Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for his lovely words about former Senator and councillor, Larry Butler. He was a very gregarious character and his sartorial elegance was always absolutely spot on. He always had the nicest and the best of suits and immaculately polished shoes. He was an absolute gentleman any time I met him and I know everybody who met him had the same experience. Our deepest sympathy to his family.

The Order of Business is No. 1, address to Seanad Éireann by Members of the European Parliament representing the Ireland South constituency, to be taken at 2.30 p.m., in accordance with the arrangements set out in the motion agreed by the House on 12 February 2026; No. 2, Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 - Order for Committee Stage, Committee and Remaining Stages, to be taken at 4.30 p.m. and to adjourn at 7 p.m. if not previously concluded; and No. 3, Private Members' business, Education (Leave for Injuries) Bill 2025 - Second Stage, to be taken at 7 p.m., with the time allocated to this debate not to exceed two hours.

Alison Comyn (Fianna Fail)
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As is evident from my forehead, it is indeed Ash Wednesday today which, traditionally, in the Catholic faith, was a day of abstinence - probably after the previous day's overindulgence with pancakes - ahead of Lenten time. No matter what faith, it is probably a time to not only give up something but perhaps to reflect and maybe even take up something, like a little bit of kindness. That will be my quick thought for the morning.

I will be raising two issues which will probably resonate with many places right across the country, even though this is local to Louth and Meath. I refer to the housing estates almost caught in a never-ending loop of nobody taking responsibility for things that are happening therein. Bryanstown Wood residents have contacted me about a raw sewage leak which has been happening since last December. It is storm drains, and while it has been investigated by Meath County Council and Uisce Éireann, neither of them can do anything because the estate has not been taken into charge as the developer has gone into liquidation. Unfortunately, they are caught in this never-ending loop where nobody will take responsibility. Meanwhile, it is a huge environmental hazard and a risk not only for the residents but for anybody coming near the housing estate. They have contacted the housing Minister, Deputy James Browne, and I would suggest we have a conversation in this House about who takes responsibility in instances like this.

While I am talking about a housing issue, there is a new social housing estate in Drogheda, County Louth, called Tullybrook Court. That is managed by the housing agency Clúid. Right now, some of the residents have been paying electricity and heating bills ranging from €500 to €2,000 per month because of the heating system that has been put into these properties. They were promised heat pumps but the houses are using electric storage heaters that are costing between €500 and €2,000 per month. They are in a dire situation. This is social housing. Clearly, nobody would be in a position to pay those kinds of monthly bills. I would appeal that, maybe, we could try and intervene and have a conversation with the housing Minister or the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on energy use, because this is not sustainable. For both of those issues, these people are relying on their new housing and on somebody to step in and assist them but right now, in both of these instances, they are going around in a loop with nobody taking responsibility. Unfortunately, it may take us to step in and see who will step up and take responsibility.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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First, I wish to pay tribute to Larry Butler. He was a man I knew well. I served with him on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. He had served, prior to that, on Dublin County Council when it arched out into Dún Laoghaire before the merger. I knew him to be a great character; that he certainly was. He was a great colleague and mentor. He was a man who believed in keeping his feet on the ground and keeping in close contact with his constituents. He went on to be elected to the Seanad and he was a man I worked closely with and collaborated with on the General Council of County Councillors, which was the organisation that preceded the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG.

The Cathaoirleach put it right when he said Larry's heart was in Carlow. He was unique in that he is buried in Tinnahinch, which is in County Carlow.Anyone who knows the beautiful town of Graiguenamanagh will know there is a bridge there called the Tinnahinch-Graiguenamanagh bridge. If someone is on one side of the bridge, he or she is in Tinnahinch in County Carlow while the other half of the bridge is in Graiguenamanagh in County Kilkenny, but there he was. He was the son of a lock keeper and always went back there. He went to London and was involved in the construction and building sector. He was a self-made man and an entrepreneur. He was everything in terms of being close to sport and his community and led from the front.

I pay tribute to him and offer my sympathies to Kathleen, his beloved wife of many years, and his children. They were exceptionally close and exceptionally proud of one another. Certainly, he achieved a lot in his life. His greatest achievement was when he came into the Seanad. He truly loved this place and the sense of awe he got from it. We remember him at this time. He was a great character and a close friend and confidant of mine.

When I looked at this morning's edition of the Irish Independent, I saw a caption to the effect that the coalition would override planners in the row over the Rotunda Hospital. I support the Rotunda and its development plans. In the article on the front page of the Irish Independent, it quotes the Taoiseach in the Dáil as saying that the denial of permission was "the wrong decision". I think the Taoiseach is wrong, not because of the issue but because we had a Planning and Development Bill that was guillotined in both the Dáil and the Seanad and under which I raised the issue of An Coimisiún Pleanála and its power to override its own inspectors. We know from this article, but we also know from the facts, having read the file today online, that Dublin City Council recommended planning permission. It then went to An Coimisiún Pleanála, which considered it de novo. Ultimately, an inspector was appointed and made a decision that permission be granted, but An Coimisiún Pleanála overrode its own inspector because we in these Houses empowered it to do so. Where does the problem start? The problem starts with the fact that some of us in these Houses did not listen and respond to the debate at the time and allowed this to happen. The Government cannot retrospectively change planning. There is a suggestion today that An Coimisiún Pleanála will go through a critical infrastructure process, which it may well do, but it will have to start all over again. That is the planning process the Houses legislated for. I usually take issue with An Coimisiún Pleanála, but in this case, it did nothing wrong. It operated within the law and within the constraints of the Planning and Development Act as legislated for and provided for in these Houses. Yes, we highlighted it but the Government did not listen to the Opposition in the Dáil and the Seanad and now we have a crisis, but it is a crisis of the Government's own making, nobody else's.

I wish the Rotunda Hospital every success in a plan but if we have plans and statutes on planning and development, we need to think hard before we agree them because this is a result of legislation agreed by this Government in these Houses.

Maria McCormack (Sinn Fein)
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I pay my respects to former Senator and councillor Larry Butler, a respected local figure. Many who knew him, including all political colleagues and local residents, tell us he was a complete gentleman who was kind and always ready to help. Our thoughts are with his family and colleagues in Fianna Fáil.

I also pay my respects to a young man named Evan Power from Portarlington in County Laois who sadly passed away unexpectedly. Evan was a fantastic advocate for disability rights, a member of our local branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association and a regular visitor to Leinster House. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Today, I again raise the issue of nursing homes. Last year, "RTÉ Investigates" revealed issues in an Emeis nursing home in Laois highlighting the undignified and unsafe practices that were putting residents' lives at risk. Another facility in Laois has been highlighted since last year, namely, Droimnin Nursing Home in Stradbally. Its HIQA inspections showed it was non-compliant with eight regulations and only compliant with two. Last September, an application was made to have its licence cancelled. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, the judge cancelled Droimnin Nursing Home's licence on the grounds that the lives and welfare of residents were at risk and the HSE took over operations and management from 2 p.m. that day. I welcome the HSE's involvement here. It brought peace of mind to residents and their families by ensuring continuity of care. However, I would like to point out that if the HSE ran more nursing homes in the first place and if the State stopped relying so heavily on the private care sector, we would not be in this mess. I would like to see the HSE arrangement at Droimnin made permanent. The State must play a bigger role in providing nursing home care because privatisation has not worked out. I would also like us to invite the Minister for Health to the Seanad for an update on what action has been taken since the serious concerns were raised last year because much of them concern my constituency and many people were very alarmed by what they saw. We need to know what measures are in place to prevent further harm and distress to nursing home residents and their families.

Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael)
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I put on record my dissatisfaction, disappointment and shock regarding the news concerning the planned neonatal unit at the Rotunda. I know it has been spoken about quite a bit in this Chamber but the more voices are raised, the better. This is not a political issue; it is a human issue. I wrote of a letter of support for the application and met the master of the hospital, Professor Sean Daly, in September or October of last year, as did lots of people. Letters of support were written. This application was meticulously planned and was reviewed. Most people were of the opinion, and quite rightly so, that it made an awful lot of sense. There are only four level 3 neonatal intensive care units in this country and only one is fit for purpose. We have the sickest children in Dublin and other parts of Ireland trying to stay alive and infection free. Most of the time, there is a distance of just one metre between them. During Covid-19, the healthy among us were told to stay 2 m apart. That old building has not made sense for an awfully long time and it makes sense to grant planning permission for the new facility.

At the moment, the Rotunda cares for 37 babies in its overcrowded neonatal unit. The new development would provide 46 individual rooms to offer the best of care to more infants in modern, well-equipped facilities. It is a brilliant plan. The new extension would also include 19 postnatal rooms, which would relieve pressure on the hospital's postnatal accommodation. It is utterly unacceptable that women in Ireland in 2026 should have to recover from labour and delivery ten or 12 to a room, but that is what is happening, much to the regret of the dedicated staff and management at the Rotunda.

Then, of course, we have the sick babies. The plan would allay a lot of fears, concerns and risks and probably prevent a lot of deaths of small babies.

This has been meticulously planned, refined and updated in compliance with the planning application system. I was really relieved to hear the comments of the Minister for Health and the support she has in trying to get this over the line, and I hope that those who have not yet seen common sense will see it. Common decency should also prevail in this instance.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I raise a matter of growing concern relating to consumer protection and Ireland's obligation under EU law. In recent weeks, the European Commission has issued Ireland with a formal notice for failing to transpose the updated consumer credit directive, which is the legislation designed to protect individuals from unfair lending practices, hidden charges and the risks posed by new digital moneylending and credit products. Most Members know that I am far from being uncritical of EU directives and how the Government often unquestioningly signs to up and applies them, yet here we have a directive that actually looks to do some good for consumers and the Government has done nothing. The directive expands protections for ordinary consumers taking out loans, using online credit or engaging with so-called "buy now, pay later" schemes. At a time when household finances are stretched and debt vulnerability is rising, these safeguards are essential, yet despite the clear deadline of November 2025, Ireland has not yet advanced the necessary legislation. We have held a public consultation but public consultation alone does not protect consumers. The Commission's intervention sends a very clear signal: Ireland is falling behind and consumers are left exposed in the meantime.This also carries financial risks if delays continue and infringement proceedings escalate further. I ask that the responsible Minister come before this House to explain the reasons for the delay, set out the Government's plan for full and timely implementation and clarify when Irish consumers can expect these protections to be enshrined in law. We cannot afford to drift along on something as fundamental as fair dealing in the credit market game.

Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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In the context of water charges, I wish to raise an issue that has arisen regarding houses in the Killybegs area over the past few days. Most families woke up on Monday morning to find they had no water. They have not had water for two days now. Thankfully, this morning the water came back on. I understand that the outage was due to scheduled cleaning works being carried out at the reservoir. Those works are essential and needed to be done. I thank the crews who worked on the ground for the past two evenings to get the service back up and running. The problem here is communication. Uisce Éireann fell down on this occasion. It did not contact local representatives, households, farmers or the elderly. Nobody knew what was happening. Nobody was informed of that this essential work being carried out. A simple written notice or something on the radio or on Facebook to say this work needed to be done would have allayed many people's fears.

I ask that the Minister engage with Uisce Éireann to review the notification process used in advance of works being carried out. I know essential works need to be done in places if there is a burst pipe or something like that, but these were planned works. If Donegal County Council or the ESB are doing something that is planned and that is coming down the line, they send notifications to households in written form or make an announcement on Ocean FM or Highland Radio. When the Minister is discussing a review with representatives from Uisce Éireann, will he have a chat with them about this matter?

Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)
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I also wish to extend my condolences to the family of Larry Butler. I knew Larry. In particular, I knew his son Lar. Larry was a great fun. He was a nice, genuine and kind man. I wish to extend my sympathies to his family and to his Fianna Fáil family.

Irish Sport for Palestine has submitted a complaint to the International Criminal Court accusing the presidents of FIFA and UEFA of aiding and abetting war crimes against humanity in Palestine. Well done to Irish Sport for Palestine for doing this. Ireland must not play genocidal Israel. Infantino, the president of FIFA, and eferin, the president of UEFA, are accused of supporting Israeli football clubs based in illegal settlements. They are effectively subsidising occupation. Under Infantino and eferin, the policies of FIFA and UEFA legitimise settlements which facilitate apartheid. Infantino and eferin are breaching FIFA and UEFA statutes and violating international law. They are ignoring human rights and reports and continue to act with impunity.

The Irish Government has done nothing to challenge this. It is seeking to wash its hands of responsibility. Infantino and eferin co-operate with those at the highest levels of the Israeli and US Governments to facilitate the continued participation of Israel and settlement clubs. Members of the Al-Helal football club came to Ireland in 2017 and 2018. Those children who came here and played football in clubs across the country have been targeted by genocidal Israeli forces. Eight of Al-Helal's football players, young children, have been killed by Israeli forces. Israel does not mind mixing sport and politics so let us not keep pretending that sport and politics do not mix. When Israel's snipers were shooting children in the legs in order that they could never play football again, Israel did not mind mixing sport and politics. When genocidal Israel was turning sports facilities into graveyards, it did not mind mixing sports and politics then. Let us cut out the bullshit that-----

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Sorry, Senator, you cannot use that-----

Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)
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-----sport and politics cannot be separated. Cut out the nonsense that sport and politics doe not mix because it cannot be separated. I acknowledge the filing parties, which are: Irish Sport for Palestine; Scottish Sport for Palestine; Just Peace Advocates; Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor; and Sports Scholars for Justice in Palestine.

Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
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Yesterday, the petitions committee, of which I am a member, was addressed by Sinead O'Reilly. She spoke about her sister-in-law Sarah O'Reilly, the 34-year-old mum of twins, P.J. and Lilly. Sarah developed a fever. At first they thought it was pneumonia, and then gallstones. She was brought to hospital. After a number of weeks in ICU, she passed away. The issue was sepsis. To hear that harrowing story was horrendous. An external review found that if the sepsis protocol had been activated and followed, a different response could have come about and Sarah could be alive today.

The committee also heard from Professor Steve Kerrigan, who outlined the number of people who have died from sepsis in Europe. The figures are phenomenal. We are talking about millions. The uncomfortable truth is that sepsis is a very real danger. It certainly affects older populations, but Sarah was only 34. We now have fewer effective drugs to treat the condition. Professor Kerrigan stated that we need to take three steps. First, Ireland needs to commit to developing a national timebound sepsis strategy that aligns with international best practice and then scale that to cover the health system here. Second, as we have the EU Presidency in the second half of this year, sepsis should be formally considered as one of our priorities, particularly in the context of antimicrobial resistance, hospital safety and ageing populations. Third, both Houses of the Oireachtas should support further engagement by referring this issue to the relevant Ministers, Department and Oireachtas committees. It is essential that sepsis awareness is at the forefront of what we do here.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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Today, the families of more than 300 children in north Kerry have received details of the findings of a review into the care their children received. This comes on the back of the south Kerry CAMHS review earlier this year which found that 227 children were exposed to risks of serious harm and 46 suffered significant harm.Behind those families are children and families who trusted the system for help.

The review showed that long-term vacant consultant posts and weak governance played a major role in how those failures were allowed to happen. We constantly hear that lessons would be learned. We have to be honest and ask if anything has been learned from this experience. Yesterday, we heard that key posts are still left unfilled in our mental health services, particularly in my home town of Castlerea, County Roscommon. When senior clinical posts are left vacant we create the same risks that exist in Kerry. I commend Deputy Claire Kerrane for raising this with the HSE and finding out this gap is there. When our older person service in Castlerea was closed, the e-mental health hub was opened to great fanfare and CAMHS services were promised. However, Deputy Kerrane has continued to probe that and has found that positions have been left unfilled. We owe it to constituents and people trying to access these services to raise this issue.

Staff on the ground are doing their best but they cannot provide safe services without the right supports, the right staffing and the right leadership. Children and adults who need help cannot wait for recruitment processes that drag on for years. Families deserve to know that when they seek help the service is safe and properly staffed. For this reason, I call for a debate in the House on the CAMHS services that are delivered nationally but also, again, on the mental health services delivered throughout the country for all people, as well as on staffing, governance, accountability and how to ensure safe, consistent mental health care for children and young people throughout this State.

Mark Duffy (Fine Gael)
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I raise an issue relating to housing. We see across the country the housing crisis that faces the State for so many different reasons. There are many potential ways to help to unlock housing supply. Many people, in particular young couples, are priced out of the market and fall between the cracks, in that they are not able to afford to build or buy their own home and are also not eligible, because of income limits, for social housing supports. In my case, in County Mayo, the towns of Westport, Castlebar and Ballina are eligible for affordable housing schemes through the Department of housing. This entailed, first, having KPMG do market analysis on the town and then a recommendation being made to the Department to say affordable housing is required for Ballina, or whatever the town may be. This is total overkill. The housing crisis affects every town, village, nook and cranny of this island. Having to do market analysis when the dogs on the street know there is a housing crisis is totally unnecessary. People who have the financial ability can build large one-off homes in rural areas. If we build houses, they will be bought and will put a roof over people's heads. Where is there an example of oversupply in the country at the moment? There is none. We need to get rid of this obstacle before developing affordable housing schemes, so that in a small village a developer may be able to build a small scheme suitable for that village. The same would apply for a medium-sized town, where a local contractor could do the same. Having to apply to the Department of housing to be validated for something like this is a step too far. We have a crisis on our hands. I would welcome if the Leader gave consideration to liaising with the Minister for housing on this.

Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)
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After I was elected as a councillor in Cavan County Council, one of the main issues I campaigned on was the poor quality of the roads and road surfaces in counties Cavan and Monaghan. Many Senators in this Chamber today have heard about the substandard roads that we and our citizens have to travel on. The people in my area pay motor tax and carbon tax and some of them pay two or three tolls going to work every day, just to end up driving on roads that are substandard. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, was recently asked about the increase in tolls. His response was that these tolls go towards the upkeep of our roads. However, there is no evidence of that in counties Cavan or Monaghan. There is no upkeep of the road structure. The road funding announced yesterday was much anticipated. Councillors came from Cavan to meet with Ministers. They expected and advocated for more money but what we got was more of the same. For our regional and local roads in 2025, we received €10.084 million. This year we received €10.727 million.

In my municipal district there are no national routes or national secondary routes. We rely on regional and local funding for our roads. We have huge industry, which needs to get product out to market. That is not happening. Why is this issue being raised time and again? Is it falling on deaf ears? We need a substantial increase to roads funding if the improvement we need is to be achieved. It is simply not good enough that roads get worse and worse while taxpayers are fleeced by tolls. I look forward to another announcement. I kept looking at the figures last night to see what was I missing because an increase in funding was expected. There has been an increase but it does not keep up with the inflation rate, as it is supposed to.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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I am glad I made it in time. There is much discussion at the moment about children and access to social media. Clearly, Ireland is a bit of a laggard with respect to how we are dealing with this issue. However, something we should implement from fourth class onwards in national schools is a cyber awareness campaign. This would include Internet hygiene and the use of the Internet. We should not be afraid of using any resources that are available for research purposes. I have huge reservations about social media. I regard most of it now as a cesspit. I am delighted to say I am no longer a member of the X fraternity. I have no time whatsoever for the nonsense that goes on there and the attacks on decent people who work in this establishment and on other public figures. Going back to my time in the teachers union, two 11-year-olds took their own lives as a result of cyber-bullying. It would be helpful if we were to have the Minister for Education and Youth here for a debate on the impact of the cyber world on young children as they pass through the education system. Perhaps the Deputy Leader would try to organise that?

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I welcome pupils from Newtown National School, County Meath, and also guests of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, who are in the Visitors Gallery. I acknowledge Deputy Cormac Devlin, who is accompanied by Saoirse Evoy and Alex O'Hagan, two transition year students. They are very welcome and I hope they enjoy their visit to Leinster House. For those who are here on their school tour, there is no homework for the rest of the day, as is customary here in the Seanad.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I think the Leas-Chathaoirleach meant to say there will be no homework for the rest of the week.

I seek a debate on maternity services. The decision made by An Coimisiún Pleanála in the past week has baffled the country and defies logic.It has actually seen a situation where all parties are coming together in criticism. Dublin City Council granted planning permission and the inspector recommended that the planning permission be upheld but two of three members of the commission decided against it. There is something fundamentally wrong here when you are talking about critical health infrastructure. The Leas-Chathaoirleach comes the same region as I do and we know that if another maternity hospital is to be built, it needs to happen in Limerick.

The Rotunda has excellent plans in terms of a critical care unit for very sick children and babies. It was very difficult listening to a spokesperson for the other side on "Morning Ireland" criticising the size of the building, maintaining that it would be another maternity hospital. That is not true. Providing care like that requires space. It requires accommodation for families. It requires accommodation for clinicians. It requires room. Given that it is located so close to the Mater Hospital, the decision to refuse beggars belief. The new legislation that is going through, which will identify critical infrastructure for the State in order that we can bypass all of this, needs to include this particular unit. To say I was absolutely stunned by the decision, like everyone else, is an understatement. Healthcare and saving lives has to trump everything.

Garret Kelleher (Fine Gael)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an gcinneadh a thóg an tAire Oideachais agus Óige, an Teachta Hildegarde Naughton, inné mar gheall ar chúntóirí riachtanas speisialta sna scoileanna ar fud na tíre. With specific reference to an outstanding community, which has been at the heart of the community which I represent for over 40 years, Scoil Barra National School in Ballincollig, I received a high volume of emails and phone calls from school management, teachers, parents and other members of the wider school community in relation to their well-founded concerns about the proposal to reduce the school's allocation of special needs assistants from 8.33 whole-time equivalents to 6.33 whole-time equivalents. Scoil Barra is a school that prides itself on the culture of inclusion and respect for diversity, which it strives to foster. It has a long history of promoting a neuro-affirmative environment in the school and in providing supports to its pupils with additional learning needs and challenges. For the incoming school year, Scoil Barra has 75 junior infants' pupils enrolled, a high cohort of whom have additional needs, including some pre-verbal children.

In line with the NCSE's recommendations for schools to focus on early intervention with primary schools in its allocation and deployment of special needs assistants, it is the school's intention to deploy three special needs assistants for the incoming junior infants classes. If the proposal that was made in the letter that they received was to be followed through on, that would leave only three whole-time equivalents for the entire remainder of the school population. I cannot stress enough that it is imperative, in the case of Scoil Barra, the history that it has, its proportion of diversity and in the work it does to support its pupils in the school community with additional needs, that the cuts that were proposed in the initial letter are not followed through upon. Again, I welcome the pause in the review announced by the Minister yesterday. I hope that when it comes to it being looked at again, the needs of Scoil Barra will be given the attention they deserve.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the 15 Senators who contributed on the Order of Business this morning.

We started with Senator Comyn, who spoke about Ash Wednesday and its importance in our calendar, heralding a time not just to abstain but to reflect and take up some type of positive habit. Kindness was the one she suggested. I think we can never have enough kindness in the world, including in this Chamber at times.

Senator Comyn also spoke about two housing estates in Drogheda that have particular issues. In Bryanstown Wood, sadly there is a situation where there is a raw sewage leak, which has been investigated by Louth County Council and Uisce Éireann but, because the housing estate is not taken in charge, nobody is doing anything about it. I suggest to the Senator that there is a process under section 180 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 whereby residents, in a situation where the developer has gone, can initiate the process themselves. Some years back - I cannot recall what year - legislation was put in place to ensure that there would be a fund there to support works that need to be done in a place that is unfinished. Essentially the estate is unfinished. That would pay for that to bring it up to the stage where Louth County Council would take it in charge. The Senator may wish to look at that as it is worth doing. In relation to Tullybrook Court, it is shocking to think that tenants are paying such huge electricity and heating bills. They are not using heat pumps, I understand, but electrical storage heaters. The best thing to do is to try to have a conversation with Clúid. That does not seem to be going anywhere. Some intervention should be made. I suggest a Commencement matter with the Minister for housing because that situation is simply not good enough.

Senators Boyhan, McCormack and Andrews spoke about the legend that was Larry Butler and expressed their deepest sympathies to his wife, Kathleen, and family. They remembered him in very kind words. I thank them for that.

Senator Boyhan, along with Senators Ní Chuilinn and Conway, spoke about the Rotunda Hospital and the shock we all felt when we heard the announcement on the news yesterday morning that planning permission had been turned down. I know the Minister for Health has expressed her deep disappointment. The Taoiseach did so yesterday as well. I think Senator Boyhan is wrong to say that the Taoiseach was wrong to express that. At the end of the day, Dublin City Council and the planning inspector had recommended this. The Rotunda is one of the busiest maternity hospitals in Europe. I remember seeing somewhere that this year they expect to deliver their one millionth baby in the hospital. That shows how important it is to the mothers of Dublin and outside of Dublin.

The planned new critical care wing is absolutely necessary for upgrading the essential competencies of the Rotunda. It includes a neonatal intensive care unit, 46 single-bed rooms , 19 postnatal rooms, which are really important, and a new operating theatre. It is shocking. There will have to be a meeting. I know that the master of the Rotunda offered to meet the Dublin Civic Trust some time ago and had invited the objectors to meet with him and engage. Unfortunately, that invitation was not taken up. That is disappointing, too. Senator Boyhan said that the power should be taken from An Coimisiún Pleanála. We have to have an independent planning process because there are a lot of vested interests on both sides in relation to planning. It is important that there is a planning process.It is important that this is removed from politics. However, having said that, there should be no issue with politicians saying that they are disappointed with the actual verdict that was given, as indeed we all are. Senator McCormack also spoke about Evan Power from Portarlington, who was a great advocate for disability rights and sadly has passed away. Our deepest sympathy go to Evan's family and community. The Senator also spoke about Droimnin Nursing Home, which HIQA found was non-compliant in eight areas. The licence was cancelled and the HSE took the nursing home over. The Senator would like to see that being put on a permanent basis. To see that carried out we should have a debate with the Minister of State with responsibility for older people, Deputy O'Donnell, about nursing homes, to see if we can advocate for the HSE taking more of them in charge.

Senator Keogan spoke about the EU consumer protection law, the consumer credit directive, which would expand protections to customers. The deadline for Ireland signing up was November 2025. The fact that there was a public consultation is important but it does not actually mean anything is going to happen. I will check with the EU scrutiny committee because I would be surprised if some level of scrutiny was not done. I genuinely do not know the answer but it is important that we find it out.

Senator Boyle spoke about water outages over the last two days. Luckily, supplies have been restored after scheduled works in the reservoir. The Senator is right that there is a problem with communication. It causes all sorts of problems. If these shortages and stoppages to water or electricity supplies are communicated in a timely manner, then people can make plans. For all of these vital parts of our infrastructure, we need to have proper communication to all those who are going to be impacted.

Senator Gallagher spoke about a jetty that was constructed from recycled plastic about 20 years ago to assist people with mobility issues to fish Unfortunately, this was set on fire last Sunday night. He expressed his thanks to the fire service and has requested that anybody who saw anything suspicious to please inform the authorities, and obviously we support that.

Senator Andrews spoke about Irish Sport for Palestine, which has submitted a complaint to UEFA saying that UEFA is legitimising the occupied territories. The FAI is in a very difficult situation here. Some time ago, it made its preference known to UEFA that Israel should not be included in the competition. I think the FAI was absolutely right and I would completely support its stance. UEFA has taken its own decision. It has put Ireland and the Irish players who are involved in a very difficult situation. The Senator said that Israel is playing politics with football. It is, but that does not mean we should follow suit. The Senator is saying that because Israel is doing that, Ireland should do the same. There is nothing about Israel that I would like to copy, particularly in relation to the kinds of things it is doing.

Senator McCarthy spoke about the public petitions committee two days ago and a witness named Sinead O'Reilly whose sister in law, Sarah O'Reilly, had died from sepsis. Had protocol been followed, she would be alive today. There is a very real fear about sepsis at the moment and everybody is right to be concerned about it. We need to have a time-bound strategy and a development of an awareness campaign. We certainly will ask the Minister to come to discuss that. Perhaps Members here in the Seanad who are on the health committee would raise it in that forum. We are hearing about sepsis more and more and it is affecting people of all ages. Everybody is right to be concerned but we need to do more than show concern.

Senator Scahill spoke about the situation in Kerry and the families of 300 children who were in CAMHS. The review showed that there was very weak governance and failures there. There is a concern that something similar might happen in Castlerea because of key posts that are left unfilled. While I have no doubt but that staff on the ground are doing their best,it has to be a concern and we will look for a debate on the CAMHS service and mental health services.

Senator Duffy spoke about housing and the fact that in Westport, Castlebar and Ballina, while councillors and other public representatives want to see more affordable housing, apparently it is a requirement of the Department that KPMG carry out a survey and an analysis. It does not make sense on any level. As he rightly says, every village, town and city needs to have more housing. We need to see more affordable housing and affordable sites everywhere. In rural areas where people find it hard to get one-off planning, having affordable sites zoned for those who could build their own houses is important. We will take that up with the Minister for housing. The survey requirement does not seem to make sense.

Senator Sarah O'Reilly spoke about the poor quality roads in Cavan and the reliance on national funding. I would suggest that the Senator put in a Commencement matter in relation to that.

Senator Craughwell spoke about children and access to social media and about the need for a cyber awareness campaign. I understand that today at Cabinet there is going to be debate on that and actions that will be taken. In the education committee a few years ago we had a number of sessions with the anti-bullying centre, ABC, from DCU. The centre is internationally recognised and it does incredible work on cyber-bullying and online harassment. An observatory was set up there following the enactment of Coco's Law. We will ask for the Minister for education to come and speak about that and to speak about the work being done in DCU.

Senator Kelleher spoke about the SNA situation, which I know we are all concerned about. About 200 schools received letters over the last week, and the Senator spoke about Scoil Barra National School in particular, and the concerns there, particularly about next September's intake. The school would need three SNAs for just the new intake alone, which would leave just three for the rest of the school if these cuts were made. Yes, certainly it is good that a pause has been announced but we need more action than that. We need to have a debate with the Minister on the matter. None of us should have an issue with reviews because they are important at every level. A review of SNAs had not been done for about eight years, I think. However, the way this was handled was completely wrong. The communication to the affected schools was completely wrong and anyone who has a child with special needs faces uphill battles all of the time and they take things like this very personally. Schools pride themselves on inclusion and so many of our schools that are really doing excellent work in the inclusion area take it very personally as well. I had a Commencement matter last week about a similar situation in Newbridge. While we welcome the pause, we need to have a debate in the House about how we go forward. Given that there will be 1,700 new SNAs, there has to be a better way of redeployment. We get what the Minister has said about needing to ensure that redeployments are in the areas of need.That is what we all want but we see and we recognise that need in the schools in our communities.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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It is also about how the NCSE engages.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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The NCSE is obviously part of the whole story. Part of the problem is that the NCSE seems to have taken the decision to send out these communications unilaterally. That was very regrettable. I am sure there will be conversations about that. That is the end of my response to the Order of Business.