Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fail)
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The Order of Business is No. 1, Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2024 - Report and Final Stages, to be taken at 12 noon; and No. 2, statements to mark Europe Day 2026, to be taken at 1.15 p.m. and to conclude at 2.45 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed eight minutes and group spokespersons not to exceed ten minutes each, time can be shared, and the Minister to be given no less than seven minutes to reply to the debate.

Teresa Costello (Fianna Fail)
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I want to speak about the area my family are originally from, namely, Bohernabreena. Less than a ten-minute drive from The Square, you enter a place that has a proud agricultural heritage and some of the richest natural landscape. It is just so beautiful. Its farmlands, rivers, waterworks and mountainous surroundings are not just a part of our local economy, but a part of our identity and a way of life.

It frustrates and annoys me that this beauty is being damaged by the ongoing scourge of fly-tipping. Illegal dumping is constantly polluting our roadsides, harming the wildlife, threatening waterways and placing an unfair burden on the local residents and farmers who take pride in caring for and working the land. We need stronger enforcement, better waste management awareness and real consequences to protect Bohernabreena's environment. It needs to be respected and protected, and not treated as a dumping ground. I have requested CCTV for some particularly badly affected areas and I hope it is installed sooner rather than later.

I will take this opportunity to give a brief update on the status of givinostat in Ireland. It represents a real hope for boys and families living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. It is currently going through the HSE national application assessment and decision process for medicine pricing and reimbursement. I am told that the corporate pharmaceutical unit, CPU, is waiting for the manufacturer to revert with a commercial offer. While this is happening, families across Ireland are anxiously awaiting progress. I understand the importance of negotiations and ensuring safe and effective treatments but I highlight that time matters greatly for those living with progressive conditions such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy. As time goes by, these children's muscles are wasting.

I want to take a moment to welcome my little buddy Archie Ennis home to Tallaght following his gene therapy treatment in the US. Archie and his family have shown extraordinary courage throughout his Duchenne journey. Their story has touched people right across the country. His family were hit with his diagnosis and quickly discovered how difficult it was to navigate supports and treatments when living with Duchenne. They even had to turn to fundraising. The progression of this disease can be halted with givinostat and that is why we are advocating so passionately for it to be made available to children in Ireland. I want it known that I stand with all Duchenne families in their fight to access givinostat.

I also call on the Minister for Health to provide a clear status update on the development of the next cancer strategy as the current strategy, covering the years 2017 to 2026, is now in its final year. Over the past decade, the national cancer strategy has delivered important progress in cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. I acknowledge the work of the national cancer control programme, the clinicians, researchers, advocacy organisations and front-line healthcare staff, who have worked tirelessly to improve patient outcomes across Ireland. However, we are now at an important moment. Cancer cases are expected to rise significantly in the coming years and that is why planning for the next strategy, covering 2027 to 2037, is so important. The next strategy must address inequalities that exist in access to cancer care, where outcomes and waiting times depend too heavily on geography. We need major investment and a strategic procurement approach in diagnostic capacity, including MRI, CT and positron emission tomography, PET, scanning services, to ensure earlier diagnoses and faster treatment. I want to request that the Minister come to the Chamber to debate the status of the next cancer strategy. Has work formally commenced? What consultation process is planned? It is important that we get to debate the framework for cancer services beyond 2026.

Joe Conway (Independent)
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Stolen Focus is a book that was published in 2022. It was written by a journalist, Johann Hari. This book should be recommended reading for all teachers, parents and legislators in this State. It addresses an issue that is of critical importance to our young people. As the title would suggest, Stolen Focus revolves around the whole question of attention spans and ability to concentrate. Those are features that are being fragmented in the young people as a result of the huge investment of their time in smart phones and modern digital technology.

The thesis of Johann Hari is that your attention and attention span have not collapsed but have been systematically designed to break up in the face of this digital technology. He suggests that the reform of this technology needs to eliminate survey-based advertising. Platforms should be encouraged to optimise well-being and not engagement, and to reduce the use of compulsive scrolling or infinite scroll, as it is called.

It is interesting that one of the first states to advocate technology in the classroom was Sweden and now, ten or 15 years later, the whole emphasis in Sweden is going back to long forms of learning, long reading, copybooks and notebooks in the classroom, and minimising the amount of technology. That says something about the trends that it has recognised.

This morning in The Irish Times, there was an article with the by-line "Secret Teacher". Nobody has fessed up to being the author. It was an extremely good article because it outlined the systematic demoralisation of the teaching force as it encountered the difficulties of broken focus and concentration in classrooms. The article also went on to talk abut the propensity for routine engagement with parents who tend to adopt the standpoint of the pupil or student who is being disciplined, or whom attempts are made to discipline and they further exacerbate the problem. That, of course, ends up with the demoralisation of the teaching force because a lot of teachers are wondering at this stage why they should bother.It is easier to cave in, in the face of this whole principle and the parental tsunami of disapproval that comes at them. In regard to the status of this problem for our young people and our education system, we in the Upper House should give over a long debate to the use of technology in schools and classrooms. We should ask our Minister for education to come in and give decent time to it so that we could have a round and comprehensive debate on what is becoming commonplace for debate in other democracies, namely, on the decimation of the schooling system by smart technology.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before I call the next speaker, appropriate to the Senator's contribution, I welcome guests of the Minister, Deputy James Lawless, from Kildare North Educate Together National School, to Seanad Éireann. They are most welcome here today. I met them in the corridor earlier and told them we had something for them, and that the rule of the Seanad is no homework for the rest of the week when you visit the Senate. I thank them for coming to visit us. I call Senator Nelson Murray.

Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)
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Yesterday, there was a Private Members' motion in the Dáil Chamber around regeneration of flat complexes. It was also the day when the Government pulled the funding for the regeneration of the Oliver Bond flat complex. That is devastating for residents there. They have faced decades of neglect and the conditions they are expected to live in are substandard. They do not even meet the standards that the council sets for private rental accommodation. It is not new to residents in the inner city. Pearse House residents faced a similar pulling of funding for regeneration of Pearse House when they had great plans. They worked for years and came together to develop plans. They were looking forward to it. It was going to change their lives and the lives of so many in the community. This is a huge blow to residents in Oliver Bond and Pearse House and for all those living in flat complexes and public housing in the inner city. The worst thing is the Minister refuses to meet with the residents. He has refused to meet the residents of the Oliver Bond flats or Pearse House or the Glass Bottle residents association. For many people in the inner city, the Minister for housing is the invisible Minister for housing. How can anybody defend that? The Government Members not going to try to defend it because it is indefensible. The Minister refuses to meet with them, he pulls the funding that would transform their lives and make a huge difference and at the same time the rents for tenants are going up dramatically. They are expected to pay more to live in worsening conditions. To make matters even worse for residents, the council found the funding, more than €500 million, to insulate the civic offices and redevelop the sites there and on Camden Yard, which in itself is not a bad idea. However, it could find the funding for the insulation of the civic offices and find a plan to resolve the issues facing its offices. That money could be spent on residents who have been living in dreadful conditions for so long. We hear about the hantavirus breaking out on a cruise liner. It is beyond me how the hantavirus has not broken out in many flat complexes because there are so many issues around rats, the lack of rodent control and derelict sites around flat complexes that are not being maintained and which are causing serious damage to the health of people living in the flats. It is one thing after another. The invisible Minister for housing has to become visible and meet residents. He needs to come in here to explain why he will not meet residents in the inner city.

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Fianna Fail)
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Hopefully, we face a fantastic summer of concerts, the Ryder Cup and other events. I want to discuss the issue of ticket gouging and touting. We have all heard of people who have been caught with this and who have paid huge money and turn up only to find the tickets do not work. Even if they do it is nonsensical to have to pay above the ticket price. The Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021 was passed but to date, nobody has been fined or charged. There are obviously loopholes in this. People say that only designated areas come under this Act. Maybe we should broaden it out. I would like the Minister to come in and give an update on that Act, how the Minister thinks the Act is performing and whether we can broaden it out. I would like to ask people not to charge extra for ticket sales at a time when mental health is so important. Going to a concert or to watch a game of golf gives people a great lift. Anything that is done to prevent that is wrong.

PJ Murphy (Fine Gael)
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I will speak about something that I spoke about on 16 December last. The Acting Leader will be familiar with this as it is an issue arising in our own area. On 16 December, I spoke about a situation that approximately 80 families in south east Galway are in. These families have historically harvested turf on three bogs in south-east Galway, namely, Ardgraigue, Barroughter and Cloonmoylan bogs. In 2011, these 80 families entered into a deal with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, whereby they would desist from harvesting turf on their bogs in exchange for €1,500 a year, index linked, in compensation for doing so, in addition to being given a replacement turf bank from which they could harvest their turf.Fifteen years later, they have not been given the replacement turf banks by the NPWS. As of 1 January 2026, the 15 years of compensation are up and they will receive no compensation this year.

Before the end of last year, I warned in this House that the situation would come to a head and asked the Minister to intervene to either continue the compensation package or, as a matter of urgency, assign new turf banks, or allow these people to return to cutting turf on their turf banks. There has been no communication between the Minister and these families in the meantime. Later on today, these people, legally or otherwise, will return to their turf banks to cut their turf and I support them in doing so. The lack of communication with these people on the part of NPWS is not acceptable. People have been left in limbo for the past number of months despite the topic being raised on two separate occasions in this House and the Lower House. I am not sure about the legal status of people when they return to their turf banks and neither are the people themselves but they have found themselves with no alternative as a means of heating their homes next winter.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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The primary function of any State is to provide for the security of its citizens. In this State, we are woefully neglecting our citizens. Dan O'Brien has a piece concerning the spend on defence in this country. We are lowest-spending country in Europe on national defence. There is no national security strategy. It was promised in 2019 but it is now becoming a bit like Trump and Obamacare, where every week it is a case of "the last paragraph is currently being drafted and it'll be out any day soon".

We were already hit with the HSE cyberattack. Cyberattacks are happening in their thousands every day. Every minute and every nanosecond, there is an attack on somebody in this country. There is no national security strategy. The national security strategy would lay out how we would deal with such issues as water, the transmission of electricity, gas, transport, etc. It would prioritise which things have to be saved in the event of a crisis and which things can be set aside or dealt with at a later date. Nothing has ever been said. We have a national crisis team that meets every now and then when there is a national crisis but it has no blueprint to work on. There is no strategy.

I ask that we bring the Minister for Defence to the House and have an open conversation about a national security strategy. It is not always about people in uniform. It is not always about people in the Defence Forces or An Garda Síochána. It is about people working in electricity or gas transmission systems. It is about anything that makes this country work. Will the Minister for Defence come to the House to discuss the national strategy?

Eileen Lynch (Fine Gael)
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I will speak about the use of compulsory purchase orders, CPOs, to purchase private land for greenways. This is on foot of a briefing to the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food yesterday from the IFA, the National Greenway Action Association and the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association. I am very much in favour of greenways. There are some in my locality and I appreciate completely the benefits they bring to any rural area in particular. However, what we are seeing more and more frequently is the use of CPOs to purchase private land for greenways. To be honest, it is not good enough. It is damaging to our farmers and is causing a lot of upset within communities. It is incredibly irresponsible of the Minister for Transport and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, to allow this to continue to happen, particularly when we look at the code of practice for greenways, which was agreed by TII and which sets out that if there is to be purchase of lands for greenways, it is to be on an agreed and mutual basis. Quite simply, that is not happening.

This Monday, I visited two farms in Waterfall in County Cork that will be affected by the Cork-Kinsale greenway. These are two active dairy farms. The proposed greenway will cut right across the middle of their land and leave landlocked a large proportion of their land should the farmers ever wish to change their ventures in the future. It will also make access to their parlour, which is on the lower side of this greenway, incredibly difficult.

Lack of consultation is a massive problem. Local authorities are saying that consultation is taking place but this is not the case. It is incumbent on us to review this and to ensure that it does not continue to happen. We look at the Kerry greenway where many farmers have yet to be paid for a CPO. That infrastructural development cost €70 million in comparison with the Waterford greenway, which cost €20 million. This is a completely inefficient and ineffective use of money. I fail to see why TII continues to pull money for these endeavours, which in many cases are not completed. The irresponsibility of it has to be called out. For that reason, I am calling for the Minister for Transport to come to the House to address it on this matter.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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Like so many people in this House, this weekend, I will be participating in Darkness Into Light annual fundraiser with Pieta House. It will take place in a number of venues around the country from 4.15 a.m. on Saturday. The idea behind Darkness Into Light is to raise awareness of suicide and mental health issues, remove the stigma of it and bring communities together so people are prepared to talk. Getting more people to talk and engage on the subject is the best solution to this issue.

There is an issue with providing these support services to people with mental health issues or suicidal tendencies. That is something we probably need to have a debate in this House about. There are a lot of primary care centres and family resource centres around the country. All of these are supported by the State and yet we are relying on a private charity like Pieta House to take up the mantle with regard to suicide awareness. It is a very well-supported charity. I commend all of the organisers all over the country who have put in weeks of preparation for this weekend. It is a very worthy cause. About €36 million has been raised for Pieta House through Darkness Into Light walks since its inception in 2009 so it is a significant amount of money. The question I would like to ask is whether we are doing enough as a State, which is why I would like to have that conversation.

Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
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Many times in this House, I mentioned the concerning situation where when people battling addiction, homelessness, trauma and long-term exclusion try to access the healthcare system, it can feel miles away, appointments get missed and fear and shame get in the way. I noticed at the Lighthouse that is often the case with many of our guests each evening. Today in Greystones, we have a mobile health clinic run by Safetynet Primary Care. I have spoken about Safetynet Primary Care before. Today, it is at one of our centres in Greystones. It is a simple idea but I often think it is the simple ideas that actually save lives. Instead of expecting vulnerable people to navigate the complicated health system, Safetynet is now bringing healthcare directly to the individual. Free screening and quiet conversations with no judgment or bureaucracy are provided, which makes it so simple.

If we look at the statistics, we can see that more than ten homeless people in Ireland die every month. Most of those fatalities are not overdoses, which is the interesting statistic. Most of them are due to untreated illnesses like liver disease, cardiovascular disease, respiratory infections, etc., that could have been prevented if these people were reached early enough. For over 20 years, Tiglin has tried to see what happens when people are given a second chance at housing, recovery, rehabilitation and employment. We are now trying to see what would happen if healthcare were packaged differently by partnering with Safetynet Primary Care. I think we could make a difference in so many lives.

What Safetynet and Tiglin are doing today in Greystones is all about humanity. A nurse in a van in Greystones will do more for public health than many expensive reports still sitting on shelves. I commend Safetynet Primary Care.I commend Mr. Phil Thompson, our CEO at Tiglin. I hope that the Minister takes the likes of this role regarding primary care reaching the most vulnerable into account as the new national drug strategy is being finalised. If we are going to take a health-led approach to addiction and homelessness, we need to properly fund it.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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Hear, hear.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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Tuesday, 5 May, was World Asthma Day. The Asthma Society of Ireland has been running a campaign about introducing marked inhalers for two-year-olds to 17-year-olds for free. One in ten children has asthma and lives with it on a daily basis. Our climate is changing and there is more of an increase in people being diagnosed with asthma. I am writing to the Minister for Health to ask her to consider this proposal on behalf of the Asthma Society, but I ask for the support of the Acting Leader as well in bringing to the attention of the Minister's office that it is something that should be looked at. Many children have asthma and this inhaler would certainly help to improve their quality of life.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I know that we will have a debate today on Europe Day, which is very welcome. Europe got a great boost over the last 18 months with the Moldovan election and the latest Hungarian election. It gave a great spring in the step to the European project. I encourage Members to go down to the coffee dock after the Order of Business because the Oireachtas work learning, OWL, programme has put together a very good European Day with a competition and so on. It would be nice if it was supported because they put a huge amount of work into it.

I request a debate here on a national strategy for low vision and low hearing. These are two critical senses. While a lot of lip service is delivered on the importance of these senses and of regular hearing and sight checks to eliminate preventable hearing loss and sight loss, we have not adopted a national strategy on either. These two strategies are critical because we are talking about hundreds of thousands of people who are affected with hearing loss and sight loss. While good work is being done in the HSE in both disciplines, there is no formalised adopted national strategy with targets and review mechanisms built in. We have seen how successful national strategies have been, particularly in the area of cancer and elsewhere. We critically need them in these two areas. Four out of five people who lose their sight in this country do so unnecessarily because they do not get the interventions at a critical time, including proper eye tests at critical junctures in their lives, and when they go to address the issue, it is too late or the deterioration has already started. The same applies with hearing loss. The Acting Leader might, at her convenience, request those two issues to be dealt with as one by the Minister for Health.

Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)
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I want to carry on from something Senator Scahill raised yesterday and highlight how valuable some of these scams are to legitimate global corporations. In leaked internal documents, it is alleged that Meta earned almost $16 billion from scam ads in one single year, nearly 10% of its overall revenue. These scams include fake investment schemes, fake medicine and fraudulent online stores targeting ordinary people. Pensioners and vulnerable users are being tricked into fake investment opportunities by fraudulent advertisements appearing on Facebook and Instagram while the company hosting these ads continues to profit. In one recent case, a woman lost €27,000. For some people, that money is the result of years and years of saving. Once again, it is people who are the most hard-pressed and vulnerable who are most likely to be the victims of these, people who are trying to find a bargain online and end up losing out on hundreds of thousands of euro. Meta is profiting off of people who are being robbed and victimised. I do not believe that it cannot control this. It is disingenuous to act as if Meta is doing everything it can to pull these ads from its platforms. If it is making billions of euro off these scam ads, why would it pull them from its platforms? What is most shocking is that the maximum fine Meta could face under the Digital Services Act is estimated to be around €9 billion. In other words, even the largest possible fine can still be billions less than the revenue generated from scam advertising. If the profits are greater than the penalties, where is the incentive for Meta to act?

Before I finish, I congratulate the Junk Kouture 2026 winners from Bailieborough Community School, the school I went to. I commend their teacher, Ms Mooney, and the students Róisín, Emma and Eve on their stunning creation "Tír Gan Teanga, Tír Gan Anam", which earned them a place in the world finals. Congratulations to them.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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I wish to support what Senator Murphy had to say about the rights of turf-cutting families and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. It is a topic I will return to myself but I will say that wherever there is any ambiguity in the law, there is a time-honoured principle that it has to be resolved in favour of the person who would be affected by it. I was at a very interesting conference yesterday on the subject of the role of the EU and its member states in supporting global accountability mechanisms, including universal jurisdiction, international courts and special tribunals. I will return to that later because we dealt with the very troubling phenomenon of judges of the International Criminal Court being sanctioned by the US Administration. However, one of the guides to interpretation of that EU conference said, "Please also note that the meeting will be held in full linguistic regime, with the exception of Gaelic." Now, it was obviously referring to Gaeilge. It is a fact that Ireland has not filled its quota of places at EU level for translators and interpreters. It is also a fact that, currently, the European Parliament's interpretation service is not providing for the right of Members of Parliament to exercise their right to speak Irish in committee and delegation meetings under Rule 174 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament. The question has to be asked, because we now have our Presidency coming up, if there are specific measures being put in place to ensure that the European Parliament's interpretation service can provide Irish interpretation during the Council Presidency. We need to know how many Irish language staff interpreters are currently employed by the parliament, how many permanent interpreter positions would be needed to allow members to be able to speak in committees and delegation meetings, and how many extra permanent translator and proofreader positions will be needed in DG TRAD Gaeilge in order to let members exercise their right to read documents in Irish in committee and delegation meetings. The Government should be concerned that we are not filling our quota of posts at EU level because of this derogation. Tá sé fíorthábhachtach go dtapódh an Rialtas an deis anois chun a chinntiú go bhfuil seirbhís aistriúchán ceart acu siúd ar mhaith leo labhairt i nGaeilge agus doiciméid a léamh i nGaeilge nuair atá fostaíocht ar fáil d'Éireannaigh chun obair aistriúchán a dhéanamh in institiúidí na hEorpa. Ba chóir go mbeimis ag baint feidhm as sin ar fad.

Dee Ryan (Fianna Fail)
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Will the Acting Leader please write to the Minister for Health and ask her to come to the Chamber so that we can have a debate on all matters of healthcare? I am particularly interested in receiving an update on the development of the new hospital site at Raheen. It was announced a number of months ago that we had purchased the site but I am eager to know what further progress has been made. As the Acting Leader knows, we have a chronic need for expanded healthcare facilities in Limerick and the wider mid-west, with over 440,000 people relying on just one emergency department, so I would like an update from the Minister on the expansion of that particular site. Will she also update us on whether she has yet decided on a location for option C in the HIQA report, which is for a new model 4 hospital, complete with an accident and emergency department, for the mid-west region?

I would also like to know about dentistry services for the mid-west.There is a chronic shortage of dentists in the mid-west. I have been contacted by parents whose children are leaving sixth class in primary school without ever having been called for a dental appointment. There has been a shocking decline in services. On the basis of recent reports, I understand that the mid-west is once again an outlier and has the lowest level of services in this regard.

I would like the Minister to give us an update on functional neurological disorder, FND. We had very interesting and informative session in the audiovisual room last Thursday with the FND Ireland group, which told us that FND is the second most common reason for someone to present to a neurologist in this country. Yet, there is no clear treatment pathway and only one centre, which was hard fought for. We require centres for FND treatment around the country.

Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fail)
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Many Senators made contributions, and there are a lot of responses. Senator Costello referred to her home area of Bohernabreena in the context of fly-tipping and stronger enforcement. It is about respect and protect but we need CCTV brought in.

The Senator continued with her advocacy in respect of givinostat. It is great that the young man involved is home after his gene therapy treatment, but I hear what the Senator is saying. The commercial office and manufacturer are discussing price at the moment. The Minister for Health is committed to this and is working closely with the Senator on it. The call this morning is that the HSE national assessment team needs to keep the pressure on and get the job done.

The Senator also called for a debate on the cancer strategy. The current strategy is finishing, and she inquired about the planning of the next strategy. She requested that the Minister to come to the House to discuss the matter. This is about major investment in PET scans, MRIs and CT scans. All of us across the House want to know exactly where the strategy is going. I think there would be unanimous support for inviting the Minister for Health to come here for a debate on the framework.

Senator Joe Conway spoke about the book Stolen Focus and how the digital age has captured the minds of many of our young people, in particular those going to school, and had an impact on their attention spans. The Senator referred to Sweden. Representatives from Meta and other digital leaders are before the children's committee this morning. I hope they are being subjected to a great cross-examination in relation to doomscrolling, targeting and algorithms. I have no doubt that our colleagues are putting them under pressure and asking the necessary questions. The Senator asked that the Minister for education come to the House to discuss the strategy for supporting people in education, predominantly teachers, and asked if we have plans to go where Sweden has gone in terms of the removal of a lot of digitalisation. I hope I captured that well for him.

Senator Nelson Murray made a brilliant contribution. What a great way to acknowledge Navan lady Sinéad Burke. My God, did she roll it out the other evening on the red carpet. I have never been as proud to say that I know that lady. When she strutted her stuff in black, it was fantastic. Her business, Tilting the Lens, has been advocating in the fashion world. Gone are the days when dresses had to be designed for women who were size 4. Now, it is all sizes, shapes, lengths and variations. Ms Burke has advocated. Gucci wants her and Giovanni wants her. She is in all the top fashion houses across Europe. I have to applaud her. She is a proud Navan woman and a proud Irish woman, but, most importantly, she is very proud in advocating for people with additional needs. It is about how we can make design, whether it is the built environment or how a person dresses, accessible in order that everybody feels included. I thank the Senator for her positive contribution. We sometimes forget that there are positive people who are making changes, and we have to acknowledge them.

Senator Andrews spoke about the regeneration fund and Oliver Bond flats. I am aware of this matter. I might be a country person, but the regeneration fund is all over social media. The Senator did not just comment on the Oliver Bond complex, he also referred to Pearse House and the former Glass Bottle site. He said that if the Minister cannot meet the residents, he would like him to come here to discuss the inner city, which needs to be the subject of advocacy. His point is well made, particularly as €500 million could be found for the civic buildings but rents are going up. We need to ensure that tenants and people living in the areas in question have their voices heard. I support the Senator in his call for a debate on the matter. Regeneration cannot just be in one area; it has to be in all areas around the country.

Senator Murphy O'Mahony spoke about ticket touting and the ticket sales Act. It is hard to believe in the five years since the latter was introduced, there has never been one fine imposed. There must be some gaps in the legislation. As legislators in the Upper House, it is incumbent on us to take that on board and to have a debate on the matter in order to see why fines have not been imposed. We know people are being gouged all the time. It happens, and we need to address that. There is work we could do, with the support of the Minister, to tighten up the legislation. Whatever we need to do to support the Minister, we should do.

Senator Murphy, who is from my area of east Galway, raised the issue of turf cutting. He is supported by Senator Mullen and me in that regard. Senator Mullen referred to the law and how the matter should be addressed. The NPWS had 15 years to find these people a site. Ultimately, one has not been found for them. The payment of compensation has stopped. The sheds are bare and the people of Ardgraigue, Barroughter and Cloonmoylan are wondering what they will do. They have been left in an ambiguous position. There should never be ambiguity when the law is in place. If the NPWS has failed to find an alternative site and if the people involved are not going to be given one, they are left with no option. They cannot be cold for the winter. People have to look after themselves. There is an energy crisis. I do not support breaking any laws, but the NPWS needs to many of the people involved, as do Senators Murphy and Mullen. They are not going to be cold. If the Minister has to come before the House to discuss the matter, then that is what needs to happen.

Senator Craughwell wants the Minister for Defence to come to the House. To be fair, the Senator is a constant advocate when it comes to security and defence. He wants to discuss the national security strategy. He is right that it is not just cyberattacks; it is also about water, electricity and gas and critical infrastructure. In light of the current geopolitical climate, we need to ensure that we are protected. I support the Senator. If it is okay, we will write to the Minister about the matter.

Senator Lynch referred to CPOs and greenways. There was a great delegation here yesterday from areas throughout the country that included members of the IFA and the National Greenway Action Association, which was only formed about a year ago. The hill farmers were also there. We had great success with the Waterford and Mayo greenways. However, when it has gone from €20 million to €70 million and when, for farmers, it is nearly a case of brother against brother in terms of discontent - we have it in east Galway - we should not force matters. A greenway should be the subject of permissive access. That is how it was initially introduced in conjunction with the IFA. Nothing should be railroaded through, and greenways should not disrupt productive farmland. There is enough land to find a compromise. At the same time, I would not be in support of the use of CPOs. We need to have a debate on the matter. Different local authorities have different views as to how greenways should be delivered. There is no standard across the country or understanding of how to work within communities. Like Senator Lynch, I think greenways are great, but not at the cost of putting businesses at risk. They are great economic drivers for the communities. We really need them locally in order to facilitate kids cycling, active travel and all of that, but this can only be done if we all work together. I agree with the Senator about having a debate on the matter.

I have agreed to every debate requested so far.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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The Acting Leader is doing great.

Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fail)
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I am doing okay.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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We support her.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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Does she do funding as well?

Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fail)
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No, I do not do the funding side of it. I would say this will be the last day Senator O'Loughlin will allow me in her chair.

On Darkness Into Light, I wish all the volunteers across the country the very best. A lot of preparation goes into working with Pieta House but it is the volunteers on the ground who make it happen. They do it on the basis there is a recognition and awareness locally. Maybe it is the one morning where barriers are broken down and that conversation can happen on that walk. However, it is about what happens for the other 364 days of the year. It is great to fundraise on a day but we need to know people are supported, that there is access to services and that there is awareness. As Senator Scahill said, the debate is whether the State is doing enough. If the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, were to come here she would tell him exactly how the Government is doing it, but the Senator is looking at a granular level right across that when people want access and intermediary services, we need to know it is there. It is phenomenal work that €36 million has been raised since 2009. Now that the Minister of State has got the Mental Health Bill through she will be delighted to come in to discuss the matter.

Senator McCarthy discussed addiction and the other way of delivering services. He mentioned Safetynet Primary Care. That should be happening in all our larger cities and towns around the country. We should bring the services to people. It works really well. To be quite honest, if people are not dying of homelessness but due to other conditions there is a responsibility to have that intervention. It is important and there is a really good model there. I have no doubt the Minister for Health will address alternative models of delivery of care when she is here.

Senator Byrne mentioned it was World Asthma Day on 5 May and said inhalers for two- to 15-year-olds should be free. I agree with her. I thought they were. It is a great suggestion. There is a change in the climate. Members can hear I am sniffling. The sinuses are up as the pollen is up. What must it be like for a child going to school where there are probably fun days and everything else on? This goes back to awareness again. It is about awareness of asthma and that children have access to the services. The Senator asked for a letter to go from the House to the Minister. We should issue that letter with our unanimous support.

Senator Martin Conway advocated for us all to go to the coffee dock - whenever I stop talking - to support the OWL programme participants who are down there. I saw great cupcakes made and everything else. The OWL programme here in Leinster House is a phenomenal offering.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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It is a great project.

Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fail)
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The work that goes into the delivery of the programme is also phenomenal and going there is a good way to show our courtesy to all the people who participate in it. Senator Conway also looked for a debate on low vision and low hearing. I think the Minister would welcome that opportunity because she is doing work with Chime already on the strategy on hearing. I would say she is doing work on vision as well. It would be a great opportunity. She is doing consultation at the moment so it would be great for us to hear where the strategy is going in relation to low vision and low hearing.

Senator Sarah O'Reilly brought up the scam ads and referenced Senator Scahill who raised it yesterday on the Order of Business. I hear her point about the fines sometimes not matching what is being taken away. I hope the Senator has gone down to the committee to ask some of those questions of Meta directly. I acknowledge the success of the Junk Kouture children from Bailieborough who had great success and are going to the world finals of the competition. The best of luck to them in that.

When Senator Mullen was out of the room, I referenced his support for the three bogs in east Galway, along with Senator P. J. Murphy. I also hear very clearly what he is saying about wanting a clear breakdown of how many vacant posts there are, what we are doing on recruitment, whether the Government is aware of it, how we are addressing it and whether we are ready for the EU Presidency so our first official language is covered comprehensively during the length of that, as well at all occasions taking place across the EU. We are very proud of our language but we need to ensure the posts are filled and see what we are doing to achieve that. I think the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, might be here later today and he supports this, but we need to know what we are doing comprehensively on this.

Senator Dee Ryan raised everything to do with health and the mid-west. Senator Conway is nodding in support of her on that. She raised the 44-acre Raheen site and where we are with that. There are 440,000 people in the mid-west and we need to know what options are being picked. Are we looking at option C? Is it a new model 4 with an accident and emergency department? Senator Ryan also talked about dentistry services and children exiting sixth class and going into first year having missed a critical intervention. That leads on to orthodontics and everything else. The Senator's point is very well made in inviting the Minister for Health here to discuss these services. If the Minister were to come in, we would all be looking for all our REOs in relation to capital projects, how they are progressing and whether they are moving at pace for delivery. The final piece the Senator raised was on FND. I did not realise its sufferers had the second-highest number of neurology referrals. There is a question about how they fit within the strategy for community neurorehabilitation and whether there is the right and proper allocation of posts, as well as ring fencing within the community neurorehabilitation strategy.

There is a lot of work there for the Minister for Health and the Minister for Transport. I have no doubt it is all noted. I am sorry if I went on for a long time but it is important to respond to everybody.