Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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The Order of Business is expressions of sympathy on the death of former Senator Billy Lawless, to be taken at 11.45 a.m. and to conclude at 12.45 p.m. if not previously concluded; and No. 1, statements on international development and the diaspora, to be taken at 1 p.m. and 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, group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes each, all other Senators not to exceed five minutes each, time may be shared, and the Minister to be given not less than ten minutes to reply to the debate.

Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail)
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I rise this morning to raise a matter that is important for me and for many Members from the north west. It is the N2 and A5 road and specifically the A5. That project was thrown out in a recent court case and is due back in court in the next few weeks. It is important that we work collectively on this project to ensure we get it right this time. I ask my colleagues in Sinn Féin to do everything they can. The Northern Ireland minister, Liz Kimmins, has the wherewithal to do the necessary. I ask the Leader that the Seanad write to her to offer our support as well as to the Minister for Transport, Deputy O'Brien, to ask him to work in co-operation as best he can on this vital project for the north west, for which many organisations such as IDA Ireland and other organisations and companies have been crying out for decades.

With that in mind, I will go further and ask that all representatives, particularly the two in Donegal, Deputies Doherty and Mac Lochlainn, who have been silent about this since the last court case, and the Cavan-Monaghan Sinn Féin representatives be vocal about this project, ensure they are all over it with the minister, Liz Kimmins, and show their voices are behind it. If they do not do so on this occasion, we will be vociferous about it. We will have our voices heard. This is the time to get this project right. According to the office of the minister, Andrew Muir MLA, the legislation needs to be changed. His office is meeting regularly at the moment with the office of the minister, Liz Kimmins, and I believe the power to address the challenges relating to climate change and the A5 project lies with her. It has to be put right. We cannot afford for another muck-up in this project. We need delivery. I again ask my colleagues in Sinn Féin to work with us. They have to do their damnedest on this occasion. I ask the three colleagues I mentioned, Deputies Doherty and Mac Lochlainn and their colleague in Monaghan-----

Maria McCormack (Sinn Fein)
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Deputy Matt Carthy.

Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail)
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-----to show their voices and put them behind the project. They have been silent. It is not like them to be silent. We need them to stand up, show they are with us and that they want the project to be delivered as well. It is important for their political tenure that they be vociferous about this project.

With the indulgence of the Leas-Chathaoirleach, my last point is that my colleague, Senator Gallagher, asked that we also ask the Minister for funding for the southern end of the road to ensure the Castleblayney to Ardee end is funded, we get the design done for it and the project under way as well.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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Before I move on to the next speaker, I welcome the students from St. Clare's College, Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan. I hope they have an enjoyable day. They are guests of Deputy Brendan Smith and Senator Wilson.

Noel O'Donovan (Fine Gael)
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I raise the issue of flooding in Bantry, which I raised on the Order of Business earlier this week. Since then, it has become known that 22 businesses flooded in the town the other morning. As I said on local radio yesterday morning, it is tough for public representatives to go on radio and speak about flooding because we are not the people who have to open the businesses and see the devastation or the people living in homes where they cannot go to bed at night without the fear that their lives will be at risk. In Bantry, an overall flood scheme is progressing. The overall timeline for it is up to 2030 or 2031, which is a number of years away. In the meantime a culvert can be upgraded and that work needs to be progressed.I am seeking a debate with the Minister with responsibility for the Office of Public Works in light of recent flooding events. There is an early warning system that can be put in place in Bantry. There is a monitor which records the level of flow in the culvert in question. It has been in place for three years. Last Tuesday morning, the highest level of water passing through that culvert was recorded. We should have an early warning system. We should have the technology - and the science behind it - to alert both local authorities and the fire service, but, importantly, to also alert residents and business owners that their properties could be at risk. I am making a clear ask of the OPW and local authority in Cork to put that in place. I would welcome a debate on the matter with the Minister with responsibility for the OPW in due course.

Maria McCormack (Sinn Fein)
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This issue has been raised in the Chamber by numerous Members over recent weeks, but today is really different. The situation has become critical. The health of the people to whom this issue relates is failing and their lives are at risk. I am talking about day 47 of the hunger strike. It is 47 days since this group of survivors of industrial and reformatory schools started their protest at the gates of Leinster House. They are desperate to be heard. Their health has really deteriorated. I visited them last night and was shocked to see the condition they are in. Paramedics visited them this morning. One of the women is down to six and a half stone. Three of them are on antibiotics and steroids. The paramedics who were there this morning are still with them. The protesters are in the back of the ambulance now and the paramedics are concerned for them.

They tell me that they will have to wait until next Wednesday to get a further response from An Taoiseach in respect of two of their most recent asks. They cannot wait until next Wednesday, so I ask that Members of this House work together today to try to get a response for them. What they are asking for is not major at all. There are only 4,000 of these survivors. They are looking for HAA cards and pension entitlements. We need to get this sorted. It is not acceptable that there have been 47 days of back and forth and negotiations. Now that their health is at risk I am really concerned. We asked one of the paramedics if they will get to the stage of irreversible damage and he said that they are already there. We cannot leave them until next Wednesday. We need to get an urgent response for them today in order that they can end their protest. I am told they need to go to hospital. The paramedics will take them to hospital, but we need to work together to get a response for these people.

Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)
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I ask that the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs come before the House at some point to discuss the competitiveness funding that the European Commission is proposing and, in particular, the loss of the EU life projects. There is a proposal on the table to have life funding subsumed into the EU Competitiveness Fund. That would be a retrograde step. If people look at the Corncrake LIFE project, LIFE on Machair and the Wild Atlantic Nature project, which have all been successful, they will see that this is money that embeds itself in rural communities across Ireland. If the fund is lost, it will be lost to Irish farmers. It is important that the Minister of State come to House for a debate.

The COP30 discussions begin today. The Taoiseach is there. I was speaking to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, earlier. The EU has done a sneaky deal to try to reach the 90% cuts by 2040 by paying for projects elsewhere. This is akin to Andy Dufresne in "The Shawshank Redemption" pulling the rubble from his cell and redistributing it in the exercise yard. What is happening is that the EU is heading out to COP30 with a deal done to allow it to try to use offsets to reach targets, because many countries are failing to do so. It is important that the Irish Government show leadership at COP30. By all accounts, I do not think it is going to be a successful COP. The mood music is not great. To date, the European Union has shown leadership on climate emissions. Many countries of the European Union have reached their objectives and targets, but many are not going to. The Irish Government is seeking a deal to try to meet the challenges relating to agriculture out to 2030. There are significant challenges in that regard.

I hope that the Irish Government and the Minister show leadership at the Belém talks on COP30 because the Irish Government will take up the Presidency of the European Union next year and will be leading on the COP31 talks. Whatever about the outcomes of this, which remain to be seen, it is critically important that if we have the EU climate Commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, saying that the planet does not care about where we achieve the emissions, we say that the planet does care. We all have to do it. It is about burden sharing, fairness and every country playing its part in respect of what is the single greatest threat facing humanity. I hope that we see positive soundings from the talks in Belém. I hope that our Taoiseach and Minister show leadership on this issue.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I welcome Stephen, Jennifer and Claire, who are staff of the south western drugs task force. They are guests of our colleague Senator McCarthy. I hope they enjoy their visit. I welcome the second lot of students from St. Clare's College, Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan. They are guests of Deputy Brendan Smith and Senator Diarmuid Wilson. Enjoy your stay here today.

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Fianna Fail)
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Scams have been so prevalent lately that many people are losing an awful lot of money. I feel particularly sorry for older people who have obviously saved money and who can lose it so fast. Many older people are losing confidence in life as a result. They are getting depressed and sad and feel foolish. It is not only old people. We must remember that these scammers are really professional. I came close to falling for a couple of scams. Thank God I did not. Some of these scams so professional and elaborate. It is probably serious enough that we should ask the Minister to come before the House to outline his plans in this area going forward. Maybe there could be something like a publicity campaign, especially for older people, to tip them off not to give out their details, no matter what, and to check with the company or whatever on behalf of which the scammers are pretending to contact them. I would like the Minister to come in to discuss the whole subject of scamming.

Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
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I welcome my colleagues from the south western drugs task force. They do amazing work in the south-west region. My purpose in rising today is to congratulate our President-elect, Catherine Connolly, who is in the House this morning, on being elected as the tenth President of Ireland. Her election is certainly wonderful news for Galway, but it is also great news for the nation. She is a woman of integrity and has been a voice for compassion in the Oireachtas. I look forward to seeing her commitment to justice, equality and democracy in the years ahead.

I take this moment to acknowledge an amazing man whose Presidency was certainly defined by humanity, dignity and social inclusion. I refer to President Michael D. Higgins. I also acknowledge his wife, Sabina, who is a force for compassion in her own right. For Tiglin, the charity with which I am involved, the President did not simply offer words. He became not only a figurehead, but he invited us into his home many times. I remember a number of years back when the President was elected that I received an invitation to go to Áras an Uachtaráin. I presumed it was a big event. When I arrived, it was just me and my guest, my sister. We arrived at 1 p.m. and were there for many hours. The President and Sabina asked us all the details about our family history, how we started Tiglin, what the purpose of it was and what we wanted to do. You could see that the President took an interest and wanted to meet the marginalised people who we worked with. In the period since residents of Tiglin, the people who use our homeless hostel, have been asked to attend garden parties, the Christmas tree lighting ceremony and various events in the Áras. Even when people from the homeless cohort graduated from college, they would get a letter from the President, which really showed that not only were they seen, they were also valued by our Head of State. These gestures were not symbolic. I salute President Higgins because I think he has been a transformative President.

In a world in which we often talk about marginalisation, we had an amazing example where we had a President who opened the doors of Áras an Uachtaráin and invited us to the table. I know, wearing the Tiglin hat, that it meant the world to the Tiglin family. I just want to say go raibh míle maith agaibh to President Higgins and Sabina for making compassion the cornerstone of the Presidency.

Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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It is deeply concerning and, unfortunately, not uncommon that parents of special needs children often face unnecessary battles to secure what is a basic human right to support their children. I am deeply concerned about the increasing numbers of families reaching out for help to navigate the education system for their children with special needs. One recent case highlighted a troubling pattern. A parent of a child with complex special needs was informed by the school principal, without consultation or discussion, that her son would be transferred to a secondary school in September. The reason given was "age appropriate". This fails to consider the individual needs of the child, his current progress, the suitability of the school, and his happiness and experience in his current educational setting. The child has thrived in the national school special needs unit and his parents had every reason to believe he would continue there, as other children have done. The lack of communication and respect shown in this situation is unacceptable. Decisions about children's education, especially those with complex needs, must be made together in a transparent manner and with the best interests of the children at heart. We need to ensure that parents are fully informed and involved in all decisions affecting their children; recognise that age-appropriate transitions are not always suitable for children with special needs; provide a clear pathway and support for the families navigating the education system; and uphold the principle of education and person-centred planning. Families should not have to fight for what is right and fair. I will advocate for compassion, informed and respectful treatment of children with special needs. This is becoming increasingly common up our way. Parents should be more involved in decisions such as this for their children.

Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail)
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I wish to raise the issue of tourism, in particular how we gather tourism data. Members will be aware that the Central Statistics Office collects and publishes tourism figures. The figures for 2025 have not been positive. The figures published last week showed that from January to September this year there were 4.85 million foreign visitors. This compares with 5.24 million foreign visitors in the same period last year. Expenditure so far this year by tourists was €5.7 billion, down from €6.6 billion at the same time last year, a drop of 13%. There was a decrease in the amount spent on accommodation from €2 billion to €1.7 billion, a fall of 15%.

If accurate, these figures would be extremely concerning. However, operators in the industry are having a different experience. Eoghan O'Mara Walsh, CEO of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, said the CSO figures do not tally with the experience of the industry. He said that, so far this year, it is flat or down marginally. I have spoken to operators in Galway and throughout the country who have said the same thing.

As Members are aware, tourism is a vital industry for our economy and for tens of thousands of small businesses throughout the country involving hundreds of thousands of employees. It is essential we have good quality, reliable data. There have been some suggestions from those in the tourism industry that the CSO figures may have overstated in 2024, which would explain why the 2025 figures show a dramatic decline. The CSO has insisted its figures were and are accurate. Whatever the case, we need clarity on it. We need to be able to have confidence in these numbers. I would be grateful if the Leader of the House would raise this with the Minister, Deputy Burke, and request he joins us to talk through the issue.

Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)
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I will speak on the Department of Education and Youth's new school survey for parents. Consultation and parental choice are important for our education system but this survey is wholly inadequate. It consists of just seven short questions and it is not necessary even to be a parent to fill it out. We absolutely support multidenominational schools. However, it must be said that there is a constant ideological push against Catholic schools. In reality, the Department's attempts to divest schools from Catholic patronage have failed because in many cases parents are happy with the existing ethos of their school and simply want that to remain in place. There is nothing stopping individuals who are pushing an ideological agenda against Catholic schools from filling out this survey themselves. Parents who contacted me were surprised that they could fill out the survey multiple times simply by switching from their phone to their laptop. That hardly inspires confidence in the reliability or usefulness of the results.

Where are the surveys on issues that are crucial to families such as provision of resources for children with disabilities or autism, as Senator Boyle just raised? I take no issue with a survey being conducted but it seems the Department and the Government in general are more preoccupied with surveys and reviews than actually delivering services. A total of €80 million was spent on reviews in the past three years.

I previously raised the lack of space in St. Aidan's school in Cootehill, County Cavan. By 2026 it will have 700 students, yet a project approved four years ago is still stuck at stage 2B. The same situation prevails in Bailieborough, Virginia and Kingscourt. These schools are looking for additional accommodation and are stuck at stage 2B since being approved four or five years ago.

Parents in these areas would tick the box for any school place they could find. What are the next steps if the survey finds there is a demand for multidenominational schools? I can promise there will be years more of surveys and reviews and nothing built. We need more concrete action in this area.

Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)
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I wish to raise the humanitarian disaster in Sudan which has been going on for two years. The Deputy Leader raised it yesterday. More than 12 million people have already been displaced and many millions face severe malnutrition and famine. It is an extraordinarily severe humanitarian situation. People are facing starvation and dying for lack of food and medicine while conflict carries on with no indications that the two sides, the Sudanese government and the RSF, or the respective international backers, including the UAE, are willing to engage in any sort of peace talks. I am gravely concerned for the civilians of Sudan and the inability to get humanitarian aid into the country.

Many people often say to all of us that we talk about Gaza but never about Sudan. In some ways they are probably right. It has in many ways been a forgotten war. There are reasons for that. Information and connectivity in Gaza has been a lot greater. Many of the wars and genocides currently being undertaken are David and Goliath-type genocides and wars. There is no clear, sharp narrative about what is happening. People do not have a start and an end and it has been going on for quite a while. I have spoken to a number of people from the Sudanese community. They care deeply about Gaza as well as the nightmare that they themselves are facing. They actually resent the fact that Sudan is not getting the attention and is being used as a way to invalidate support for Palestine and people in Gaza. It is important to state that.

The situation is escalating by the day and the world can no longer avert its eyes and ignore what is happening. It is already one of the most significant crises in the world and has the potential to be a disaster of historic proportions. Like the Deputy Leader, I believe we need to focus on this and look to see what the EU can do to ensure the supply of arms into Sudan ends now.

Mark Duffy (Fine Gael)
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On 20 November, it will be World Pancreatic Cancer Day. Pancreatic cancer is one of these devastating diseases. In Ireland, 600 people every year are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and, sadly, 500 people pass away within the year. Five in six people pass away within the year of the diagnosis. It is a devastating disease and I would like to highlight efforts to try to improve patient outcomes and conditions for those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.Those efforts are led by the co-founder of Pancreatic Cancer Ireland, Niall Rochford, who, as we speak, is walking from Cork to Cong, County Mayo, to raise vital funds for the charity he co-founded in memory of his late wife, Stella, who passed away in 2022. I use this opportunity to highlight Mr. Rochford's work in the charity and the incredible personal journey he is on. I am hosting Pancreatic Cancer Ireland in the audiovisual room at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 20 November and I encourage all Members of the House to come along to see how we can collectively support the charity. The issue needs a lot more attention. Outcomes can be improved. Let us be leaders as a country in improving those outcomes in what is a devastating disease.

In my last few seconds, I also acknowledge David Newcombe from Ballina who has set up a new organisation called Awaken Ireland, which is attempting to empower young people to get involved, interested and engaged in politics because they are our future. I compliment Mr. Newcombe on the work he has done leading on this and I hope it gets plenty of engagement and gets the next generation of young people interested in politics.

Dee Ryan (Fianna Fail)
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I raise again the subject of University Hospital Limerick, UHL. I, the Leas-Chathaoirleach and many other Oireachtas Members from the mid-west region attended an informative briefing on Monday of this week with HSE staff from the mid-west who gave us updates on the work being done across the region and the ongoing constraints and capacity issues faced at UHL despite the successful and welcome opening of the 96-bed block last month. The board at UHL, over the course of the recess of the Houses, called on the Government to declare a capacity emergency at UHL. It has said it would find that helpful in the work it is trying to do. I support that call for a capacity emergency to be declared at UHL and once more - I believe it may be my third time in this House - ask the Minister for Health to address the Seanad on what provisions she will make for us for the winter. I have been asking since last June for a UHL-specific winter plan. We need a site-specific winter plan that takes into account that the hospital is already at maximum capacity and is facing into the flu coming from Australia, which, we have been warned, will be quite severe this year.

At that HSE briefing, a matter I had previously discussed with Dr. Peters came up. It is the welcome event in two years' time, the Ryder Cup. It is exciting, but it will bring 200,000 people to our region. It will have a knock-on effect on our hospital and we need planning for how to prepare and cope with the increase in our population for those few weeks to begin now. I would like the Minister for sport to give us an update on what medical provisions and preparations are being made across the region.

Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I will speak on the need for a dedicated 24-7 mental health facility for the people of Wexford in County Wexford. At the moment, people experiencing a mental health crisis have to make the journey to the facilities in Waterford. There has long been a campaign for a facility dedicated exclusively to Wexford. We have one of the fastest growing populations of any county, with close to 175,000 people living in County Wexford. I support the campaign for a small, dedicated 24-7 mental health bed facility in Wexford. There has been much discussion of this project in recent years, but regrettably we simply have not seen action. I call for the Minister for mental health to come to this Chamber to discuss the possibility of putting in place a small, dedicated facility. There are fantastic local charities in Wexford, such as It's Good 2 Talk and many others that do great work. However, this is not an issue that should be left to local charities to take up the slack on. Nor should the people of Wexford be forced to travel outside their county to access this important care. The care provided in Waterford is very good. There is excellent staff there, but because of a rising population, we need to have a facility in our county to look after it.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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We started this morning with Senator Blaney who spoke about the N2 and A5, particularly the A5. This has been ongoing for a long time. I think the agreement was made in 2009. The Senator has brought this up several times and I thank him for being a champion for it. We need champions for different infrastructure projects in different forums. My understanding is that a commitment has been made by the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. I read somewhere a few weeks ago that he recommitted to that financial commitment. Commitments have been made by Stormont as well. The Senator is right that everyone needs to work together and be on the same page to deliver this. This is about the shared island of Ireland. It is why we have the shared island unit, to make sure projects are implemented. It is for the benefit of people living in Northern Ireland and the Republic and will save lives when it has been put in place.

The Senator asked that we write to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the minister, Liz Kimmins MLA, to encourage and offer support to finding a pathway. As the Senator said, we are at a crucial point because another court case is coming up on this matter. We need to have co-operation. I understand the minister, Andrew Muir MLA, has also been very co-operative. We need co-operation between the ministers, Mr. Muir and Ms Kimmins, and all public representatives on both sides of the Border. Senator Blaney mentioned three specific ones, but we ask that all raise their voices and show their support. This absolutely needs to happen. We need to get it right because if we do not, we may not have another chance.

Senator Blaney also mentioned that Senator Gallagher has been supportive in looking for funding for the southern end of the route between Castleblayney and Ardee. We will include that in our correspondence to the Minister.

Senator O'Donovan spoke about flooding in Bantry and mentioned that another 22 businesses were flooded during the week. That has a huge impact on lives, quality of life and people trying to go about their daily business and make a small amount of money every day to pay the overheads. When something like that happens and impacts their businesses, it is sad and shocking. That is quite apart from the residents who are affected. The Senator is correct that we need to look for an early warning system. I do not know how that can be done technically. However, given that the work that is ongoing will not be completed until 2030, we will certainly look for a culvert to be put in at this time. This gives rise to the wider issue of flooding and the need for a debate in the House on ensuring all our local authorities are assisted to support businesses and residents.

Senator McCormack spoke about day 47 of the hunger strike of the survivors of industrial and reformatory schools. All of us across the House have spoken about it and we are all concerned about it. The Taoiseach met the group formally twice and also informally. The mediation process restarted yesterday, which is good. It started before, but unfortunately the key mediator was taken ill so a new mediator has come in. Work is ongoing behind the scenes on the medical cards.It is a sad fact that those who went to industrial schools, unfortunately, were always labelled as having a conviction. Work is ongoing to make sure that those convictions are overturned. It is important that work is going on. We are all concerned about the four people that are there. We should ask them to come off the strike while mediation is going on. That is for their health. As we go into colder, damper, wetter times, we all have to be concerned. I understand that doctors and paramedics come out to them on a regular basis to make sure that they are getting the help and the support they need. That would be my ask, that the hunger strike stops while the mediation process is going on.

Senator Noonan looked for the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs to come to speak about competitiveness funding and expressed concerns for projects regarding biodiversity and wildlife. He mentioned that it seems there could possibly be a redistribution of funds through the competitiveness funding. We will certainly ask the Minister of State to come in and address that. It is an important issue.

Senator Noonan also spoke about COP. The Taoiseach is there at the moment. I think two Ministers will be there representing the State. There is a roadmap, the Baku to Belém roadmap, with key outcomes that does not have to be negotiated. That is an important roadmap that will be unveiled at the end. There will also be debates and negotiation on just transition, capacity building, forests and gender. Ireland has always taken a leading role in COP in terms of different negotiations and formed part of the negotiation team for Baku last year. It is important that Ireland works closely with the Danish Presidency and the upcoming Cypriot one on COP and climate issues before we come into our Presidency.

Senator Murphy O'Mahony spoke about scams. She is right to raise this. It is shocking and shameful to see so many people losing money. As she rightly pointed out, people lose confidence in their ability to deal with people and deal with their own financial transactions. Nobody wants to hand that over to anybody else. A lot of these scammers are professional. They are elaborate. We need a publicity campaign. We also need to do it through some of the community organisations that we are lucky to have around the country, like the men's and women's sheds, Active Retirement and all of these different organisations that can actually get the word out. We will ask the Minister to come in and talk about how we can raise publicity and advise people how to deal with these things.

Senator McCarthy congratulated President-elect Catherine Connolly. I know we all look forward to the inauguration next Tuesday. He acknowledged the current President, Michael D. Higgins, and his wife, Sabina, for all of their support and the compassion that was the cornerstone of Michael D.'s presidency. He thanked the President for all the support he has shown Tiglin.

Senator Boyle spoke about the increasing number of families reaching out in relation to special education. He spoke about a particular situation regarding the transfer of a child because the child was deemed to be age-appropriate to go to another school. Obviously we do not have the information on individual cases. Parents should be consulted. I know we have a much larger number of SENOs now than we did in the past. In my experience, having the extra number of SENOs has been very useful in liaising with parents, principals and the NCSE. Parents need to be part of the process. There need to be clear pathways. Special education is a key priority for this Government and the programme for Government has shown that. I know the Minister of State with responsibility for special education has weekly meetings with the NCSE to make sure that there are placements and enough special schools, 16 of which have opened in the last two years, and places within mainstream schools to make the appropriate placements that are there.

Senator Crowe spoke about tourism, that the figures for 2025 are negative, to say the least, showing a 13% decrease in expenditure from the same time last year, and that there seems to be a lack of clarity between the different figures. We need clarity. Importantly, we need to have a full debate on tourism. Tourism brings in so much money for our economy. Following Covid, we still have not got to where we were before. We will look for a full debate on tourism.

Senator Sarah O'Reilly spoke about the survey of parents. It is a good thing that parents are being asked. It is the biggest nationwide survey that is ever going to be carried out. The Department of education and the Government need to listen to how parents feel they want to have their children educated. It is important for society and for families. She raised the concern that some people can fill it in multiple times. I am sure that is not the purpose of it. That is a concern. The Senator also raised Saint Aidan's and other schools in her area that are at stage 2B. I suggest that she tables a Commencement matter on those.

Senator Andrews spoke about the humanitarian situation in Sudan. I thank him for raising it. A total of 24 million people are being impacted and 12 million children are in danger of dying because of malnutrition. There are huge problems in terms of capacity within hospitals, etc., and with gender-based violence, which we always see when there are warring factions. The Senator is right; we did raise it at the foreign affairs committee yesterday. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, is coming to the House in the afternoon, so it is to be hoped we will have the chance to raise it again. The Senator is right in saying that there needs to be a European-wide voice. Ireland, in my view, has always led the way in terms of human rights in Europe and globally, and we need to do it in relation to Sudan. We will ask the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs to come in and talk about that issue.

Senator Duffy spoke about World Pancreatic Cancer Day. It is a devastating disease. We all know people who have passed away very suddenly. The vast majority of people will pass within 12 months of diagnosis. Sadly, they suffer quite a bit too. Well done to Niall Rochford who has cofounded the charity in memory of his wife, Stella. We wish him well on his walk and in raising awareness. I thank the Senator for organising the event in the audiovisual room on 20 November. We will certainly support him there.

Senator Duffy also mentioned David Newcombe, who set up Awaken Ireland. It sounds very interesting. Its aim is to get young people involved in politics. We look forward to hearing more from David.

Senator Dee Ryan once again spoke about University Hospital Limerick and acknowledged the briefing that was given last Monday to all Oireachtas Members. It is important to get regular updates, but they need to be more than updates. They need to show roadmaps too. The Senator made the point that the board has called on the Government to declare a capacity emergency. We should endorse that from the Seanad and write to the Minister for Health to say that and to look for a specific winter plan for UHL. It always amazes me that the winter plan always comes out far too late for every single hospital that we have. We will write to the Minister for Health and ask her to address the House in relation to the winter plan in general but also UHL specifically.

The Senator made a very good point about the Ryder Cup bringing so many people. It is very welcome on so many different levels, but when there is a huge increase in population at any given time, as this will be, there obviously has to be an expectation that more people will need medical support and health. We will ask the Minister for sport to come in to give us an update on that as well.

Senator Cathal Byrne spoke about the need for a mental health facility in Wexford. I am surprised to hear that there is not one. I had not realised that and that people have to go to Waterford. I was actually in Wexford hospital recently visiting a relative. It is wonderful to see the new building that is there. I know it is going to be an excellent hospital and it has the capacity, but it is sad to think that there was no forethought in terms of having a particular section for mental health.I commend the local charities that are doing the work but we certainly will ask the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health to address that.