Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the proposed approval of Seanad Éireann of a meeting of the Joint Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy in County Wexford, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business, without debate; and No. 2, statements regarding fuel supports to the fishing industry, to be taken at 11.45 a.m. and to conclude at 1 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks by the Minister not to exceed eight minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed ten minutes, time may be shared, and the Minister to be given no less than seven minutes to reply to the debate.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I would like to draw the House's attention to the call this week from the national lottery for an outright ban on betting on the national lottery. We are all familiar with the national lottery. It helps fund sports organisations, voluntary organisations, cultural organisations, youth clubs and all manner of activities and organisations within our communities. This week, however, the national lottery published an independent report completed by Indecon, on the socio-economic impact of the national lottery. Basically, the report has very stark findings and I encourage all Members to read it. It concludes that betting on the lottery is draining vital funding from important community organisations and events right across Ireland. The national lottery is calling on the Government to act to ban outright betting on the national lottery. It is an issue I have raised previously in the Seanad. I have tabled Commencement matters on it. It is a matter for the Minister for public expenditure to address. However, the report this week raises the issue again. It highlights that in 2024 alone, more than €80 million was lost in funding to good causes in our communities. When we think of all the work those organisations put into making applications to Government, local authorities and other funding streams, to be losing more than €80 million in one year to good causes is a good enough reason. It is also just not fair; it truly is not. The national lottery is regulated and transparent, and it is designed to serve the public good. It also protects communities; 30 cent in every euro spent on the national lottery goes directly back into communities. It is also an economic issue. It is estimated in the Indecon report that almost 2,000 jobs have been lost and over €125 million in economic activity has been put at risk because of this practice of betting on the lottery. Betting on national lotteries has been banned in 25 of the 27 other European member states. We are far behind here and we are letting down our communities. It is an issue that should be addressed as a matter of urgency. The report highlights it in very objective independent terms. I would appreciate if the Acting Leader would arrange a debate, at the earliest opportunity, with the Minister for public expenditure to provide this House with a response on what action he is going to take to ban betting on the national lottery.

Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Over and over in this Chamber, many of the Senators bring up the safe routes to school programme. It is brought up a lot because we all recognise in our communities that we really want to get kids to school safely. Over the past few weeks, I have visited Killyon National School, Dunderry National School, Cannistown National School, Kilmessan National School, Kiltale National School and Kildalkey National School. They all have the same issue. The school authorities are asking how they get the kids more safely to school. There are more trucks and cars on the roads, and many of these schools were built many years ago when there were not nearly as many vehicles. There are narrow roads with no footpaths.

Just yesterday morning, I was out with the road safety officer from Meath County Council who did an amazing job in Dunderry National School talking about road safety. In that brilliant presentation, she was encouraging kids to cycle and walk to school. In my head, I was thinking that they will be dead outside if they do that because there is not even a footpath near where the bridge is there. We had a really good discussion with the road safety officer, however, and the council will put in interim traffic calming measures identifying that there is a school nearby, such as the pencils we see instead of bollards outside schools. They are going to put some red boxes and yellow markings near where the ramps are to let motorists know they are coming close to a school.

I had a little bit of a lightbulb moment. If we are not going to maintain the safe routes to school programme because of maybe financial pressure in the Department of Transport, would the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, consider maybe preliminary funding for every rural school in the country so they can act and so the councils can actually provide interim supports for the school to let kids go safely? I am definitely going to try to meet him to discuss this. If the Department cannot afford to do the safe routes to school programme for every school in the country, could it provide bollard pencils, red boxes, yellow zig-zag lines, maybe the emoji camera with the with the happy face and sad face and the yellow diamond-shaped sign that lets people know they are approaching a school? Those measures do not cost the hundreds of thousands of euro that the safe routes to school programme costs. It might be a good way of doing something because it is better than doing nothing. I ask the Acting Leader to let the Minister know that all the Senators have mentioned it here in the Seanad over and over again. The Minister is doing a great job in the Department of Transport. The Acting Leader might let him know that I would like to meet him and go through that. I think everybody across the Chamber would like to see more safety outside our rural schools.

Joe Conway (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, Family Carers Ireland's published its fourth scorecard in which it assesses the programme for Government and gives its response to 34 items that are priorities for the organisation. A quick résumé would be that out of the 34 sectors covering the programme for Government, two report good progress and 15 report limited progress. That is over 50% with good or limited progress but, alas, 13 of the areas report no progress at all and four of them actually report regression in the response to the programme. That is moderately encouraging, but it is probably something that deserves a more concentrated response.That was the state of play as of the end of quarter 3 in 2025. I will quote another pertinent paragraph:

Based on Healthy Ireland estimates, 14% of people aged 15 and older provide regular unpaid personal help to a friend or family member with a long-term illness, health problem or disability. When extrapolated to the national population, this equates to 624,190 family carers.

Many of those are working pro bonoor for very little pay.

In fairness to those 624,000 carers who do so much work on behalf of us all and on behalf of the State, we should have a debate with the Minister for Social Protection in this House addressing all of the issues and concerns, the undoubted successes that the Government has had, the many shortfalls, and what we can do to hasten our steps to get a more perfect picture for the people who are ultimately very vulnerable in society and the very caring and altruistic people who look after them.

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

A 12-year-old boy's life was put at risk in Cavan General Hospital this week. At 2 p.m. on Monday, a 12-year-old boy, Aaron, was admitted to Cavan General Hospital in extreme pain. An ultrasound was carried out and appendicitis was diagnosed. His parents were told he would be kept overnight, keyhole surgery would be performed the next morning and he would be home in a few hours.

On Monday night-Tuesday morning, at approximately 3 a.m., he was in extreme pain and the nurse repeatedly called for a doctor to come to see him and examine him. No doctor came. He was left there. He was prepped for operation on Tuesday from, say, 10 a.m. on. He had been fasting all this time and had no food or water. He was not brought to theatre until 10.20 p.m. He was supposed to go in first thing in the morning but this was at 10.20 p.m., so he was the whole day without food, without water and in pain. Other children on the ward were getting good and he was left; he could not eat. His mouth was all dry and sore because he could not drink. His parents were told that the operation went well.

At 4.30 p.m. yesterday, he could not breathe. His eyes were rolling in his head and he actually said to his mother, "I think I am going to die." Thankfully, they are very friendly with some of the organisers of the North-East Sepsis Awareness, NESA, campaign, and all the symptoms indicated he had sepsis. He is being treated now for sepsis and has responded well, thankfully, to that treatment.

The issue is clearly that the standard of care was atrocious. The calls by the nurse for a doctor to come to see him in the middle of the night were ignored. He was left for 27 hours without food and water, and now has sepsis. Hopefully, he will recover from sepsis. If sepsis gets into your body, it does not leave and can reoccur at any time. It is the biggest killer in the world, but for those who survive sepsis, it can have serious consequences. I know people who have lost limbs as a result of it. Senator McCarthy gave a very good briefing in the audiovisual room on this last week and I have raised the issue here previously.

All of those issues are very serious. I commend NESA on the work it is doing on creating awareness of this. We need to see our health professionals recognising the symptoms and responding immediately, but there is no excuse for what this child went through in Cavan General Hospital. We go in there expecting a standard of care. I presume most people get it, but I am very concerned now that any child would be left like this. A child, in particular, should get priority. I want this highlighted with the Minister for Health so that we can get a response on what happened in Cavan General Hospital this week.

Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Daniel Tatlow-Devally is an Irish citizen who is currently on trial in Stuttgart. Part of the "The Ulm Five", he is being charged with allegedly damaging property in the offices of Elbit Systems in September 2025. The company, the group asserts, is complicit in genocide in Gaza. Daniel has been in pretrial detention for the past eight months, a particularly prolonged pretrial detention, which is highly unusual, and it violates Daniel's human rights.

While in detention, Daniel's direct access to his legal team and defence team has been restricted. Even in court, he is separated from his team behind glass, which is completely abnormal in the context of the German judicial system. In Germany, pretrial detention is supposed to be kept as short as possible. It is a last resort and generally only for a maximum of six months in complex cases, and already Daniel has been there for five months. Bail has been denied because Daniel is considered a threat to society, despite the fact he did not resist arrest, he did not harm anyone and he did not have any prior criminal convictions. The charge against Daniel is reserved for members of criminal organisations. We have to ask the question: is Daniel's act of civil disobedience worthy of such an extreme response?

His treatment within the criminal justice system has been utterly disproportionate to his actions and his family and defence team say his physical and psychological well-being and integrity have been violated and his right to a fair trial is under threat. He has been restricted access to his family and his defence team while in detention. He was allowed only one visitor for 30 minutes every two weeks. He has not been allowed to read books. He has been held up in a cell by himself for 23 hours per day. He has been behind a screen. His family have not been allowed to touch him.

Anti-genocide activists have been disproportionately punished. We have seen that held up as an example to others for highlighting corporate complicity when it comes to war crimes against Palestine. This could set a dangerous precedent for criminalising direct action. We should all be horrified that an Irish citizen is being treated with such structural violence and state violence against his well-being by another EU member state. I would like to see some intervention by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to ensure Daniel's right to a fair trial. All of us here would want to see integrity around the concept of a right to fair trial.

I also note the six or seven Irish citizens who were kidnapped this morning by the Israeli state while in international waters as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a peaceful humanitarian mission to bring much-needed aid to the people of Gaza. Kidnapping in international waters is an act that breaches international law and violates our international standards. We have come to expect this by the Israeli state but we cannot accept it as normal. We cannot accept it as normal when our citizens, who are there on a peaceful mission, are being kidnapped by the Israeli state. I would also like this House to seek a statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on what it is doing and on what levels of diplomacy it is engaging in to ensure the protection of our citizens by a third state. In any other country, if our citizens were swept up off the streets by a third country, we would be up in arms and we should be in this case as well.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome St. Patrick's National School from Greystones. They are guests of the Tánaiste. I hope they enjoy their visit here to Leinster House. As is customary, they have no homework for the rest of the week.

Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

On Tuesday, I spoke in this House about the lack of sporting facilities in Dublin 8. I was speaking particularly about a school, St. Audoen's National School, in Dublin 8, that I visited on Tuesday morning. While it is important to point out what is wrong and the lack of access to facilities, it is really important to also point out and celebrate what is good. I got word this morning that the St. Audoen's girls' football team that I spoke about on Tuesday won their final league match yesterday against John Scottus in the 8C league of the FAI and they have won the league. A school with no pitch or facilities but just passion for football, brilliant teachers and brilliant players has risen to the top of its FAI league. I congratulate their captain, Amaya, and their principal, Geoff, and all of their teachers who are really ag snámh in aghaidh easa. With no facilities, but absolute passion and joy for sport and for football, they are really swimming against the tide down there. What it is doing for those children is absolutely brilliant. As I said on Tuesday, we are failing them in that we have no sports facilities for those children in the south-west inner city. Senators will be sick of me talking about it, because I will raising regularly in this House and in other fora as well. I congratulate St. Audoen's girls' football team for winning the league yesterday.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Last week, I attended the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, and I want to commend the GAA on the presentation it gave on its recent report on democratic change, entitled, after John Healy's book, No One Shouted Stop - Until Now. I understand the association was hesitant about adopting that title but I commend it on being bold enough to do so because the warning it carries is timely and necessary. This is a serious, evidence-based document that does something many institutions shy away from. It speaks plainly about rural depopulation and urban over-concentration and it asks uncomfortable questions about where Ireland is heading.The GAA has been brave in raising the alarm to warn us - based on hard data - that the demographic shift we are living through is already reshaping our communities. Rural depopulation, falling birth rates and the concentration of people along the east coast are not abstract trends; they are realities being felt in parishes, towns and clubs across the country. What is striking is that this sporting organisation has been willing to speak so honestly about issues that properly belong in the realm of national planning and public policy. Indeed, they are issues that belong in these Houses. The GAA recognises that when rural communities decline the fabric of Irish life weakens.

At the same time, unbalanced growth is placing enormous pressures on Dublin and its commuter belt, with overcrowded housing, stretched infrastructure, lack of facilities and declining quality of life. Everyone moving east is not a sign of success. It is a sign of a failure to make rural Ireland viable for young families. It is also unfair on our towns and cities, which are being asked to absorb growth without the planning required. The GAA is right to say that demographic change cannot be wished away and it can be managed. However, this requires national leadership and meaningful rural investment. If institutions like the GAA are prepared to speak up, Government must be prepared to listen and act. Maybe we should ask the GAA to come here and present its report to us, because it makes stark reading for communities throughout the country.

Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the House will be aware, the Global Sumud Flotilla was seized at gunpoint last night by the Israeli occupying forces. Seven Irish citizens have been arrested. This was and is a peaceful mission. The flotilla has not been fully intercepted. It is important that there is engagement by the Department and the Government to ensure the safety of the Irish citizens. This seizure took place near Greece, over 1,000 miles from Gaza. Israel has extended its borders into Gaza, Lebanon and Iran and now it is extending them into the EU. It is disappointing that nobody has stood up to Israel. As I said, this mission is off the coast of Greece. At this stage, the Israelis will be coming for us, knocking on our doors soon. The Irish Government is looking the other way. We see the contrast between the Government's condemnation of what is happening and the actions to ensure there are consequences for Israel, it is pretty stark. One the one hand, the Government talks about passing the occupied territories Bill and suspending trade pacts with Israel, yet it welcomes the football team of genocidal Israel here to play football. That is simply wrong and it is something we can make a stand on. We can show Israel that we will not facilitate its sportswashing. Some 565 footballers, management staff and referees have been murdered by Israel. How can we justify allowing Israel to play here? It is important that the Minister makes a statement on this and comes in here to explain what the Government will do to support the Irish citizens who have been kidnapped, again, by Israel.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I call for a debate on the participation of people with disabilities in sport. Many governing bodies have what I would describe as tokenistic inclusion and disability officers. Some make a genuine effort. For example, the FAI has its Football for All programme and there are other governing bodies that make an effort. However, in my view, there is not enough being done at all to create a level playing pitch - pardon the pun - for people with disabilities to meaningfully engage in active living and sport. I am a former board member of Active Disability Ireland, which did great work with governing bodies over the years, through Sport Ireland, to promote inclusion in a soft way through competitions, certificates and awards. Some organisations and sporting bodies did make a decent and genuine effort.

We are about to announce the bones of €100 million in sports capital grants. I would like to see this being proofed in such a way that clubs that get grants have to demonstrate that they are open and accessible to all people, including those with disabilities. I know that one of the criteria is that they have to demonstrate that their facilities are open to others, if needed. However, I think a lot of it is box ticking. I do not believe there is genuine openness in the case of some of them. We have a huge amount of work to do to make sport genuinely accessible to people with disabilities. I would very much welcome statements in the House with the Minister of State with responsibility for sport on this specific issue, preferably ahead of the announcement of the sports capital funding.

Laura Harmon (Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of cancer care in Ireland. This morning, it was extremely alarming to hear that 80% of the radiation therapy machines in the country need to be replaced within the next few years. Cork is an outlier here. We heard from Professor Aisling Barry, chair of radiation oncology at University College Cork, that currently the only plans to replace these radiation therapy machines are for Dublin. We heard from one patient recently who said that during their 25 appointments for treatment, the machine broke down six times. Patients have had to book in to hotels while they are waiting for machines to be fixed. Some 50% of people diagnosed with cancer will need radiation therapy, which is life-saving. Oncologists have described this as a national disgrace. We need to act. There needs to be a fully funded national plan to replace all of these machines. They have been described as being akin to Windows 95, with the machines being among the oldest in Europe in terms of their quality This is urgent.

I have just come from a briefing in the audiovisual room on sport for the LGBTQI+ community in Ireland and funding and support for that sector. As part of that community, I am a member of the Frontrunners group in Cork and I have also attended Frontrunners in Dublin. I sometimes attend the Phoenix Tigers soccer group in Dublin and I recently joined Na Laochra Aeracha, an LGBTQI+ GAA club in Cork. I am in my late 30s and going back to sport, having not played GAA for about 20 years, it has been lovely to be able to be part of that community and to have this outlet. We need to focus on funding for those sporting organisations. It is really important for Ireland.

Paraic Brady (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I want to discuss a problem I have tried to sort out over the last number of weeks. It is the issue of flying the Irish flag by an Irish team. Irish members of the International Sheepdog Society have been notified of a change in policy whereby the Irish team that represents the whole of Ireland at international events will not be allowed to fly the Irish flag when representing Ireland at world events. I have engaged with the new chairman and to say that he has been unco-operative would be an understatement. I would like this issue to be resolved because it will cause an ongoing row, North and South, in this country where we have seen peace in recent times.I do not have a problem if a member of the team from Northern Ireland wishes to carry a symbol representing Northern Ireland. However, if somebody who is representing Ireland wants to a carry the Tricolour on his or her shoulder, he or she should be allowed to do so. I hope this can be resolved as a matter of urgency. We have seen the trials taking place in Northern Ireland this year. I would hope the Tricolour would be flown proudly, as it always has been, and would represent this country in the fashion it always has. I hope this can be resolved sooner rather than later. Perhaps my drawing attention to it might highlight the problem and get it resolved.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise our need to ensure we have enough doctors into the future. A Parliamentary Budget Office report in 2024 on the cost of non-consultant hospital doctors and consultants in a consultant-delivered health service stated we would need more than 9,000 additional hospital doctors within 20 years to meet the demands of our growing and ageing population. Having that number of extra staff in place by 2042 would cost the Exchequer approximately €2.2 billion more per year. To that we can add an additional 1,000 GPs. We need to be adding 500 medics per year after allowing for retirements, etc. As there are several hundred retirements per year, it means approximately 800 doctors per year are needed. Let us work with that figure of 800. What is actually happening in our medical schools is that we have approximately 600 places for Irish or EU medical students and a similar number of places for non-EU students. A significant number of young Irish doctors go abroad, as we all know, and do not return. Statistics are hard to come by but it would seem that approximately 60% go abroad after internship and half of those do not return within ten years. We might expect that at the very best, approximately 400 new doctors per year from undergraduate medicine studies will stay here. That is half our need. We need more Irish people studying medicine and we need more Irish people staying in Ireland after their studies.

Two issues need to be considered. How about making working in Ireland a condition for approximately 50% of Irish or EU college places? If we can reserve places for overseas students, surely we can find ways to reserve places for students who will commit to staying in Ireland for six or eight years. The other issue is the prohibitive cost of entry into postgraduate medicine. Postgraduate entry medics would be less inclined to go abroad. They are the ones who have to face fees of €18,000 per year or €60,000 per year to be invested in their training. That is inequitable. We need to encourage graduate entry medicine. We need a debate about what we are going to do to address this urgent problem of ensuring we have an adequate number of doctors and medical personnel to provide healthcare to our people in the future.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome a second group from St. Patrick's National School, Greystones. They are guests of An Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris. I hope they enjoy their visit. As is customary, they will have no homework for the rest of the week.

Maria McCormack (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the progress announced last week by Cuan, through the justice committee, on the long-awaited domestic violence refuge in Laois, something that has been needed for too long. We heard this week of another deeply disturbing case in Waterford. Another woman was harmed. Another family was devastated. It was a stark reminder that this crisis is not going away. The numbers speak for themselves. Over 65,000 calls relating to domestic violence were made last year to An Garda Síochána. In my county of Laois and within the Laois-Offaly Garda division, over 1,600 domestic abuse incidents were recorded last year, with 393 cases already reported in the early part of this year. The statistics do not even tell the full story. Those are only the cases reported.

We are now living in a world where women are living in fear, children are witnessing trauma and lives are being destroyed behind closed doors. Some may never get the chance to report, and that is why I am asking this House how many more women must suffer before we act with urgency. We need to take action now. We need proper, consistent training for gardaí. We need education in our schools on respect and healthy relationships. We need far more investment in front-line and refuge services in a timely manner. Prevention is just as important now as the response. This is part of the wider crisis of gender-based and sexual violence in Ireland.

I welcome the free travel scheme for survivors, which was announced this week. We need clarity on how many are going to be covered and whether it will also include survivors of sexual abuse. I call for an urgent debate in this House on domestic violence. Silence is no longer acceptable. Delays are no longer acceptable. We need to ensure we do all we can across these Houses to prevent it.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I call the Acting Leader to respond.

Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Acting Leader can just respond to me.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Before the Acting Leader responds, I welcome Deputy Michael Murphy to the Distinguished Visitors' Gallery. He is accompanied by Áine, Niamh and Georgina Crean. I hope they enjoy their visit.

Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators who made contributions. Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about the national lottery and the loss in the revenue it is making because of betting on the national lottery through other betting avenues. She has asked for a debate with the Minister, Deputy Chambers. I will contact his office to see if that is possible. It is important to recognise that the national lottery contributes 30 cent of every euro spent back to communities. Right across the country, communities have had work or something beneficial done to their village or area because of support from the national lottery. That is important to recognise. If people are spending money on betting on the national lottery through other outlets, that money does not go back to local communities. Something should be done. When 25 of 27 countries across the EU have banned such activity, we should be having a debate to discuss it.

Senator Nelson Murray spoke about the safe routes to school programme, as she has done regularly. She made a very good suggestion. Every parent who has children going to school is always worried about their safety. I see it in my own school in Grange, County Tipperary. Cars travel at high speeds and all you need is one incident for something to happen. The safe routes to school programme costs a lot of money and cannot be applied to every school across the country. However, what can be done is that a smaller level of funding could be provided, as the Senator suggested, for highlighting to drivers that they are coming towards a school and need to be careful.

Senator Joe Conway spoke about Family Carers Ireland, representatives of which were in Buswells Hotel yesterday to share a report on work done by the Government since it took office in the context of the programme for Government. Family Carers Ireland does a lot of good work. Ms Clare Duffy and others in the organisation do great work. There are 34 objects that the Government wants to deliver. That is to happen in the lifetime of this Government. Although 50% are progressing well, others are not. We are only 18 months into this Government and that programme for Government is a commitment for the lifetime of the Government. The Senator is right, however, about the need to have a debate with the Minister for Social Protection to outline where we are with the other 50% of issues that need to be dealt with and consider when they will be dealt with.

Senator Tully spoke about the very sad case of a 12-year-old boy who went for what was seemingly a simple operation to his appendix in Cavan hospital. It turned into a case of sepsis and a life-threatening situation. She outlined exactly what happened in the hospital to the child and parents, and the fact that no doctor came. She told us that the child then developed sepsis. I have personal experience of sepsis.I was in hospital three years ago for an infection and I was in for two weeks. I was told I would be out in 24 hours but an hour after the consultant told me that I was in a terrible way. Only for an amazing nurse from the Philippines, who noticed and diagnosed very quickly that I had sepsis, it could have been an awful lot worse. I ended up in the ICU for two weeks after that. These things can come on very quickly and the case Senator Tully spoke about is a prime example of not having people there. To say a doctor was not available to see the child would suggest there is some mismanagement in Cavan hospital, if that is the case. I hope she has highlighted the case to the Minister and that the Minister can get some answers for her. To see anyone go through sepsis is awful but in this case there were parents witnessing it in their 12-year-old child. We do not have to be clinical experts to realise it. The only way sepsis can be dealt with is to have people spot it very quickly. If doctors are unwilling to see 12-year-old kids, there is a very serious problem. I will contact the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, about the case and I hope Senator Tully has done the same.

Senator Stephenson spoke about an Irish citizen who has been detained in Germany and has not had the access to his legal team that he should have, and his treatment over there. It sounds appalling. I had heard of the case but I do not have the full details of it. I know he has been there for five months and is being treated very poorly. As Senator Stephenson said, this is an EU country that really should not be doing this. I will contact the Minister for foreign affairs about the case but I hope the Department and the embassy in Germany are doing all they can to support Daniel. He has to go through a court case but it should be fair. It is our job to make sure it is fair. In terms of being arrested and following the guidelines imposed on him, he has done everything right in that respect. We will make sure the Department of foreign affairs is aware of the case. I am sure it is but we will make contact with it. Senator Stephenson also spoke about the flotilla and the Irish citizens on it. I will answer on that when I reach Senator Andrews.

Senator Ní Chuilinn spoke about the lack of sports facilities and gave the example of St. Audoen's school. This is a very good example of people who are going against the odds. She congratulated the school on winning its league. To do it with no pitch makes us think about how good the team could be if it did have a pitch. We have a sports capital grant that, hopefully, will be announced fairly soon. There will be two rounds of sports capital grants in the lifetime of the Government. I know Senator Ní Chuilinn has spoken numerous times about the large number of locations across Dublin that do not have the same sort of sports facilities as there are in other countries.

Senator Keogan spoke about the AILG conference in Clonmel. I was at it as well. I hope Senator Keogan was looked after in Clonmel. I hope she spent some money in Tipperary and helped our local economy. It was a very good conference and I acknowledge Councillor Mary Hanna Hourigan, who is president of the AILG this year, hosting a really good conference. There was a wide range of discussions, particularly a debate on rural Ireland and the changing population, which is very important. There was a really good discussion on that. There are things that need to be done in that regard but a lot has been done already. There has been huge investment in rural Ireland. Less than ten years ago, we set up a Department for rural affairs, which is all about investing in rural Ireland and giving people options to be able to stay, live, raise a family and have a life in rural Ireland. There is certainly more we can do. Regardless of what side of the House we are on, we constantly put pressure on IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to make sure, when they are creating jobs around the country, that they are not just in Dublin, Cork and Galway but also in rural communities so people can live and raise their families in rural areas. I acknowledge it was a very good debate but there is a lot that has been done and we certainly need to do more.

Senator Andrews spoke about the flotilla that has been taken over by the Israelis. He spoke about it two weeks ago and predicted this. Obviously, he has experience of it. It was not an amazing prediction because it was fairly obvious Israel was going to do it. It is another example of the kind of heavy-handed approach that Israel takes against law-abiding citizens who are not in Israeli waters. At the time, a number of weeks ago, Senator Andrews asked that the Department of foreign affairs be there to support Irish citizens. It will be. It has been before, as Senator Andrews knows. Obviously, the advice at the time was not to go but I can understand why people feel the need to go and help. The Department of foreign affairs will be there to support them. The Senator said that Ireland is looking the other way in terms of dealing with Israel. I disagree on that. I think we have done a lot more than other countries.

In terms of the football - the Senator and I are both big football people - it is not a matter for the Irish Government. It is for the FAI, UEFA and FIFA to deal with. I have spoken to the FAI about the game. A number of people also did so about two months ago regarding concerns about it. No one wanted Israel's name to come out of the hat when the draw was made for the Nations League but we have to deal with it. It is not for the Irish Government to decide what the FAI does in terms of playing.

Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

So the FAI has complete-----

Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is UEFA really that makes the decision on it. It has happened already. I cannot remember who Israel played against but it has happened already. I know it is in discussions with other countries in terms of how to deal with it from a security perspective. If you talk to Israel, the country it is most frustrated with is Ireland in terms of what we have done against Israel and in support of Palestine. I support Deputy Andrews on the flotilla and I will make sure the Department of foreign affairs is aware of his concerns and worries for the Irish citizens. We have done a lot and we will do more. I am with him on the occupied territories Bill as well.

Senator Martin Conway called for a debate on disability in sport. He has always been very vocal on this. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan. The sports capital grants are due to be announced quite soon. With regard to the terms of reference of the sports capital grant, it is important that we make sure funding is available for people with disabilities in sport. There are so many examples right across the country of inspiring people who have disabilities and who can achieve great things in sport. The more funding they get, the better opportunities they have. Senator Conway and I know Peter Ryan in Tipperary who became visually impaired and had a great career in cycling afterwards. He is a real inspiration for a lot of people around the country. He is one example of many people.

Senator Harmon spoke about cancer care in Ireland and had very worrying information that 80% of the radiation machines in the country are due to be out of date in the next two years. She has called for a national plan to fund this. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, on this. Obviously we cannot have radiation machines that are not working or fit for purpose. We put so much money into the Department of Health, with funding more than doubling in the past ten or 15 years. At the very least, we need machines that actually work. As the Senator said, 50% of cancer patients have to use these radiation machines.

Senator Brady spoke about the Irish sheepdog team and the very strange situation whereby they are not allowed to fly the Irish flag. Listening to what the Senator said, and it is important that he has highlighted the issue in the Chamber, this is stopping someone from expressing their identity. At whatever level it is, people should be able to be proud of where they are from and have the flag they feel is for where they are from. Surely there has to be some sort of compromise in this. We do not really have this situation in rugby, which is a prime example of a sport where some players on the team identify differently from the majority of the team.However, there is a compromise in that. Every game they play, the Irish flag is flying the whole time so I cannot see why the Irish national sheepdog team cannot find some sort of compromise.

Senator Ronan Mullen spoke about the 9,000 additional doctors that are going to be needed over the next 20 years. This is an obvious example of the need to invest in education to get more doctors to come through the system to meet that requirement. This is one of many issues that the Government and future governments will have to deal with when dealing with an ageing population. It is great that the average lifespan of a person in Ireland is 82 years. It is higher than most EU countries. However, that comes with other challenges for the Government to deal with. It is important that it does that. I suggest to Senator Mullen that he table a Commencement matter on the issue and I am sure the Minister would be happy to respond.

The final contribution was from Senator McCormack who spoke about domestic violence. It is shocking that 65,000 calls are made to the Garda. The Senator said there was just over 1,600 in her county of Laois. A lot of this stems from the Covid period four or five years ago. It has really come to the surface. In fairness to the previous Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, she did a lot of work on domestic violence and abuse towards women in hidden environments and trying to support them. In County Tipperary we have a really good women's refuge called Cuan Saor. The numbers of people they are dealing with has gone to record levels in the past number of years. They have received good investment from Government, which is welcome, but it does not match what is needed to deal with this. In the long term there is an educational perspective on this in terms of how men need to treat women. We think this exists in other countries and cultures but it is right on our doorstep, given there are 65,000 calls made. Some of those could be repeat calls but either way, it is a hell of a lot of calls against predominantly men committing this. It is not always but it is predominantly men committing this. To think that number of people across the country are affected means it needs to be highlighted more, funded more and supported more. As the Senator said, gardaí need to be more training to deal with this. That concludes the Order of Business.