts of athletes and the like. That is a massive loophole in the legislation. Non-alcoholic beverages that have the same title as alcoholic beverages can be advertised without any control at all. That was another piece of nonsense we walked into with our eyes wide open.

A third point is the placing of advertising hoardings. The Bill put forward by the anti-alcohol lobby went so far as to say that one could not have an advertising hoarding within 100 m of a crèche or a school, as if kids are going to be able to distinguish between Guinness 0.0 and Heineken full beer advertisements at the age of three. While our children are very intelligent, I do not believe that has made any difference.Every convenience store in Ireland is segregated by a saloon-style swinging door, with the drink cornered off. This has not had any effect whatsoever on sales, but we were told by the zealots that it had to be done. We should debate the alcohol legislation and whether it was effective.

We need a debate on the Garda Reserve. Nothing has happened. It is atrophying and its numbers are declining. A five-year strategy was published two years ago, none of which has been implemented. The Deputy Leader should invite the Minister for Justice to explain to the House what is going to be done with the Garda Reserve. On some other day, the Defence Forces should say what they are going to do about the Reserve Defence Force. The Government has allowed volunteerism to collapse.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I welcome to the Public Gallery the students and teachers from Aston Village Educate Together National School in Drogheda. I hope they are having an enjoyable day with us.

Mark Wall (Labour)
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I support Senator Ó Donnghaile's call for a debate on the eviction ban. I have received numerous phone calls this morning and last night. It is important that someone from the Government come to the House to discuss where these people are going to go. I dealt with families this morning who were in tears. I have contacted the local authority, but there are no places for them. I would appreciate it if someone from the Government attended the House as soon as possible to discuss what is happening with housing. People need certainty, but last night provided none. The Government speaks about cliff edges. Many people are hanging off cliff edges by their fingernails after last night's vote.

I wish to raise the Life Saving Equipment Bill 2017. We last discussed it on Committee Stage in February 2022. A mindless act of vandalism took place at one of my local GAA clubs, namely, the Round Towers GAA club in Kildare town. The defibrillator located there was so badly damaged that it is almost beyond use. The club wrote:

We dont need to stress how important this piece of lifesaving equipment is for the town community.

This is shocking behaviour.

If anyone has any information on who is responsible please contact Kildare Town Gardai.

I also raised the issue of the Bill last November, when two automated external defibrillators were stolen from Castlemitchell GAA club, which is my club, just outside Athy and from St. Joseph's, a neighbouring GAA club across the border in Laois. The people carrying out this criminal damage must understand that they do not know the hour when someone in their families or, indeed, they themselves will need this life-saving equipment.

Colleagues in the Fianna Fáil Party are debating the matter and I understand the Bill is with the Government at the moment, but it needs to be enacted. The message needs to go out that, if people inflict criminal damage on life-saving equipment, they will face the consequences. We cannot afford to have this equipment stolen, damaged or put beyond use when someone needs it. I include life buoys in this regard. Coming from a town with a canal and a river, I have encountered situations where life buoys were stolen and were not available when people needed them. Life buoys are covered by the Bill. I would like an update on the Bill and to see it enacted as quickly as possible.

In the short time remaining to me, I wish to raise the matter of school places, particularly in special schools. I have taken a number of calls in recent days from people who cannot get school places for their loved ones in south Kildare. In some cases, their loved ones have been out of the school system for more than a year. This is not good enough. They have tried ten and, in one case, 12 local schools within an hour and a half of them. There are no places for their loved ones. We need to debate the matter with the Minister. I appreciate the Deputy Leader's time.

Frances Black (Independent)
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I support Senator Ó Donnghaile's call for a debate on the eviction ban.

Aside from homelessness, there are many sources of worry and anxiety in people's lives. One I hear about constantly is that of electricity bills. Prices have risen so rapidly in recent months that people are no longer able to estimate what their bills will be. Sometimes, the fear is so great that the envelope is left unopened on the kitchen counter because the recipient is too afraid to open it. We know that feeling. The envelope becomes a physical manifestation of the pervasive sense of dread that the cost-of-living crisis inspires in many households.

The outlook is brighter for some, though. The ESB just posted extraordinary profits of €847 million for 2022, an increase from €679 million in 2021. To celebrate its success, the ESB has proposed an enhanced shareholder dividend of €327 million, which would be €200 million more than last year's. The State is the majority shareholder in the ESB. Why is the State allowing the ESB to fleece customers to make these bumper profits? Why is the Government not meaningfully protecting customers from flagrant price gouging? When Russia began its criminal invasion of Ukraine, global energy prices spiked, which was reflected in people's bills. We could argue about whether enough was done at the time to insulate the people made vulnerable by this price spike, but the economic logic behind it was clear. A year later, wholesale energy prices have normalised, but that reduction is not reflected in consumers' bills. Is this war profiteering, plain and simple? Is it greedy and damaging to social solidarity?

The Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, has stated that the money the State receives from its dividend will be used to fund cost-of-living measures in the next budget. I am concerned about this. People are being crippled by bills. Using bumper profits to fund cost-of-living rebates is a form of indirect taxation that only contributes to a dysfunctional energy market. Cost-of-living rebates do not get to the core of the cost-of-living crisis, which is lax regulation and decades of neoliberal policies and unchecked corporate greed.The system is broken, squeezed customers are paying the price, and something needs to be done. I would like the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, or the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to come before the House to address the issue of how the Government will ease the burden of energy bills.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I wish to raise a rather unusual anomaly but one that I think will be of interest to Members of these Houses, that is, the revision of constituency boundaries to be carried out by the new Electoral Commission. As people will know, the commission has been set up and tasked with drawing up the new Dáil and European election boundaries. It has set a closing date of 10 May 2023 for submissions. The boundary decisions are to be based on the results of census 2022. The difficulty is that, according to the Central Statistics Office, CSO, it is not scheduled to publish the final details of the summary results until 30 May of this year and not scheduled to publish the small area population statistics until 21 September. The difficulty, obviously, is that for anyone looking to make a meaningful submission, and people know about moving bodies of populations between constituencies and between counties, it is very difficult to do so unless we have the granular detail of the census. The CSO, as everyone knows, does fantastic work in respect of the information it provides.

I have raised this with the Electoral Commission, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the CSO. They see that it is a difficulty. It is important, obviously, that the Electoral Commission bases its decisions on the most accurate statistics. Equally, however, it is important that those who wish to make submissions have that opportunity. We have seen in the past and we all know about electoral boundaries which may not make sense within particular localities. I have raised this personally but, as a matter of bigger concern, I ask that the Deputy Leader raise it with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which I have done on behalf of these Houses, and with the commission because it is important, as per the democratic process, that there is an opportunity for input. It will be very difficult, in the absence of these detailed figures, for a comprehensive decision to be made.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I call for a debate in this Chamber with the Minister for Justice on protecting the rights of conscientious objectors in both the public and private sectors. Increasingly, we see people forced to embrace values with which they do not agree. A new policy entitled Gender Identity in the Workplace is mandatory for all members of An Garda Síochána. It states that refusing to acknowledge a person's gender pronouns or new name will constitute discrimination under the Employment Equality Act 1998 and the Equality Status Act 2000. While it is important we treat everyone in the workplace with dignity and respect, how are the rights of staff with religious viewpoints that clash with transgender views being reconciled here? People of different religious and ideological viewpoints have expressed concern about aspects of this policy to journalists. We need to consider this.

Another concerning fact about the document is that it conflates gender and biological sex. One can argue that gender is socially constructed, but the perspective expressed in this document is that sex and gender are equivalent. That is in opposition to what most transgender activists believe. It is a fringe view. Trans people would not seek sex change operations if sex were not real, nor would they request hormones or puberty blockers. It is a biological fact that humans are a sexually dimorphic species.

On a side note, who is influencing policy and legislation in this area? That is a question for another Order of Business debate.

In Ireland conscientious objection has often been associated with medical practitioners wishing to opt out of performing abortions or providing contraception, but having an internally consistent view on this issue is of relevance for people of all political views and religions or of no religion to consider.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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Go raibh maith agat, a Sheanadóir.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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In decades to come many viewpoints that are part of the consensus today will be considered unusual and immoral. That is the problem with culturally relative viewpoints. In recent years there has been-----

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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Thank you, Senator.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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-----a much greater intolerance for dissenting viewpoints, and the desire of censorship has become far too common. In that regard, for some politicians and activists there has been an à la carteapproach-----

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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Thank you, Senator.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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One second, a Chathaoirligh. I am nearly finished. If you could give me less than 30 seconds-----

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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You are already half a minute over time.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I will conclude by saying that it would be great if the Minister for Justice were prepared to show that the Government cares about protecting the rights of dissidents. I hope we can discuss this issue in more depth in this Chamber. Thank you, Chair, for the extra few minutes.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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You are more than welcome, Senator. You are entitled to speak on the Order of Business. That is no problem at all.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I rise to welcome the fact that fDi Intelligencemagazine, which is published by the Financial Times, has rated Limerick city as the top-ranked European city of the future not only in respect of attracting foreign direct investment but also in respect of the economic and financial side of things and business. Limerick city came second in respect of economic potential and was highly ranked in respect of business and human capital and lifestyle. This is most welcome when the Government is trying to create balanced regional development. Limerick, being the largest city in the mid-west, is expected to drive the region, so this is a very good news story not only for Limerick but also for the region.

The second announcement I wish to welcome is that of the Minister for Education and the Minister of State with responsibility for special education yesterday on free primary school books. When the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, was in Limerick recently, we visited two special schools. We have at least five special schools in Limerick and the Minister of State and I were in two of them. That the schools will give the books on loan to the students is most welcome for the schools, the students and their parents. Schoolbooks can be so costly, and parents have a lot of extra costs when children are in primary school because of different things in which they are involved. This is most welcome news. I thank the Department, the Minister for Education and the Minister of State with responsibility for special education for listening to the needs of parents.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, and his guests to the Gallery. They are very welcome.

Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail)
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This morning I wish to highlight a despicable physical assault on a Wicklow farmer, Pat Dunne, who has for more than 15 years allowed walkers across his land. He asked walkers last week not to bring their dogs. Unfortunately, that appeal was not adhered to or listened to, and he was physically assaulted.

I have raised the matter of dog kills and dog walkers in recreational areas in the Cooley Mountains before. Every single week I hear from farmers in the Cooley Mountains of either dog kills or verbal assaults on farmers, who are told, "We are allowed to have our dogs here and should be allowed to let them roam around unhindered and uninterrupted." When people go onto farmland or mountainous commonage, shareholders' or owners' land, with their dogs unleashed and uncontrolled, they are potentially killers. I do not know if anyone in this House has ever come across a dog kill. It is absolutely horrendous. My family have been affected by dog kills several times and it is horrendous. You never get over it. Sheep do not get over it.

I call again for a debate on this issue in this House to get an update from the Department on what it will do to prevent this. This is a welfare issue. If it were the sheep killing the dogs, we would sort out the sheep quick smart. This needs to get sorted because there will be more physical attacks on farmers. We talk about people's mental health. This is suffering. People are suffering. Animals are suffering. It is incredibly stressful for farmers. I wish to highlight that there was another dog kill on a sheep farmer yesterday. How many more do we need until we have some control over this?

Barry Ward (Fine Gael)
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I wish to raise an issue that is a personal bugbear but is something I see as an increasing issue in Irish broadcasting, that is, the use of British advertising and culturally British advertising, and that of other countries, particularly America, in Irish broadcasting. What I mean by that is the use of British norms, British accents and British terminology in radio and television advertising here.I have two problems with it. First, there is a cultural aspect to it which I personally find offensive but that is less of a problem. The greater problem is that when an ad is run on Irish radio or television with a British accent, it tells us that ad was produced in the United Kingdom, in Britain, and probably in London. It tells us there has been an absolute abandonment of the various companies and entities in this jurisdiction which provide exactly that service. It tells us the person generating that ad sees no distinction between the Irish and British markets. Not only is it taking away from the fact we are a different market with different sensibilities and different things that encourage us to buy, not buy or whatever it may be, but it also takes away from businesses and the economic benefit of advertising in this jurisdiction. We should call in the relevant Minister to have a debate to ask for the State to do something to encourage particularly State broadcasting entities but also other broadcasting entities in Ireland to invest in Irish advertising, Irish ad makers and Irish media companies producing advertising for the Irish market.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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The Irish rugby team.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I support what colleagues have said about legislation on the Windsor Framework passed in Westminster last night. It is a positive step. That only 29 opposed it shows the overwhelming support in Britain for this positive move. We hope that will lead to the restoration of the Stormont Assembly and Executive, although we know there are challenges there still. The other piece of legislation in Westminster at the moment is the legacy Bill, which seeks to give an amnesty to those involved in murders during the Troubles. We need to bear in mind that it has been described by Queen's University as a broader and deeper amnesty than the one given to those under General Pinochet's regime in Chile. The legislation is opposed by all political parties in this island. One of the few documents ever signed by the major political parties on this island was done in relation to this legislation. All the Government agencies are working very hard to prevent this legislation becoming law because it is against the Stormont House Agreement and other agreements made with the British Government, which is breaching that particular agreement against the wishes of the victims and their families.

John McGahon (Fine Gael)
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I wish to speak about the vacant homes grant the Government announced a number of months ago. We all know what that grant is. It is an excellent scheme allowing people to get between €30,000 and €50,000 to renovate derelict and vacant homes. I would like a debate on the operation of the scheme which has now been open for three months. I am concerned about how different local authorities are approaching this. It is a classic example of Government introducing a really good policy and funding initiative, but it is down to the local authorities to implement it. My fear is there would be a discrepancy between local authorities regarding their ability to deliver those funding applications.

For example, a local authority might not have an engineer appointed to assess the applications coming in. One local authority might not put enough manpower resources into the application process, whereas another local authority could be flying through the approval process for these applications and people are able to start this right away. I have come across people applying for these grants, wanting to start work on vacant and derelict homes and yet having to sit around for many weeks until their application is processed. I want to get reassurance from the Minister in a future debate that he and his Department are ensuring that a really good scheme is rolled out equitably and fairly across all local authorities.

Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail)
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To have a properly functioning property market, we need confidence and investment. I have listened intently yesterday and today. I wonder how some people think they can achieve this if we stop people from selling their property and interfere with laws governing landlords and tenants, as we have done already. I would suggest that the ban on selling rental properties has not bred confidence in this sector and has put fear into investors. This has increased sales and escalated the problem. It would have been far more prudent to have used a carrot with landlords instead of a stick. This was the biggest mistake we made. Sooner or later, this will need to be addressed. We need a serious and honest debate about this. I know that legislation was enacted here yesterday and it has been talked about, but I think we need to start at the beginning on this.

Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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I hope it is okay with my colleague Senator Ward that I will be using my usual London-Irish accent today.

Michael McDowell (Independent)
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I think Senator Gavan will be allowed leave.

Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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I wish to raise a matter that was missed in the news yesterday for the most part. The European Committee of Social Rights has produced a very important report detailing that Ireland is far from compliant in basic labour law. Indeed, we come out as one of the worst countries in western Europe. It highlights the lack of a right to collective bargaining. It highlights, in particular, the really poor levels of pay for people under the age of 20. The Deputy Leader may be aware that the minimum wage starts at €7.91. This committee has called that out and highlighted that it does not ensure a decent standard of living. It has also highlighted that the Garda and our military still do not have proper trade union rights. It is quite a damning report.

The president of the committee, Professor Aoife Nolan, said the Government has been aware of this for many years but has not taken steps to address the issue. It is time we had an urgent debate on labour rights in Ireland, taking notice of this report. It is no coincidence that collective bargaining rights on average across Europe are at 60% whereas here in Ireland it is almost half that at 35%. There is a new directive, but my concern is that Irish governments have implemented EU directives on labour rights in a very minimalist way. The directive on European works councils is a clear example where it is just not working. We need to have a proper debate on how this directive is applied and to address urgently the issues of collective bargaining rights and the rights of young workers in particular. Sinn Féin believes it is not acceptable for young workers to be paid less than the actual minimum wage. We have a Bill on the Seanad Order Paper to address that issue. I would like to think that if we moved it, we would get the support of everyone in this Chamber. I am asking for a debate on the issue.

Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael)
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I wish to follow up on the points Senator McGahon made on the Croí Cónaithe scheme. The Government has put significant investment into these schemes and it is important the local authorities provide the resources to deliver these schemes. The local authority chief executives should have monthly meetings with the Minister in his office in the Custom House to ensure the local authorities are resourced to deliver them. The reality is there are extremely wide inconsistencies. A number of counties have not processed repair and lease schemes for the past five years while other counties have had up to 200 schemes. It is important we resource them. It is also important that all political parties, particularly those in opposition, which object to housing developments in their local areas would promote these schemes funded by the taxpayers instead of coming into both the Dáil and Seanad, criticising the Government and not supporting the schemes that are put in place at the taxpayers' expense.

As the sports spokesperson for my party, I congratulate the Irish rugby team on the significant success at the weekend. We look forward to the pre-World Cup games during the summer. We look forward to September and October and hope we will see a World Cup coming back to our country to give significant joy to all of us, young and old. My son will be travelling to the RDS tomorrow to support the Longford under-12 team at half time during the Leinster game. A huge amount of work takes place on the ground in the various clubs throughout the country. I put on record my thanks and thanks from Fine Gael Members for the joy the team has given us. We look forward to supporting them and wish them further success.I join with Senator Wall in calling for the speedy progress of the Life Saving Equipment Bill 2017 through this House. It was introduced here in 2017 by then Senator Keith Swanick and was reintroduced into the House with the permission of the Cathaoirleach when he was Leader two years ago. We got it to Report Stage and it has been with the Department for over a year now. I ask that it be brought back into this House so we can send it to the Dáil and get it into law as a matter of urgency. This is very important legislation that would introduce specific penalties for people who damage life-saving equipment such as defibrillators, lifebuoys etc. We need to do that as a matter of urgency. I ask the Deputy Leader to please use her good offices to ensure that happens.

I also support Senator McDowell's call for a debate on the Garda Reserve. This is a very important resource. It has the capability to assist the Garda in carrying out its duties. These are volunteers who are willing to assist An Garda Síochána in its duties and leave full-time officers to do other things. This is an idea I had many years ago. I brought it up at a meeting of Cavan County Council in 1999. Subsequent to me doing that the Minister for Justice at the time, the now Senator McDowell, brought in legislation that enabled it to go forward. Some years later, I had a conversation with Senator McDowell and enlightened him on the fact that I raised this in 1999 at Cavan County Council. He said that he was not accustomed to reading the minutes of Cavan County Council meetings and that basically, I had nothing to do with the fact that was brought in. That is in jest. I congratulate him on doing so.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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Thank you, Senator.

Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)
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If the Garda Reserve was properly enforced and enabled, it would be a huge resource the State could do with at this moment in time.

Eileen Flynn (Independent)
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My proposal is very simple. I have just come from the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. I live in rural Ireland, in Ardara in County Donegal. We have a lovely playground. It has been well invested in and the council has done a good job with it. Unfortunately, there is no play space or even a swing for disabled children or children who are autistic. It is a conversation we all need to be having around the right to play for children and how important it is for our children to have equality of opportunity, even in our playgrounds and parks.

I do not know who that debate would be with. It might be with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth or the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. When we build houses now they have to be wheelchair accessible and meet the needs of people. We need to do that with play areas as well. I understand it is a simple thing for local authorities to meet the needs of disabled children within playgrounds. There are a few examples in Dublin. While I am a Dublin woman myself, we have to go beyond Dublin and look at the rural parks. I do not know who this conversation would be with but I think a lot of my colleagues here in the Seanad would be in agreement that our playgrounds and parks should meet the needs of all children, including disabled children or children with disabilities, and children who are autistic.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I welcome to the Public Gallery the second part of the delegation from Aston Village Educate Together National School in Drogheda. The students and teachers in this group are very welcome to the Houses of the Oireachtas. I hope they have a very educational day here in Leinster House.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I would like to speak about childcare places. It is a real challenge and we are seeing this in Ballinasloe, Mountbellew and other regional towns where community crèches are full come September and maybe the following September. We are in dire need. We have brought forward funding of €1,200 for each child to support parents with childcare. We want to be able to ensure women have a choice and can choose to either be at home or go back to work and have access to the facilities to do that.

I have knocked on doors and spoken to mums who did not have a choice. They said they could not go back to work because there was no space for their child in September. They would like to have access to that service but it is not there. I call on the Minister or the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to come to the House and talk to us about what sort of capital infrastructure or additional infrastructure can be put in place and how we can work with community crèches to expand in towns where possible. There is a need because people are moving into our towns. There is pressure on our primary schools and secondary schools. It is great to have more people moving back to the west, which is what I want to see, but I also want to see the services as well.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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Before I call on the Deputy Leader, I acknowledge that today is the beginning of Ramadan. To colleagues, members of staff and friends who are observing Ramadan I say Ramadan mubarakto them all.

Regina Doherty (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach. Senator Dolan is looking for a debate with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on childcare places and investment in infrastructure. Senator Flynn is looking for a debate, probably with the Minister of State with responsibility for local government, on ensuring consistency in the provision of play equipment in all playgrounds in every county in the country to include all our children with all of their needs. I will try to organise that debate.

Senator Wilson supported Senator Wall's call for the resumption of the Life Saving Equipment Bill. To my mind, nothing focuses the Department as much as a date for Report Stage so we might try to schedule that and see if that focuses minds. I thank both Senators for raising that issue.

Senator Wilson also supported Senator McDowell's call for a debate on the Garda Reserve. It is a force that is much appreciated by the people of Ireland but maybe not so much by the politicians at the moment. I will certainly try to organise that as quickly as I possibly can.

Senator McGreehan is looking for a debate on the all-too-common occurrence of dog kills in rural Ireland. We will organise that debate.

With regard to Senator Maria Byrne, it is nice to see the city she is so proud of being recognised internationally. Limerick is now the top-ranked city of the future, particularly for investment and it is open for international business. I acknowledge that and congratulate everyone on it. She also welcomed the €50 million that was announced by the Minister for Education this week for the free schoolbook scheme for primary school children.

I am not sure who Senator Keogan is looking for a debate with. It might be with the Minister for Justice. I will check for her on the upholding of conscientious objections in all our employment legislation and other health Acts and come back to her. Whoever is the relevant Minister, we will make sure we organise that debate and make the request.

Senator Malcolm Byrne pointed out the glaring anomaly in the announcement by the CSO yesterday with regard to the publication date of 30 May for the 2022 census data and the misalignment with the expectations of the Electoral Commission. It is seeking applications and local input on the new boundaries from people, citizens and residents of communities by 10 May but we will not have the census information by then so something is going to have to give. We will either have to extend the deadline, which will disappoint many politicians who are looking for the information much quicker, or ask the CSO to publish the data more quickly. The Taoiseach is responsible for the CSO, for some reason. We will send a note to him on behalf of the Seanad and Senator Malcolm Byrne today.

Senator Black is looking for a debate on the somewhat enormous dividends announced by the ESB yesterday and how they are going to be returned to individual customers and citizens. I will ask the Minister to outline to us in a debate how that €847 million is going to be spent on supporting cost-of-living measures and the increased bills we have had recently.

A number of colleagues have sought a debate with regard to various aspects of housing, including the Croí Cónaithe scheme, the eviction debate in the Dáil last night and consistency around housing policy. Senators McGahon, Wall, Black, Davitt and Ó Donnghaile have sought a debate on housing.I am in the happy position to be able to tell him that the Minister will be here next Wednesday evening for a two-hour debate on housing, which was the quickest slot I could secure.

Both Senators Mark Daly and Ó Donnghaile very much welcomed the near-unanimous support for the Windsor Framework in Westminster yesterday. They are seeking a debate on the resumption of Stormont, obviously, and of the institutions to act on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland as speedily as possible. We will organise that debate.

Senator Ward asked for a debate on how the State can invest in Irish businesses and Irish advertising companies to ensure that our cultural norms are heard on our air waves and seen on our televisions. Senator Wall spoke about the lack of school places in his constituency and asked for a debate with the Minister. Senator Ó Donnghaile also looked at legislation that has just been passed and asked for statements on our offshore fisheries. He asked for the Minister to come in to have a conversation with us about that.

Senator Paddy Burke was supported by Senator McDowell in asking for a debate on the progress on the implementation of the minimum alcohol advertising Bill that was passed a number of years ago to see how it is actually working or, indeed, not working in the reality of Irish life.

I remind Members of a very important ceremony that is taking place this morning to plant our tree in commemoration of all the people who lost their lives and all those who were affected by that loss during the years of Covid-19. It will take place at 1 p.m. on the lawn.