Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before I call the Leader to outline the Order of Business I welcome from Wexford the Newtown aqua ladies club, who are guests of the Ceann Comhairle. They are in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery, as they should be.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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The Order of Business is No. 1, the Health Information Bill 2024 - Second Stage, to be taken at 4.45 p.m. and to conclude at 6.15 p.m. with the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes, any other Senators not to exceed five minutes and the Minister to be given no less than ten minutes to reply to the debate; No. 2, statements on apprenticeships, to be taken at 6.30 p.m. and to conclude at 8 p.m. with the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes, any other Senators not to exceed five minutes and the Minister to be given no less than ten minutes to reply to the debate; and No. 3, statements on Storm Chandra, to be taken at 8 p.m. and to conclude at 9.30 p.m. with the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes, any other Senators not to exceed five minutes and the Minister to be given no less than ten minutes to reply to the debate.

Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Leader for the opportunity to speak. Today is digital Internet safety day. It is an important day in the calendar because it is a day when we bring awareness to keeping children safe online. It is unfortunate that it is a day. It should be every day that we ensure we are keeping our children safe online. The protection of minors should be a priority for the Data Protection Commission. However, section 30(6) of the Data Protection Act 2018, which would make it illegal to profile minors for the purpose of targeting them with advertising, has never been commenced. This means tech platforms à la algorithms can use minors' data such as their age, gender or sexual orientation to target ads at them. Children and vulnerable adults can be brought to the extremes easily by harmful ads. This is despite the EU General Data Protection Regulation explicitly stating that, "Processing [of data] shall be lawful only if and to the extent that at least one of the following applies... [that] the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes". The digital age of consent in Ireland is 16. Children under 16 cannot consent to the processing of their data. Therefore, it should be illegal to target children under 16 with advertising or algorithms. I ask that the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration come before Seanad Éireann to address that issue. On the day he is here I would also like sexual exploitation to be addressed.That is widespread online today. It takes the form of children being dressed up as adults in sexually suggestive clothing and being made to pose for pictures and videos to be posted online. This practice should be seen as and considered child sexual abuse material. It should be treated as such in the law, and those creating this content should face harsh consequences.

On Internet digital safety day, therefore, I have raised with the Leader two solutions that would help protect our children online. One is the enacting of section 30(6) of the Data Protection Act. The other is to bring forward a law preventing sexual exploitation of our minors. That would go a long way towards protecting our children and ensuring we do not have targeting of algorithms where children have not given consent in respect to their data because they cannot as they are under 16 years of age.

Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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Following the recent news from the Department of justice of the allocation of new members of An Garda Síochána, I am very disappointed to hear that only one has been pledged to County Donegal. Geographically, Donegal is a uniquely demanding, vast rural area with a poor road network. Gardaí are regularly covering huge patrol areas on their own. Response times are extremely long. Backup can take about 30 to 60 minutes to arrive. The night shift runs on minimal cover. Single Garda units attend horrible accidents. This has effects on members and the public. It is one of the core operational risks. Donegal has a large population and seasonal surges with a massive summer increase because of tourists, festivals and holiday homes. Garda demand spikes, but staffing does not. Being a Border county adds additional strain. Crime utilises the Border. This results in more time being spent at incidents on average than other counties. The Garda has to liaise with the PSNI, which takes up a lot of time and paperwork.

Keeping our staff in Donegal is a major problem. Many leave as soon as they are eligible for transfers. Donegal's location discourages long-time placement and as a result, rapport and relationships with communities fall by the wayside. There is a demand for more members who come from Donegal to be stationed in Donegal, yet the requests are often not approved or take a very long time to reach approval. The system prioritises holding the line elsewhere. Donegal becomes the release valve. Members of the Garda are sent to other counties but, in lots of cases, are not being sent back. This directly discourages Donegal applicants from applying. Many of our gardaí are renting properties in rent pressure zones in other counties, and they have their own accommodation in Donegal. This is adding unnecessary pressure on the rental market.

The Minister was up in Donegal a couple of weeks ago and he had a very positive meeting with gardaí and with the local communities. He is an absolute gentleman. However, we really need help here. One garda for the size of Donegal is just not enough. I am not getting at the Minister here, no way, but from being up there, he sees the geographical size of the county. We really need more help and more reinforcements up there.

Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
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When I was elected to this House last year, there were over 15,000 people in emergency accommodation. The most recent figures, which came out last year, show that there has been a 12% increase overall. There was a small drop in December, but if we take into account temporary accommodation and families taking in some of their family members, that seasonal dip does not really show, and it should not distract us. It does not change the underlying trend that we are going the wrong way with homelessness. I was delighted to see the Taoiseach and the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, open the new 75-bed Simon facility that is much needed in Dublin. However, what matters most is a housing policy that actually delivers housing for all those people, and it needs to be an absolute priority.

I also want to mention an ongoing matter. I was contacted by the fishing community in Greystones. Despite a recent High Court settlement, the reality on the ground has not changed in any meaningful way.The conditions attached for the fishermen to secure a commercial berth are so restrictive that in practice it nearly makes it impossible. It looks like they will have to go back to court in order to continue fishing, and I know that was not the intention of the court outcome. I am deeply concerned about the fees being proposed for the use of the harbour facilities. They are significantly higher than anywhere else in the county, but also higher than elsewhere in the State. There appears to be no consistent method of calculating these charges. That raises questions about fairness.

The issue goes well beyond the individual operators. People who know Greystones and the new marina are aware it is a fantastic facility, but families who have been involved in fishing for up to five generations have spent 15 years in the courts trying to get their fishing rights back from the very harbour that they fished out of initially, and it now looks like they will have to go back to court again. They were removed from the old harbour in 2008 for the redevelopment and they have since faced repeated attempts to push them out again. A legal settlement was reached only recently to provide a safe functional area, yet the fishing community tells me that the Department think it is fixed, but in practical terms on the ground it is actually not. The new marina is a wonderful place, but the fishermen and their activities should be able to coexist. Will the Leader request that the relevant Ministers urgently revisit the matter, engage directly with the fishing community in Greystones and ensure that the settlement that is implemented is workable, fair and respectful of a tradition that predates all of the recent development of the marina?

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before I call on the next speaker, I welcome guests of Deputy Michael Collins from the Government & Politics society in UCC. They are most welcome to Seanad Éireann today. I thank them for coming. If they have any observations, could they please email them to my office?

Maria McCormack (Sinn Fein)
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Today I want to talk about Coco's Law. As my colleague has mentioned, today is Safer Internet Day. It comes at a time when the scale of online risk facing children and young people in this country can no longer be ignored. New research released this morning by CyberSafeKids paints a deeply worrying picture. Over 3,300 primary schoolchildren and more than 1,700 parents were surveyed nationwide. The findings show that one in eight children is at risk of online contact with strangers. More than half the children have no parental restrictions around online contact, including chatting and gaming with people they do not know. Just 39% of eight- to 12-year-olds say their parents monitor or check their online activity and fewer than half say there are clear rules at home about privacy settings or sharing images and videos of themselves online.

This is not about blaming parents. I am a parent myself who is probably guilty of not monitoring enough. It is about recognising how fast technology is moving and how unprotected many children are in the online space, and acknowledging that the law is struggling to keep pace.

Today in the Dáil, Sinn Féin is bringing forward really important legislation to close this gap. Sinn Féin's amendment to Coco's Law would clarify that the creation of sexualised AI deepfakes is illegal by criminalising the generation and creation of non-consensual images and videos. It would also extend the statute of limitations from two to five years, which would allow victims plenty of time to come forward and would also give An Garda Síochána enough time to forensically and technically examine personal electronic devices and services in order to build a strong case. In addition, the Bill would increase the maximum penalties upon conviction to properly reflect the impact and the seriousness of these crimes.

On Safer Internet Day, I am calling for action. I am calling on the Government parties in here to support this legislation and to ensure our laws genuinely protect children and victims of online and offline abuse, as new technologies emerge.

Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)
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This week, we learned of the horrific plight of Seamus Culleton, a Kilkenny man who has been held in deplorable conditions by ICE agents for nearly five months. Seamus's sister Caroline and his wife Tiffany have been living through a complete nightmare and are deeply concerned for his physical and mental well-being.His family have not received regular contact from the Department of foreign affairs on his case. As a core pillar of work for the Department is consular support, I am incredibly frustrated to hear that Irish citizens and their families are not receiving the proper support while in detention overseas. There are questions to be answered about this gap, particularly in light of ICE raids and detentions in the US in the past year.

ICE has been executing US citizens in the streets so we can only wonder about the conditions that Irish citizens could be held in behind gates and locked doors in ICE facilities. Has the Department been proactively reaching out to at-risk Irish communities in the US to provide legal advice in advance of potential detentions? Is the Department updating its travel advisory for the US to highlight the risk of detention? If not, why not? I would like to have an urgent debate about the safety of Irish citizens overseas, particularly in the US. It is not good enough to say that because they are overseas, we cannot do anything for them. We have a duty to protect Irish citizens wherever they may be.

Another story broke on Friday about ICE and Ireland, specifically that a plane carrying shackled-together Palestinian ICE detainees stopped over in Shannon for aircraft refuelling. Like Seamus, some of those deported have families, jobs and entire lives in the US, having lived there for years. They have now been flown to an active war zone in which Israel continues to commit genocide and ethnic cleansing. This obscenity is a violation of their human rights and it is being facilitated by Shannon Airport and, therefore, by the Irish State. There are serious questions to be answered by the Government on whether it views this as a breach of international law and the action it will take to control the situation and stop ICE deportation flights from refuelling in Shannon. I would like us to have a debate on this. It is completely unacceptable.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before I call the next speaker, I welcome guests of Senator Ryan to the Gallery, John Ring and Peter Morrissey, who are both from Newtownshandrum. They are most welcome to Seanad Éireann today.

Alison Comyn (Fianna Fail)
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I am afraid this is the second time I have raised this issue but given the plethora of emails I have received about rising crime in east Meath over the last couple of days, I have to raise the issue of Laytown Garda station again. It is currently housed in a small housing estate and it is only open on Sunday and Monday between 10 a.m. and 12 noon. These is not a sleepy, fishing or seaside village we are talking about any more; this Garda station looks after a population in excess of 15,500 people. I could be talking about many Garda stations across the country at the moment.

I am looking at some of the emails I have received. One is titled “Scared in our Own Home”, and states:

Within the last month, there have been at least three attempted break-ins on the roads of cars and homes, the most recent one last night. Along with other residents with young families trying to settle here, we are living on our nerves. It is getting lawless up here. These criminals are brazen.

Another email states:

I have personally witnessed over the last six months three serious incidents directly outside my front door. Last night at 5 a.m., there was an attempted house and car theft where three cars pulled up full of men dressed in black. I have a two-week old baby and I cannot express how frightening it is to feel so unsafe in my own home.

A new Garda station was promised for Laytown in 2022 when Deputy Helen McEntee was the Minister for Justice. These housing estates that I spoke about are three or four minutes away from Laytown Garda station. As it is, their nearest Garda station is Ashbourne, which is over 40 minutes away, and that is presuming that someone gets the call. Yes, they can call Drogheda, Duleek or Dunleer stations, but the smaller stations are only open for a couple of hours. It is clear that with huge populations across the country, small Garda stations are now completely overburdened. With regard to this Garda station in particular, it was promised in 2022 to look at a new building. We need to have a wider conversation with the Department of justice and to invite the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, in to have a debate on this particular Garda station and the many other rural ones right across the country.

Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael)
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I wish to discuss the issue of flood insurance and a national flood insurance scheme. I had a meeting with the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, last Wednesday in which I raised this very subject with him. I was delighted that he responded in the meeting that he was anxious to do something about it. It has not been looked at here in Ireland for ten years. I was delighted to open the newspapers on Sunday to see the Minister of State’s comments about the need for this type of scheme. It is great when we can work together within the Government on things like this.

When looking at a flood insurance scheme like this, it is important we look at both the household and business sides of it. There is a flood relief scheme in the UK that I have asked the Minister of State to look at.It looks at the housing side of things. It is reinsurance where people pay a small portion into a general insurance scheme and then when their house gets flooded in the area, there is money there for them. I strongly call for this to be applicable to businesses as well. One only has to look at what happened in Enniscorthy last week in particular. I know a lot of other areas were affected but it was especially heartbreaking in Enniscorthy. As a business person myself I cannot even imagine walking in the next day and seeing everything gutted. When we are working from week to week in business, sometimes there is not the spare money there. I know we have great schemes from the Government to support households and businesses but to be able to go to sleep at night time knowing that there is some sort of cover would make a massive difference. I am looking forward to working on this with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Troy. I welcome that we have started the conversation on it.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I wish to raise the issues that were highlighted on last night's "RTÉ Investigates" documentary on our prison services. We have not completed the Mental Health Bill, but this documentary raised a whole load of very serious questions about mental health in this country, how we are coping with it and how we throughout the State have aided and abetted and literally threw people out into what they call "community care". Many of them have now found themselves in our prison services. The "RTÉ Investigates" team needs to be commended on what was a very informative investigation. Part one was last night and part two is yet to come. It clearly demonstrated the surge of actively psychotic patients held in prisons across this country. It is exceptionally frightening. We saw personal testimony of people who spoke about their sons, daughters, brothers and sisters who are in these institutions and are not getting the appropriate medical interventions they need. We need to have a serious examination of how this is going on and how we are going to remedy the situation.

Every week there are documents laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. This is done for a purpose. Many of those are commitments in legislation requiring the relevant Minister to lay documents before the Houses. I can confirm that last week on 4 February 2026, the inspector's report "Follow-up inspection: Mountjoy Prison, 28 April 2025 - 2 May 2025" was laid before the Houses. I commend our Chief Inspector of Prisons, Mr. Mark Kelly on his report. It is a damning report, illustrated with photographs, statements of fact and recommendations. I appeal to the Leader. This document was laid before the Houses and I am asking for an urgent debate on this specific document. It was only laid on 4 February but it is important that we would have it. I specifically request that we would have the Minister for justice, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, in to detail, analyse and talk about the issues and the findings in this report.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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I have never been shy in this House to profess how wonderful a county I come from in Roscommon is, how safe it is with our low crime rate and how a recent report came out and said it was one of the safest counties in the country to raise a family. Last Friday, however, for the third allocation in a row, we unfortunately were not allocated any additional Garda resources. This was disappointing after raising this issue on numerous occasions. I spoke to someone last weekend and in 2023 and 2024 there was a campaign across Roscommon called Enough is Enough. This was following a spate of late-night robberies where people were coming into the county and able to get out very quickly having robbed a number of premises. I am not going to go through this issue again of trying to raise a Commencement matter or seeing how we as Oireachtas Members go about getting additional Garda resources. The debate I would like to have is about transferring experienced gardaí who have served time in other regions and are now desperate to get back to their home regions or as close to their home regions as possible. When I saw the figures last week, I realised that we had not got any young gardaí of the 167 that were allocated. I also followed up with a few Garda stations and we had not received any of the intra-region transfers from two weeks previously.That is something we should be aiming to facilitate. We should be supporting our gardaí, making their lives easier and improving their quality of life by getting them closer to home where they might have elderly parents. They could bring their own kids back to where they were raised and allow them to access childcare. That is the debate I would like to have in this House, going forward.

I do not want the message to come across that we are not happy with the job our gardaí are doing. We are exceptionally proud of the work they are doing. Some 11,000 people applied to join the Garda last year. That shows we have made it attractive. We have introduced the training positions. There are just over 14,000 gardaí. They need assistance in doing their roles. Transferring that experience back to the regions would assist.

Mark Duffy (Fine Gael)
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I lend my support to a fellow Mayo native, Ms Margaret Loftus, who has shared her horrific story as a domestic abuse survivor. I highlight that Oireachtas Members will have an opportunity tomorrow in the audiovisual room to hear her story first hand, to hear about the harrowing experience she had and to see the bravery she now has in sharing her story so that other women do not experience what she has had to go through over the past number of years. I acknowledge Senator Tully and Deputy Conway-Walsh, who are hosting tomorrow's event in the audiovisual room. Ms Loftus, along with Ms Sarah Benson, the CEO of Women's Aid, will share the harrowing story of a failure in every element of the system for Ms Loftus and her story. The event will take place between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. in the audiovisual room.

Councillor Donna Sheridan, who is a friend of Ms Loftus in Mayo, has raised the issue with the Tánaiste. I understand that there are arrangements for them to meet. Root-and-branch reform is needed. I acknowledge the work of the new Garda Commissioner, who has offered a lot of hope of reform and improvements within An Garda Síochána. Ms Loftus, as part of her story, had to face a harrowing experience. Countless times, she, her story and her family were undermined by different elements of an Garda Síochána and the State. That cannot be overstated. I encourage everyone who is available tomorrow to attend and lend their support to Ms Loftus, her case and her story so that no other women have to go through what she experienced.

Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)
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Last week, the Minister, Deputy Foley, announced an increase in core funding for family resource centres. That is an important and welcome initiative. Ten new community centres will come under the funding stream of family resource centres and their core funding will increase. That, too, is welcome and important. We all know how important community centres and family resource centres are across the country.

One centre that was not successful in securing this funding and designation as a family resource centre was Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre. The Department acknowledged that the centre had a strong application and would be considered if more funding became available. Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre is an important element of Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount. It is, in effect, a resource centre in all but name. Of course, like many community centres, it struggles with funding. Family resource designation and core funding would be a huge source of relief for them and would enable them to operate. It does amazing work. The people there are warm and friendly. They welcome everybody into the community centre. They work with young and old. The dementia centre there is inspiring for people in the community.There will be a lot of change in Ringsend. There is the glass bottle site. There will be 8,000 to 10,000 new residents with 3,500 new apartments there. It is vital that the Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre get to be designated at a family resource centre. I ask that the Minister consider this when funding becomes available.

Dee Ryan (Fianna Fail)
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I have been contacted in the last 24 hours by a number of businesses in Limerick that are having difficulties with fibre installation in the city centre, which is surprising given that the city has a significant amount of infrastructure already invested in it in this regard. While the businesses I have spoken to have their contracts with different service providers, whether Eir or another private telecoms provider, it would appear that the work to install the fibre line has been subcontracted to the same company and that that particular company has been leaving people down, I am sorry to say, over the last couple of months. Could we have an update from the Minister on the roll-out of fibre across the country, but in particular, could we discuss the resources nationally that are available to support businesses and, indeed, residents in having fibre installed in their homes? In the case of these businesses in Limerick, they are moving from one premises to another. These are employers. It is impacting on their ability to continue with the expansion they are investing in. It is limiting them and slowing them down in their increased recruitment of employees and, obviously, the development of their business. I would be grateful if we could have an update from the Minister on the subcontractors and the resources nationally that are available to support the roll-out of fibre and, indeed, if we could ask the question as to whether we are over-reliant on one or two companies providing the service around the country.

Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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Could we prioritise the announcement by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, of road funding for national, regional and local roads in order to have it as soon as possible? There was an indication that it would be announced a number of weeks ago. This is a critical announcement in terms of infrastructure right across the country, particularly in my county, Tipperary.

As the Leader will be aware, the N24 goes right through Tipperary, between Waterford and Limerick. It has been something that I have been very vocal on over the last number of years. Unfortunately, the previous Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, excluded half of that road from the priority list - the section from Waterford to Cahir. That has been stalled for two years. It has almost gone to planning stage. It would have gone through that stage by now if the funding had continued. In fairness, the current Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has put it back on the priority list, but what we need now is funding to get it going. The announcement needs to be made as soon as possible because Tipperary County Council is leading on the Cahir to Limerick section but Kilkenny County Council is leading on the Waterford to Cahir section and its dealings with the contractors are at the very end. They are down to weeks in terms of keeping them working and paying for their resources and we need the funding announcement as quickly as possible to continue that so there are no further delays. We have been delayed by two years because of the decision by the former Minister, Eamon Ryan, which I was absolutely against at the time, and now that we have common sense back in the Department of Transport, we just need that announcement as quickly as possible. There are people living on that road who are in a buffer zone and cannot build or develop. Children cannot build houses in those areas because they are in a buffer zone for a road that had been off the priority list for building, which is incredibly frustrating for people living between Cahir and Waterford. Will the Minister make the announcement as soon as possible because Tipperary County Council, along with Kilkenny County Council, is ready to go again and get this moving? People in our area have been waiting over 20 years for this road to be developed.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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A national issue was highlighted last week in Laois County Council.Councillor Aisling Moran undertook Trojan work examining three decades of social housing costs, comparing homes delivered directly by the council with those delivered through approved housing bodies. What she uncovered was startling. If the approved housing body model operates as presented, our nation has drifted into financial madness.

We now have a Government that refuses to trust its own local councils to build homes. Instead, we are left with a system where the State gives a loan to a housing body, not repayable for 30 years, and then pays the same housing body every single month via the councils so that it can help to repay the loan the State gave it in the first place. Imagine lending someone money and then paying them to pay you back, and calling it innovation. It would be laughable if it were not costing the taxpayer a fortune.

Let us call out the next layer of absurdity. On top of these guaranteed State payments, the housing bodies also collect rent from the tenants, many of whom rely on social welfare. That is two income streams for one home. To top it all off, the approved housing bodies are then permitted to sell the properties after 30 years. Meanwhile, the councils, the very bodies that once built entire towns, are forced to stand back and watch this circus unfold, unable to lay a single brick, because these approved housing body projects have swallowed up all the available builders.

Is any of this cheaper? Councillor Moran’s figures, even though they apply only to Laois, are shocking. Through approved housing bodies, the council paid up to €1 million per property. When the council built or purchased directly, the cost was close to €250,000.

If any of this is true, it is a total and utter scandal. We must have a proper debate and an intensive investigation into this issue. Where are our national media and investigative journalists when it comes to these approved housing bodies? We have 550 of them.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before I call on the next speaker, I welcome the Taghmon active retirement group, the ladies from County Wexford. You are most welcome to Seanad Éireann. Thank you for coming here today.

I call on Senator Gallagher.

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in this country and worldwide, killing more people than breast cancer, prostate cancer and colorectal cancer combined. I welcome a new initiative, a pilot scheme being undertaken by a number of GPs in north County Dublin and the Beaumont RCSI cancer treatment centre, which received over €4.9 million in funding from the Irish Cancer Society.

The purpose of this screening programme is to identify at an early stage the signs of lung cancer so that treatment can be given at an early stage and more effective outcomes can happen as a result. By offering this lung check to people at higher risk, the chances of survival are much improved, naturally, and it happens in a more effective and cost-effective manner, allowing patients to receive curative treatment, rather than facing more complex and life-limiting options at a later stage.

In my opinion, this initiative should be rolled out countrywide. I would welcome it if the Minister for Health would come to the House to discuss how we can roll out this initiative throughout the country. As everyone knows, early detection saves lives. It means less invasive treatment, faster recovery and a better chance of a long-term cure. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Health to the House to discuss rolling out this very worthwhile initiative at a national level.

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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A bus operator in Cavan is set to lose three drivers this year for his school run due to the ridiculous rule of Bus Éireann whereby people cannot drive a bus once they reach 70 years of age. This is one operator in one county, so if we look at all of the operators in all of the counties, there will be many more. The ridiculous thing is that the same driver could arrive on a bus an hour after school has begun and bring those children on a tour, to a sports event or to another event. I have heard many Members raise this in this House and in the Dáil, and I have not heard anyone disagree with raising the age for school bus drivers.

The Government has announced its intention to significantly expand the school transport system between now and 2030.It is supposed to increase year on year. How on earth are they going to get drivers for all the additional capacity needed to bring up to 100,000 or more additional children to school on the school bus transport system? Something needs to be done. I call on the Minister for Transport to address this issue with Bus Éireann immediately to allow drivers who reach the age of 70 to continue to drive until they choose to retire as long as they are capable and pass whatever tests are needed.

Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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I raise the "RTÉ Investigates" programme last night. I am quite surprised it has not been a common feature throughout the Order of Business. A few weeks ago, I came into this Chamber and spoke quite graphically, not wanting to but sometimes speaking graphically is necessary for effect and hoping that it will land, about the number of people who have walked out of emergency departments and taken their own lives because of the lack of support and continuum in any sort of care they had or the experience they had while they were there. Last night, we saw that currently 38 people in the prison system are waiting for the Central Mental Hospital. We cannot pretend we no longer institutionalise mental health, those in need or those who experience any sort of adversity. We currently still have the institutionalisation of people who need mental health supports. It should be an absolute scandal that this the position we are in that we sit in this big grey institution in the middle of the city centre and there is another big grey institution up there where people do not have their liberty or their needs met and are waiting for acute intervention in the Central Mental Hospital. That is beyond understanding. It is traumatising not only for the people in the prison but also their families who know how much they need intervention. I think there are also 55 people actively in psychosis on remand in Cloverhill. That is a gross underestimation of how many people are actually in need of mental health care on remand. I draw attention to the documents thejournal.ie received in relation to the same issue, which showed that 449 people took their own lives between 2022 and 2024 who had been in contact with the HSE within the previous three weeks. They had had some form of intervention with the HSE for them to be then flagged on the internal system for suspected suicide. That is 449 people within a two-year period whom we know had for some reason presented to a HSE professional in some guise or other and went on to take their own lives. We can also see in those figures that one third of those who arrive at the emergency department with self-harm do not get assessed or meet a mental health professional. These are atrocious statistics but, more importantly, they are people and people's lives. We have mastered the language of care without the reality of care. Until we get to the reality of care, we need to work night and day to make sure those who need our help the most are no longer institutionalised.

Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)
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Moving from primary school to secondary school is a big step for any child. It is an exciting time and it is also nerve-wracking. For families in Monaghan with children who have special needs, that normal worry has turned into fear and stress because many parents still have no idea where their children will go to school in September. Pupils finishing sixth class in June have not been offered places in special education classes and have been left in limbo waiting for answers from the Department and the National Council for Special Education. The ASD classes in Largy College and St. Macartan's College are full. The three MLD classes in Castleblayney are also full. Both Largy College and St. Macartan's have been waiting for a long time for approval from the Department of Education and Youth for school extensions but nothing has happened. The lack of progress is causing huge stress for parents. These children are meant to begin their transition to secondary school in March like every other child. Instead, they are being left out because there are no places. I know of one school that had 17 people waiting for seven places.That means that ten children have not got a place for September. Parents should not have to wait for a second tranche announcement to find out if their child will have a school place or where that school place will be.

It is also impossible to ignore the fact that the Minister for Education and Youth recently announced ten school construction-to-tender projects in her own constituency and zero in Cavan. Meanwhile, families in Monaghan are left waiting and hoping. There is huge disappointment. The Minister and Department need to liaise with the schools and families who have been left out as soon as possible. I ask the Minister to commit to an audit on the number of children currently waiting for a place in each county as it seems the Department does not collect or collate that data. We need to get a grasp on how widespread this issue is immediately.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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I note what Senator Rabbitte and others had to say about Internet safety day. I want to welcome and endorse everything the Senator said. I listened to Alex Cooney of CyberSafeKids this morning who pointed out that more than half of children have no restriction on their online activity and 90% of eight to 12-year-olds are active online. I looked up the CyberSafeKids guide to parental controls. Of course it is good as far as it goes. CyberSafeKids and organisations like it are independent of big tech. However, I wonder at their timidity and the timidity of many guardians of the public good who appear not to be willing to say what needs to be said about young people and their online world.

The guide talks about the risks but then points out the benefits for children of social media and the online world. Reference is made to socialising, learning or developing creative skills. This type of talk sounds to me like what the big tech people from Meta and TikTok had to say to the Joint Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport. Of course there are benefits of a kind to be found, but these benefits are to be found elsewhere. Surely the big story that CyberSafeKids needs to share with us is that the risks can now be seen to far outweigh the benefits. The big story is that we need to get children offline. The big big story is one which it will not dare say but which is the truth.

Regarding the CyberSafeKids guide to parenting and all of the things parents are expected to do, many parents do not have the time or the resources or, frankly, the ability to guide their children, in particular their young children, safely through this very complex online world. We need to listen to people like Jonathan Haidt, the social psychologist. For anyone who is interested, there was an excellent interview with him on BBC 4 last Thursday. It is very clear from listening to him and others that we need to work towards a screen-free world for young children. The idea that every child should have a computer screen in class is, we now know, a bad one because they get distracted and go to other places. Parents then discover late in the day that the same devices that their children use for supposedly educational purposes in school are the same devices they are able to navigate around into distracting activities when they are at home.

The reality is that we need to make life a lot easier for parents and families by being courageous enough to say clearly what is needed and to legislate so the principals in schools are able to say, "Sorry, no phones whatsoever in school. Don't not blame us. It is now the law". That that is why the Ministers to date have been far too timid. They need to follow the example of other countries and say that we are going to legislate and not wait for Europe to legislate to ban those aged under 16 from social media. Of course, there is plenty more to be done on pornography, which I have spoken about before and will return to again. I note all of the good work that has been done, but we need to be much more courageous and determined about protecting children in the online space.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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I thank all Senators for their contributions, starting with Senator Rabbitte who spoke about Internet safety day. I acknowledge the comments of Senators McCormack and Mullen on this matter. Senator Rabbitte spoke about the Data Protection Act and the fact that section 30(6) has not been enacted. She called for a law on the sexual exploitation of children being dressed as adults for the purpose of gratification.She called for a debate with the Minister. I will request a debate on that.

Senator McCormack, in that vein, talked of Coco's Law and how Sinn Féin has a Bill in the Dáil today on the issue of AI, deepfakes and statutes of limitations. That would have been discussed at Cabinet today. I do not have an answer as to what decision the Cabinet made on that.

Senator Mullen spoke about CyberSafeKids, the screen-free world and how we need to move towards the banning of phones in classrooms and perhaps the banning of social media to under-16s. I will request a debate with the Minister on that whole area.

Senators Boyle and Scahill raised garda appointments to Donegal and Roscommon, respectively. As we know, 167 new gardaí were attested last week, with one appointed to Donegal. I think Senator Scahill said none were appointed to Roscommon, although he does point out that it is historically a very safe county. Both Senators spoke of the need to bring back gardaí who may be from the Senators' home counties. In fairness, from my experience, especially where one has a partner, a child or whatever, returning to your home county is looked favourably upon. That is to be acknowledged as well. I will request a debate with the Minister for justice on the matter. Of course, it is up to the Garda Commissioner to decide where garda allocations are made, but obviously we would hope that there would be balance in these things.

Senator McCarthy talked of homelessness, housing policy and the need to deliver homes for people across the country. I will request a debate on housing again. He also mentioned the new marina in Greystones and an issue regarding fees and a court outcome. I ask him to request a debate on that. I am not sure exactly which body is responsible for that. Is it the local authority? I presume it is not the Department of the marine. He might put down a Commencement debate on that matter.

Senator Stephenson raised the case of Seamus Culleton, who has been detained by ICE for some time. I welcome the comments by the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, that this is a concern and he will raise the treatment of undocumented Irish people with the US President, Donald Trump, when he visits Washington DC. The Minister for foreign affairs, Helen McEntee, has said that a small number of Irish citizens, fewer than a dozen, in similar situations to that of Seamus Culleton have sought help from Irish embassies. It is a very serious issue for those families. I certainly hope that the engagement between the embassies and consulates in the United States will take place and that Mr. Culleton will be returned to his family. The Senator also spoke about the use of Shannon Airport. I will request a debate on that matter as well.

Senator Comyn raised the rise in crime in east Meath and Laytown. She highlighted the concerns of local people, which I can imagine, with a small Garda station and a population of 15,500. I am not sure exactly how many gardaí are assigned to that area. She said that a Garda station is required. She might put down a Commencement debate on that matter to get a direct response from the Minister.

Senator Nelson Murray spoke about the need for a State-backed scheme for those who have been denied flood insurance. I acknowledge her advocacy on this matter and her recent meeting with the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, on it. She called for a debate on the matter as well. I will request that. I acknowledge her advocacy on all issues of insurance.

Senators Boyhan and Ruane raised the "RTÉ Investigates" programme last night. I did not get a chance to see it but I will watch it back and see what issues can be addressed in terms of the debate. Certainly, from the Senators' testimony, there are issues surrounding patients who suffer from psychosis being held in prisons and different institutions. I will request a debate on that whole area. Senator Boyhan also requested a debate on the inspectorate's report from Mountjoy Prison, which was published on 4 February.

Senator Duffy raised the case of Margaret Loftus, who will provide testimony in the audiovisual room tomorrow. If I get a chance, I will pop in. He described the bravery of Margaret as a domestic abuse survivor and acknowledged the work of those involved. I think Senator Tully was involved in facilitating that. Margaret will be joined by representatives of Women's Aid as well. Senator Andrews welcomed the funding from the Minister, Deputy Foley, for the family resource centres, but acknowledged that Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre was not provided with funding. There was an open call made to all interested parties and I am told that subsequent submissions were evaluated in a process independently chaired by a representative of the University of Limerick. There were ten announcements and five last year as well, which brings the total number of family resource centres from 126 to 136. I hope that additional funding will be provided to assist Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre.

Senator Dee Ryan raised the issue of businesses in Limerick city that have difficulties with fibre broadband and people have been let down for a number of months. She has called for a debate with the Minister, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, on the issue of fibre broadband roll-out around the country. I will request a debate with the Minister on that very important issue.

Senator Ahearn called on the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to publish the local and national roads funding allocations. I certainly believe it is due. It is very important and necessary funding for local authorities. In relation to the progress on our national routes, I know the Senator has been a long-time advocate for the N24 Tipperary to Waterford route via Cahir. I acknowledge his advocacy even when the then Minister, Eamon Ryan, was there and was not pushing on this project as was needed.

Senator Keogan acknowledged Councillor Aisling Moran's work in Laois in relation to the cost of housing with approved housing bodies, AHBs, versus county council houses. She also asked where is the coverage in relation to the approved housing bodies and costs. I will request a debate on housing or the Senator may wish to table a Commencement matter on that issue to get a more up-to-date answer.

Senator Gallagher raised the initiative regarding the early detection of lung cancer, a very important issue for all different types of cancer. The earlier these conditions are detected, the better the chances of survival. He called for a debate with the Minister for Health in relation to this and I will request a debate on that matter.

Senator Tully talked about the over-70s and how one company is to lose three bus drivers. She called for a debate with the Minister for Transport. I wish to acknowledge that a group has been put in place. I think the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is chairing it. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, when she was in education established that and it is a cross-departmental group with transport. I certainly hope it can find a resolution in relation to this issue. It is a sort of laughable situation, as has been pointed so often across this House. The same people can be denied from being able to drive a school bus but can bring the same children for a tour or something else like that. It does not make any sense and I hope the Ministers will be able to provide certainty on that and be able to change the rules for over-70s, subject to health checks. Senator Sarah O'Reilly raised the issue of the transition from primary to secondary school, particularly for those with special needs and expressed concern about where they will get a place next September. If the Senator has specific examples, she can put down a Commencement debate on the matter. In general, places for special needs kids have proven difficult to get but the Department has brought forward the timing of these things. I know from dealing with it a number of years ago that it was drifting on into the summer, which was totally unacceptable, however late it is now. She has also requested a comment from the Minister for education about the ten schools in the Minister's constituency being provided with funding. It is ten schools in County Galway and not in the Minister's constituency. It was across three constituencies, namely, Galway West, Galway East and Roscommon-Galway. The ten schools are deserving. Galway is the second largest county in the country and it includes the full city of Galway. I am sure Aontú across those three constituencies would support the investment in schools in those locations.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before I ask the House if it agrees with the Order of Business as outlined by the Leader, I welcome students from St. Eunan's College, Letterkenny. They are guests of Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn. They are most welcome to Seanad Éireann.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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There is important work that needs to get funding from the State for St. Eunan's. They are a bit slow about coming up with the money in the Department.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I do not think it is appropriate during the welcome to the House greeting, but anyway.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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We will return to that subject later.