Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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The Order of Business is No. a1, report of the Committee of Selection, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business without debate; No. 1, motion regarding the proposed approval by Seanad Éireann of the EirGrid Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Act 2022 (Section 10) Order 2026, to be taken on the conclusion of item a1, without debate; No. 2, Development (Strategic Gas Reserve) Bill 2026 – Second Stage, to be taken at 2.45 p.m. and to conclude at 4 p.m. with the time allocated to opening remarks by the Minister not to exceed eight minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes, all other Senators not to exceed four minutes, time can be shared and the Minister to be given no less than five minutes to reply to the debate; No. 3, Finance Bill 2026 – Committee and Remaining Stages, to be taken at 4 p.m. and the proceedings thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 5.30 p.m. by putting one question from the Chair which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Government; No. 4 Criminal Justice (International Cooperation on Electronic Evidence and Other Matters) Bill 2026 – Committee and Remaining Stages, to be taken at 5.30 p.m. or on conclusion of No. 3, whichever is the later, and the proceedings thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 7.15 p.m. by putting one question from the Chair which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Government; and No. 5., Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 – Committee and Remaining Stages, to be taken at 6.30 p.m. or on conclusion of No. 4, whichever is the later.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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First I want to speak about an event that happened last week on the other side of the Atlantic in a town called Freehold in New Jersey. Freehold, of course, is the home town of Bruce Springsteen. I am sure many Senators will remember me recalling here how Bruce Springsteen's great-great grandmother on his father's side, Ann Garrity, came from my home town of Rathangan in County Kildare and travelled to America in 1852. When she went, she brought a seedling of a copper beech with her which was planted and became a tree that is synonymous with Bruce Springsteen's music. Sadly that tree was cut down a number of years ago but last year a delegation from Freehold, including the mayor, Kevin Kane, and including Bruce's first cousin, Kevin, came to Rathangan and they planted a copper beech.Last week, a delegation headed by the deputy mayor for the Kildare-Newbridge area, Councillor Brian O'Loughlin, went over and planted another copper beach tree in the same spot as the original tree. The event was fabulous and I look forward to hearing all about it. As part of what the community of Rathangan is doing will be the hosting of Féile Springsteen on 22 August, which will have a Springsteen tribute band called The Human Touch as well as a lot of other activities. Obviously, we hope to get the main man one of these years, which I have no doubt we will. The féile will be fantastic and well done to everyone involved.

Leader, I want to mention another issue. All of us will have been shocked to read a harrowing article this weekend on what clinicians at Temple Street have described as an epidemic. Professor Darach Crimmins, consultant neurosurgeon at Temple Street, said that e-scooters were now "the single biggest cause" of head trauma in children. In the last fortnight, six children have been admitted with traumatic brain injuries from e-scooters and four children remain on life support. That is shocking. This morning, I listened to Fr. Tom Little from Carlow who talked about officiating at a funeral of a 17-year-old in Carlow who died in an accident on an e-scooter.

There is no doubt about this. We have a law in place but we must support the Garda in enforcing this law. Garda representative bodies have called for greater enforcement powers and additional resources. We need a debate on this.

The last matter I want to mention is that of food waste. We are only at the halfway point of the year but the figures are already alarming. The anti-food waste platform Too Good To Go has revealed that Irish households have already wasted more than €645 million worth of food since January, with Kildare accounting for €28 million of that bill. Nationally, €3 million worth of food is wasted every single day and one third of all food we buy ends up in the bin. When we consider that food waste accounts for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it is not just a household issue. It is an environmental crisis. We have to ask everybody to think about what they buy, particularly in this warm weather. We also need to have a debate in this House on what practical steps we can take both collectively and individually to turn the tide.

Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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I want to talk about Uisce Éíreann on behalf of Councillor Michael Boyle in south-west Donegal and of myself. This is an issue for the people of Clogher, Leghawny, Copany, Laghey and the surrounding areas and townlands. I have raised this issue in the House before but nothing has changed. A public meeting was held a few weeks ago and the hall was full. The problem is that the reservoir was built in 1970 to serve around 80 houses, but now it supplies hundreds of houses and is not fit for purpose. A new reservoir, pump station and pipeline need to be installed. Residents have endless trouble the whole year round with low water pressure and burst pipes and often go days without water. A new reservoir must be built as a matter of urgency and a whole new infrastructure and pipeline must be put in place. Residents have called for this for years. I recall that this was an issue when my father was a member on the council. Our pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

I would like to thank the staff of Uisce Éireann on the ground who have put in a tremendous effort trying to keep water flowing. Anybody can ring them and they do their best to help.

The householders are frustrated by the lack of action. They are angry, and have a right to be angry, as this has been an issue for so long. The area is not serviced at all. The water supply is ad hoc, as one day householders can have water but not the next day.

While I am on my feet, I want to talk about the Teelin area towards Sliabh Liag, which is a beautiful part of Donegal. The pipeline there is ancient. We have nothing only bursts. In fairness, I credit the Uisce Éireann team for keeping it going.

Over the weekend, my phone never stopped ringing with calls from people from the Burnfoot area. They had no water for three or four days. We were first told that it was due to a burst pipe. Next, it was a problem with a pump. What is going on? The Government needs to prioritise and put pressure on Uisce Éireann to look after Donegal.Every day, the phone is ringing and there are problems with Irish Water. Will the Leader feed it up the line that Donegal needs to be prioritised?

Tom Clonan (Independent)
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I want to raise the case of Ruby Daly, a six-year-old girl in Galway who is non-verbal and in a wheelchair. In this fine weather we are all enjoying and that we hope to enjoy for the next couple of weeks, we would all like to go down to the water's edge. Being able to go to the beach or the seafront is something everyone in Ireland takes for granted. If you are a wheelchair user, however, that is not possible. I am told that Galway County Council bought €9,000 worth of beach mats in 2021 that are lying in storage and not in use. I also understand it purchased a number of Mobi-mats at a cost of €2,000 each that have not been deployed. As a result, people like Ruby cannot get down to the beach like everyone else. I would just ask that the correct action be taken. Perhaps our colleagues who are based in the relevant areas might apply the proper pressure just to vindicate the right of little boys and girls who happen to be wheelchair users to go down to the sea.

I want to raise an issue of grave and compelling concern. On 28 November 2010, a day that will go down in infamy, the troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund arrived in Dublin and travelled to the Merrion Hotel, which is just across the road. Ireland yielded it fiscal sovereignty to its European partners for a period of three years. This was a disgraceful episode in Irish history when we handed over our fiscal and budgetary autonomy to European partners. Today, we have handed over our defence and security sovereignty to a troika of the Royal Air Force, the French navy and the Portuguese military, but at least the arrival of the troika in 2010 was announced. Its arrival was initially denied by the Government of the day, but eventually we were told. The Irish public is completely in the dark about the role of this troika of military actors, all of which are NATO members, that are operating off our coast, in our airspace and, perhaps, even on the roof of this very building. It was confirmed to us by the Cypriots at the defence and national security committee when they told of how, during their Presidency, when their country was were attacked by missiles and drones in March, they were not consulted nor were they informed about the retaliatory action that was taken by the Hellenic Air Force in the form of air strikes with the British and French in their jurisdiction. We need to know what the rules of engagement of these NATO countries in our sovereign airspace and maritime domain are and whether they have permission to open fire or intercept while we have civil aircraft in our skies and people on our streets. We need to have an urgent debate or statements on this matter in order that we might find out what is happening.

Conor Murphy (Sinn Fein)
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I would like to speak about a Bill that is due to be debated in the Dáil later. The Bill in question relates to preparations for reunification and follows on from a report of the Good Friday Agreement committee in October 2024, less than two years ago, in which all parties agreed that the Government should take the necessary steps to begin the preparatory work that would obviously be required before a referendum is held. It is in all of our interests to make sure that the process towards reunification is democratic, stable and smooth, with the maximum amount of information for those who will be voting. The Bill also follows on from motions which were debated in this Chamber and the Dáil and which, again, were supported by parties supported.

The practical next step is the legislation to which I refer, which essentially calls for two things. The first is for the Government to prepare a Green Paper on reunification. The process for doing so should take about 18 months. This would allow the Government to put together the resources to do all of the work necessary and set out its ideas about how reunification would happen and how various compelling questions in the debate on this matter, which is already happening all over Ireland, would be answered by the Government. The second thing the Bill would do would be to provide for the Government to establish a citizens assembly that would give the citizens of Ireland, members of the diaspora and, in particular, those in Ireland who are of a Protestant-unionist identity or a British identity the opportunity to engage formally with this process in order to ensure that their voices are heard.In the almost 30 years since the Good Friday Agreement happened, the political landscape changed and changed utterly. We in the North now have a nationalist, republican First Minister in a state where it was determined that that would never happen. In Britain there are pro-independence First Ministers in Scotland and Wales. We have had the Brexit chaos and we are now heading for a seventh Prime Minister in ten years. There really is a desire north of the Border to get ourselves out of this situation to form something which is completely new in a stable situation where we can actually determine our own future and not have it determined as a consequence of other people's interests and actions.

This is really all about preparation, dialogue and engagement. A necessary part of this will also be engagement with the British Government because that dialogue needs to begin now. The still unfolding chaos from Brexit in Britain could lead to even more erratic governments in the future, so that engagement needs to happen now. We have engaged with all parties across the Oireachtas in the last number of weeks. We have had some very positive feedback from people. Obviously, all of the parties represented here subscribe to the idea of Irish unity. We might have different views on how that might come about or decided; that is a matter for Committee Stage of this Bill. I have been very heartened by the fact that there is a very strong desire to see this necessary work begin in the here and now. I sincerely hope that that is reflected in the approach to the debate tonight and that we get this legislation through its Second Stage. Let us then go into Committee and determine how we would bring this work forward.

Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)
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I wish to raise a number of issues, the first being that of 28-year-old Kilkenny native Emily Felix, who was diagnosed with Friedreich's ataxia at the age of 12. The National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics has determined that Skyclarys, a drug which could be life-changing for her and the other 200 sufferers of this disease, not be recommended for consideration for reimbursement by the HSE. Again, I ask for reconsideration on that and I call on the Minister to make a statement on it because of the extremely debilitating nature of the condition that Emily and the other 200 sufferers in Ireland have.

I think we have heard some rock and roll reference here and I will mention "Montage of Heck", a documentary and compilation album of Nirvana's. We have a bit of a montage of heck in terms of Government policy. The rural housing policy was launched last week. We have had the closure of the public consultation on the nature restoration plan. Lo and behold, the long-awaited phase 2 of the land-use review was published two days after both of those policies. This document has huge implications for land use in Ireland. It was launched very quietly and published on the Department's website.

There is no time now because it is at the end of the Dáil and Seanad term. I call on the Minister for agriculture, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the Minister for the environment or whoever is responsible for this document to be present with us here for a debate on this document in the autumn schedule. It is critical because we are launching policy documents left, right and centre all of which are contingent on this. They have been sitting on the Minister's desk for well over a year and now with two weeks to go before the end of the Dáil and Seanad schedule, this document has been launched.

Uisce Éireann has been mentioned. Yesterday, An Coimisiún Pleanála put back by one year to 2 July 2027 a determination on the Shannon pipeline project. Dublin's water is on a knife edge, particularly at this time of year. A potentially hugely wasteful project that will put the children's hospital in the shade in terms of its cost will now overrun further because of the delays in deliberation. The head of the infrastructure task force has blamed the Green Party for the slow pace of infrastructure delivery and yet Jack Chambers is holding back on giving An Coimisiún Pleanála the resources it needs to make decisions in a timely manner. I again call for a discussion on that. This specific project is in the planning process, which is fair enough. Separately, the Minister needs to come in here and talk about the real holdups and the real reasons behind infrastructure delays, owing to An Coimisiún Pleanála, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and other resources required to get the State to build the infrastructure needed.

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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I note the sale of electric vehicles continues to grow. I looked at the figures for last year and some 23,601 electric vehicles were registered. That is approximately 18% of total registrations. This year, to date, that figure is growing. Up to the end of June, 20,164 electric vehicles had been registered. In my own neck of the woods of Cavan-Monaghan, up to the end of May there were 155 in Cavan and 99 in Monaghan.

However, the debate and frustration continues to grow in relation to the number of charging stations available to road users who have electric vehicles. I was contacted recently by a number of constituents regarding the charging of the vehicle itself. The point they were making is that there are up to 25 registered charger companies located throughout the country and the provider available depends on the part of the country you are in. Potentially, a person might need to download 25 different apps in order to be sure to be able to charge one's vehicle when required.

I have come across a few people who have experienced issues in this regard. One gentleman had his phone stolen. He was totally marooned because he had a long journey to get home but had no way of charging his vehicle as he was not able to download the app. Another person had an issue when their phone was broken. Another person had an issue because the mobile phone coverage at the station was very poor or non-existent and, therefore, they could not access the charger. It begs the question as to why we do not have a simple card facility whereby a person could scan their bank card to issue payment to whichever provider is there. That would let them get on with their journey and take away the stress of having to download an app or whatever.

I would, at the Leader's convenience, welcome a debate with the Minister on the infrastructure and making that infrastructure more user-friendly for everybody that wants to use it.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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Much has been said about the swimming coach, George Gibney, in the past 24 hours. It would not be appropriate for me to go into too much comment. Suffice to say, and to share with the House, that I went to school in Newpark, where George Gibney operated from. It is hard to believe that I am here today 50 years on, having shared my time in that school with boys and girls who were the subject of many of the allegations against George Gibney.

There are many questions to be asked about Gibney and how he stayed outside this State and evaded justice for so long, and how it took so long for any bilateral negotiations or agreements in relation to his extradition from the US. I have discussed this privately with many senior people in various Governments as long as I have been in politics, and that is many a year.

What I can say today, however, is that swimming coach George Gibney will be sentenced in the Criminal Courts of Justice on 29 July 2026. I want to, first, acknowledge the very significant and brave people who went forward - it is never an easy thing to do - both privately and publicly, and gave agency and strength to make the events of yesterday eventually happen. It was a very emotional day for all involved.

I want to say "Thank you" to a few people before I conclude. There will be another opportunity at a more appropriate place and time for me to give voice to some of these issues. I want to single out the remarkable Justine McCarthy of The Irish Times. Many Senators may have read her book, Deep Deception. If they have not, I suggest they do so. The relentless investigation that Ms McCarthy conducted in her book to bring George Gibney, Derry O'Rourke, Ger Doyle and other abusers to justice played a very significant part in many coming forward to speak. To Justine McCarthy, we are truly indebted.

I thank Gary O'Toole, a friend of mine, a doctor and a very successful person, who was also involved in swimming and subject to involvement on the periphery of many of these issues.I will finish in two seconds but I want to thank him for giving courage, voice, strength and support to so many people in their journeys. I thank Johnny Watterson of The Irish Times, whom many will know. He has been a constant champion for years, even when that was not easy. I thank him for his involvement in these issues. I also thank the production company, Second Captains, which produced a ten-part podcast in conjunction with the BBC titled "Where is George Gibney?" We know where he is now but it has taken many years for him to get there. These individuals and organisations, including RTÉ, which I do not want to forget because it did remarkable work over all of those years, acted as a catalyst for people to come forward, share their stories and assist in bringing George Gibney to justice. I will conclude but, as I said before, there are many outstanding questions. There are many more issues to come to light. Much of that will now happen because of the justice process but we must allow that process to go forward.

Everyone here in our Parliament brings their unique life experiences to their work. That is what motivates us. That is what politicises us. I will finish on this. Before I journeyed in here this morning, I went to that very school. Little did I think going from that gate to my own home and back again that I would travel from that gate this morning to here, 50 years on, and tell the story. I am glad I have been able to do so. I am glad to have had this opportunity to be an advocate, as I have been every day I have been here, because a key function of ours is to be advocates, voices, encouragers and supporters for people who wish to tell their stories and share their journeys.

Joanne Collins (Sinn Fein)
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I know we only have another week before recess. I ask that, when we come back in the autumn, we add to the agenda something about Garda numbers, particularly in rural areas. I refer especially to roads policing and community gardaí. Last Thursday, I received a phone call from a constituent in County Limerick who had been in a car accident. She was okay. There was not a huge amount of damage done. Like myself, she had always been told to stay at the scene of the accident and not to leave. When she rang An Garda Síochána, she was told it would be four or five hours before somebody could come out to her. The person on the phone recommended that she leave the scene and present at her nearest Garda station, which was the station in Newcastle West. When she arrived at the Garda station, she was told that she was the third person that day to have been told to leave the scene of an accident and report it to the Garda station. I imagine there could be implications as regards liability when gardaí do not come out to see the scene and give their own report. You are relying on somebody who goes in to say that the other person was responsible for the accident and on their account of what happened. There are going to be some issues down the line when these people are trying to get money back to repair their cars.

It comes down to Garda numbers. We have an amazing Garda station being built in Newcastle West at the moment,but local people tell me that they fear that there will not actually be any gardaí in it. They wonder whether it will just be a building or whether services will be provided in it. It cements these fears when people are told to leave the scene of an accident and present at a Garda station because there are not enough gardaí to get out on the roads to attend the scene. We can be thankful it was not a serious accident but I can only imagine what she would have done if the car was not driveable. Would she have had to sit there for five hours? I would like a debate in the House on Garda numbers.

In my last second, I will ask another question. I know extra Garda resources are needed for the EU Presidency. Are Garda resources being taken from rural Ireland for these meetings? I would like to be sure rural Ireland is not being given a lower priority when it comes to Garda numbers.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before I call Senator Tully, I welcome her intern for the week and thank her for being here.

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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Lucy is on work experience.

I wish to raise the issue of cuts to allowances for Reserve Defence Force members. Cuts were introduced in 2011 as part of austerity measures after the economic crash. The public sector was badly hit by quite severe cuts at the time.The Reserve Defence Force allowance was cut by 25% and it was taxed for the first time after that as well. This was severely felt by the members of the Reserve Defence Force. Many of the cuts implemented at that time have been reversed but the cut to the Reserve Defence Force allowance has not been and it should be. It has also impacted on those who have retired since then because military pensions and retirement gratuities are calculated directly as a percentage of a member's final salary and pensionable allowances at the date of retirement. The 5% FEMPI cuts to allowances permanently suppressed the retirement baseline for anyone who left the service during the austerity era. I ask that the Minister for Defence addresses this issue without delay.

Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
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I want to raise a report released by Barnardos in the last week of June, which found that one in five families are cutting back on food because they simply cannot afford it. This means 20% of our population. Parents are skipping meals so their children can eat. Others are reducing portion sizes or going without essentials just to get through the week. I find this really worrying. As the Leader knows, for 20 years I have been working with families across Ireland through Tiglin and I have seen what poverty is like. It is often invisible; it is the mother who says she has eaten but perhaps has not so her kids can eat.

Recently I was on "The Late Debate" on RTÉ and a woman, whose name is Lucia, texted in. She said she was at home and had turned off all the lights and the heating when the kids had gone to bed. She said was listening to the radio because it is the only comfort she has. With the permission of the researcher, I asked whether I could ring her on the way home and they allowed me to do so. It was a fascinating story about how she is trying to make ends meet. People like Lucia lie awake wondering how they are going to get to the next pay day. We often sit in this House discussing GDP, budget surpluses and economic growth, and these are really important, but think about the Lucia standing at the supermarket checkout and putting food back on the shelf because she has run out of money.

The Barnardos report tells us there is a huge concern. Children do not choose the circumstances they are born into but they are experiencing food poverty. I know good initiatives are in place but clearly for too many families it is not enough. I ask the Government to have a debate on food poverty and on the rising cost of living and see whether anything can be done to support families who are doing everything right but are still getting left behind. I have said before that the measure of a compassionate society is how we treat those people who are not doing so well and who cannot afford to put food on the table. Surely in 2026 we can do better than this.

Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)
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Pico Lopes returned with his wife Leah and baby Diego yesterday and it is amazing story. It is a fantastic uplifting story. I know the Leader loves his football. Pico is a real advert for Irish football and League of Ireland football. He has spent all of his career in the League of Ireland, playing with a couple of different clubs, including Shamrock Rovers for the past nine or ten years and achieving great success I am glad to say. It highlights that we need to invest in the League of Ireland, which has massive potential. When we see what Pico has done, there are so many players like him, who just need to be given the chance and invested in, and they will deliver for Irish football and League of Ireland football.

We need more investment in facilities and academies. I know the Government has made an investment but I strongly believe it is not enough. It is a long way off enough. I believe €3.5 million has been allocated to the academy structures but compare this to the greyhound industry, which gets €19 million every year and it has a shocking dog welfare record. It is absolutely shocking and there is no transparency or accountability. League of Ireland football needs to be backed. We need to invest in players like Pico, we need to ensure the resources and facilities are there and we need to back Irish men's and women's football and back ourselves. The goodwill is there and Pico has shown that it can be done.If the belief and investment are there, we need to just get on and do it and back Irish football.

Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)
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I want to raise the issue of the deposit return scheme. Anyone who uses the scheme knows the reality of what is involved. When you go to a machine, it can be out of order, it can be full or it can reject perfectly good cans, particularly miniature cans, including Coca-Cola cans, for some reason. This is inconvenient, frustrating and an unnecessary torture. It must be remembered that this is not a tax that can be used for disability services or schools. It is money collected by a private company, which means there are CEO salaries, CFO salaries and secretaries' salaries and budgets for advertising and marketing and everything that goes with that. If you do not get your deposit back, the private company keeps your money. Essentially, this is a tax. In total, unredeemed deposits last year amounted to €66 million.

There has been a flurry of articles in the past few weeks praising the scheme. Tucked away in a few of those articles was information on a proposal which suggests that the deposit fee should be increased. I can see that the way is slowly being paved for people to pay even more just to buy a can of something. Is there such a lack of innovation in this country that the answer to everything seems to be to hike up prices for consumers? The Irish Waste Management Association, IWMA, has made it clear that bottles placed in household bins are recycled to the same standard as those returned through the scheme. If recycling is already effected through our household bins, then let us stop pretending that increasing charges is the only way forward.

The problem is not with the bottles or cans. The problem is that across the country most of our public bins are just for general waste. Unlike many European cities, we simply do not have the proper recycling infrastructure in place. Who does this scheme benefit? When I heard David McCullough interviewing Ciaran Foley, the CEO of the company involved, I just kept wondering why he did not ask what his salary is. Mr. Foley was asked about everything, with the exception of details of what salary he is on. This information is still not publicly available. As far as I can see, the only winners here are Re-turn and its successful money-making business, which operates under the pretence of concern for the environment and recycling targets.

Our recycling targets for single-use containers at the time of the scheme's conception were pretty similar to what our recycling achievements are now. The real environmental impact comes from reducing the number of single-use drinks containers in the use. The scheme does not do that. If we were concerned and serious about the environment, we would target manufacturers instead of consumers. It is consumers who are always the ones to lose out.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I remind Senators that when they are making comments in relation to entities or people, they must be mindful of balancing the common good and the public interest with the rights of those entities or people their good name and reputation.

Laura Harmon (Labour)
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In relation to the site of the Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork, this week is critical because we will be hearing the decision in terms of planning for the building of 140 apartments there. I want to call out the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, in relation to this issue. The site is located is his constituency. Just last year, on 29 June 2025, he spoke at the commemorative event held there. The Taoiseach has spoken out of both sides of his mouth in respect of this issue. He has been weak on it. He needs to stand by the survivors. He stated that there was "unfinished work here" in respect of this site and that he "will work with Cork City Council". He said that there was significant work to be done for this specific site because the land not being in State possession is an issue and that he will work with all, including the council, to see what can be done to deal with this.

I do not know what the Taoiseach has done in relation to the site. On Leaders’ Questions last week, he threw the city council under the bus. He said he believed that the site should have been compulsorily purchased by the council years ago. Again, we await the decision that is due to be made this week. Regardless of what that decision is, however, the State needs to step up to the mark here. Surveys were done at the site which did not involve the use of all the modern technology that is available. There are families and survivors who do not know where babies are buried. A total of 923 babies died at the site, and only 64 have been accounted for.Women died on this site. I was there on Friday with the leader of the Labour Party, Deputy Bacik, and Councillors Peter Horgan and Ciara O'Connor. We paid our respects at the folly, which is being used because there is no headstone and no marked graves. This is a huge issue for Ireland. It is a site of conscience, historical importance and education and we need to preserve it. We need to press our Taoiseach to do more on this. It is in his constituency of Cork South-Central and he needs to stop prevaricating on this issue.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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Last Friday morning, I was in Scramoge outside Strokestown at the opening of a new car park at the church. Scramoge Tidy Towns fundraised and applied for the car park and got support from the community support fund of the local Sliabh Bawn wind farm. Quite often, we miss out on those community support funds and the value of them. What the funding was able to deliver in Scramoge is testament to such funds and I acknowledge former councillor Joe Murphy and all this team there.

After that, I went up to Arigna for the homecoming for Fergal Guihen. He was the "Rossie to Aussie" who cycled 30,000 km last year to raise money for Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation and North West STOP, a suicide awareness organisation. He raised €210,000 for those charities. He cycled across 28 different countries on three different continents. The background to the homecoming was the Arigna Community Park, which was opened last year. I remember it being waste ground and it was good to see all the young kids out there using the space. Funding for that facility was provided by the former Minister, Heather Humphreys, as was funding for many amenities around the country. I want to double down on what all of these community groups are saying about how it is not capital that is the problem, but operating costs. These groups need money to provide insurance and lighting. I would like to have the Minister for rural and community development in the House in the near future to have a discussion and see how he foresees these community groups being supported with their running costs.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I call the Leader to respond to the Order of Business.

Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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I thank all of the Senators for their contributions. Senator O'Loughlin spoke about Freehold, New Jersey, which is the hometown of Bruce Springsteen and its connection to the constituency she lives in. A delegation visited there last week and there is a festival happening, which is very good for the area.

She also spoke about Temple Street and the article written last week stating that e-scooters were the greatest cause of life-threatening injuries to children. Legislation has been put in place but if gardaí need more enforcement powers, then that is very important. That there are six people in ICU, with four of them on life support machines, and all of them young children is just not acceptable. Any parent would have a fear of a child being on an e-scooter because of what could happen. We will try to have a debate after the summer on that.

Senator Boyle spoke about Irish Water and the work that Councillor Michael Boyle was doing in the area. It is incredibly frustrating. Uisce Éireann has got a significant amount of funding. That has been increased over the last number of months to increase the speed of project delivery. There has always been a communication issue. We had Uisce Éireann in the building only a week or two ago to talk about things that needed to be done. Donegal obviously needs to be prioritised for investment, but it is no good when the Senator cannot tell the community when something will be done and what the timeline is for when they will see improvements. What causes the real frustration and anger the Senator talked about is the lack of knowing, so I accept that we need to do more on that.

Senator Clonan spoke about Ruby Daly. Everyone is looking at the weather and saying it is beautiful and that it is great to be outside, but there are always challenges for people with accessibility and disability issues. As the Senator said, if Galway County Council and Galway City Council have invested in trying to support people so that they are able to spend some time on the beach, it seems strange to me that the councils are not using that equipment.I will follow up with my colleagues from that constituency, particularly the Minister for education, Deputy Naughton, to see what the situation is because access to a beach should not be denied to anyone in this country. We only get a couple of days a year to enjoy it and, certainly, everyone should be able to enjoy it and do so safely.

In relation to the defence troika, as the Senator called them, I understand where he is coming from and, obviously, we will have debates over the next couple of months in this House in relation to defence and possible changes in defence. I do not think there is any European country at the moment that is able to defend itself unilaterally. Every country in the world brings in support. I remember only a couple of months ago, one of the questions in this Chamber, although not by Senator Clonan, was about how we are going to defend ourselves during the EU Presidency because we cannot do it ourselves. That all being said, the Senator has legitimate concerns and legitimate questions that we need to know. I will talk to the Minister for foreign affairs and for Defence and we will see what can be done but, obviously, it is an important time for Ireland during this Presidency and we need to make sure people are safe during that. I will talk to the Minister about it.

Senator Murphy spoke in terms of the reunification Bill. There was a briefing this morning as well. I think most people from all political parties were there. Deputy Currie was there on behalf of Fine Gael. I know there was good engagement on that. There is a Bill before the Dáil tomorrow on it and I suspect there will be a vote on that. We are all coming from the same perspective that we want reunification and we want a pathway. We want all groups and organisations and people from different backgrounds to see a future for them in that reunification. Whether this legislation or having a citizens' assembly is the way to go is a very complex question. Reunification is not asking whether people want reunification or not. Everyone can answer that easily. It is about how we get there and how we support all communities in that reunification. It is quite complex. Citizens’ assemblies have been successful in other parts but this is quite different. I am not sure if that would work but, certainly, there will be a good debate on it.

Senator Noonan spoke about the Ireland land use review. It is important that the Minister for agriculture comes in and has a debate on that in the autumn. As the Senator said, that is a timely time to do it. There are a lot of changes happening. We will have the planning Bill coming through next week, which obviously has an impact on rural Ireland. It is part of the commitment made in the programme for Government that we would change the planning laws. Obviously, not everyone will agree with it but it is important that we bring that forward next week. In terms of the land use review, however, it is important that we have a debate with the Minister. The Senator also spoke in relation to Irish Water. That delay for a year is obviously going to have an impact on Dublin. Dublin is almost at a crisis point and decisions need to be made quite quickly on that. As the Senator knows from when he worked in the Department of housing, if we are investing and trying to build as many houses as we need to build, obviously, we need the infrastructure there. Water is a key part of that.

Senator Gallagher spoke about EV growth. As he knows, I am well aware of that being an EV driver. A huge number have been registered this year and the charging points are in issue. It has been brought up in this Chamber a number of times. We will have a debate on it in autumn. In relation to the number of different companies and the fact that people have to register with those companies, the one they do not have to register with is ESB. People just have to tap and go. They do not have to register to an app or anything like that. It is a very fair request that all systems should be like that where people do not have to register every time depending on what EV charger they are using. They should just be allowed to tap and go. I will ask the Minister for a for a debate on the wider scheme of it.

Senator Boyhan was at the Clonmel Show on Sunday and we were delighted to welcome him to County Tipperary. I hope he had a great time. He obviously got home safe and sound. He spoke about the case of George Gibney, which has been reported on in the media for a long number of years. I am not sure it is appropriate to speak on it yet since sentencing has not happened but as he said himself, it is important to acknowledge people who went above and beyond in terms trying to find the truth and trying to encourage people to speak out because that is a not an easy thing to do. I acknowledge all the work they did.

Senator Collins asked for debate in terms of Garda numbers. Absolutely, I am more than happy to do that. It is important to do, particularly for rural areas like Limerick and Tipperary.Obviously, we have increased Garda numbers almost every year since we reopened Temple Street in 2014. The only year it reduced was during Covid, when it was closed. We are looking to get to over 15,000 gardaí, which is a lot; it would be the highest level ever in the State, but it is not enough and we need to do more. While we are investing in new Garda stations like those in Newcastle West and Clonmel, which is very important, we need to ensure we have enough gardaí on the street to protect people. That is an important debate we can have here. Most gardaí working on the EU Presidency are doing so through overtime. It will be the same when the Ryder Cup comes to the Senator's county next year; it will be overtime. Unless there are emergency situations this will not, for the most part, take away from the day-to-day work gardaí do on the ground, which is important for people in the Senator's community to know.

Senator Tully spoke on the cuts to allowances for the Reserve Defence Force members, which obviously has an impact on them and those who retire. There are going to be public sector negotiations and that could be brought in as part of it for discussion. I suggest the Senator put down a commencement matter with the Minister on that. We have committed to reinstating all those cuts that were made during the crash and that is another that should be done.

Senator McCarthy spoke on the number of people who are cutting back on food because of the cost of living and the challenges at present. The 20% referred to in the Barnardos report is a very high percentage, particularly with the impact that has on children as regards food poverty. This is why the Minister for education started a pilot programme last year that is continuing into this year with the summer food programme for children, and more needs to be done in that case. That is why Government has always said this budget in October is a critically important one for targeting financial support to those who are really suffering and challenged by higher prices, whether that is in energy or food costs.

Senator Andrews always asks me the best questions. Pico Lopes - what a legend. He has been phenomenal. I have been supporting Argentina the whole way through because of Messi, whom I am in awe of, but that night I had to support Lopes. He is an inspiration to people right across the country and shows that if you keep working hard, do the right things and keep being professional, your time will come. He is 34 now but, as his manager said during the week, if he was 20, they would be making €10 million out of him after his performances in the World Cup. However, this goes to Senator Andrews's wider point that Pico is an example of what can be achieved if we invest in football. In fairness to the FAI, it has a long-term eight- or ten-year plan for investment in the League of Ireland, setting up 26 centre of excellence clubs where we can invest. As the Senator knows, we have an issue with Brexit in that young kids cannot go to the UK now until they are 18, so they need top quality coaching right up until then. We, alongside the FAI, need to invest in that. I know it is about reaching out to groups across the world with regard to investing in Irish soccer. However, the Government also needs to play its role. That €3.5 million is the first of hopefully eight investments over the next eight budgets and I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, because of the Senator and I pressuring him as much as we can, will ensure that investment goes into it. No matter what sport it is, investment in sport is always money well spent.

Senator Sarah O'Reilly spoke on the return scheme. One of the biggest problems people find with the scheme is that it does not work sometimes. There are also issues regarding only being able to use the deposit in the shop where you returning the cans or bottles. There are also some antisocial behaviour issues. In Cashel, a bin was damaged significantly because people were trying to get cans and bottles out of it to return. The intention of it is right. It is important that people are recycling, for obvious reasons, and we cannot rely on people just doing it at home, even though the process is the exact same. We need to ensure it is done right and properly. It is there for the very good reason of our environment. In my view, it is certainly not there to line the pockets of CEOs or supplement the wages of people working in that area. In fairness, I do not think that is the intention at all.

Senator Harmon spoke on the Bessborough mother and baby home and the planning application for 140 apartments in the area.I am not sure how to respond to her views on the Taoiseach but obviously all planning decisions are made by the council. Even a Taoiseach or Minister for planning cannot get involved in planning decisions. That being said, he did say it is a matter for the city council. It could have made a CPO on it. It is a very sensitive topic. I do not think it is appropriate for me as I would not have the same information as the Senator or people from that constituency to speak on it but it seems appropriate that the council would have played a more leading role in something that has a long-lasting impact on people in that community.

Senator Scahill spoke in relation to the new church car park built just outside Strokestown - I missed the name of the village.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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Scramoge.

Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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He mentioned a really good point in terms of financial support and the role Tidy Towns played in fundraising but a lot of renewable energy companies invest in local communities where they have wind farms to support them. This is a prime example. More should be highlighted. The companies do it themselves but I am not sure they highlight it enough. I know of a Cork company that has wind farms in Tipperary. It invests in local communities but does not highlight it too much. It is a significant amount of money for the likes of the communities the Senator spoke about. As he requested, we will have a debate on it after the summer. It is important. We set up the Department of rural affairs which has been a real success in terms capital funding. It is all well and good having capital funding but when you cannot maintain it afterwards, that is a real issue. We now need to look at how we can make sure operational costs can be supported whether through the council or the Department. There is no point in putting capital funding into something that will then have to close five or ten years later because operational costs are too high. We will try to have a debate on that when we come back.