Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 24 Apr 2024

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

Senator Lisa Chambers

The ambassador is most welcome to the Chamber. I thank her for being with us and it is lovely to meet her.

The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the Planning and Development (Street Furniture Fees) Regulations 2024, referral to committee, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business without debate; No. 2, Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Bill 2023 [Dáil] - Second Stage, to be taken at 1.15 p.m. and to adjourn at 2.45 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed ten minutes and time can be shared, and the Minister to be given no less than ten minutes to reply to the debate; No. 3, Court Proceedings (Delays) Bill 2023 [Dáil] - Committee and Remaining Stages, to be taken at 3 p.m. and to adjourn at 4.30 p.m., if not previously concluded; and No. 140, motion 2, Private Members' business regarding smartphone and social media use, to be taken at 4.30 p.m., with the time allocated to this debate not to exceed two hours.

An Cathaoirleach

We are also joined by guests of Senator Mary Seery Kearney: Carol and John Walsh, Michael Fitzpatrick and Steve Murray. They are very welcome and I wish them a céad míle fáilte. During the Order of Business we will be joined by the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Mr. Edwin Poots. Anois, an Seanadóir Fiona O'Loughlin.

Senator Fiona O'Loughlin

I extend a welcome to the ambassador and the guests in the Gallery.

I have tried to raise a Commencement matter relating to Garda matters for the second time. I accept that the Cathaoirleach has guidelines that he has to abide by but it is regrettable that we have a situation where we cannot have the Minister for Justice to come to the House to discuss, in any way, policy on policing in this country. The last time that my Commencement matter was not taken I called on the Minister for Justice to come to the House for a debate or even discuss a motion on policing in terms of both the new potential areas that are coming in and, indeed, other matters. There is no doubt that we need our gardaí to keep us safe and secure. We need them patrolling our streets and roads and we have to support them. We live in very challenging times. Every time that a garda starts a day or night shift, he or she does not know what he or she will be faced with or what will come across his or her desk.

County Kildare is completely under-resourced when it comes to gardaí. The county has the lowest number of gardaí per head of population in the country so it is not just that we have low numbers the same as elsewhere. It is an historic situation that needs to be addressed. As gardaí gather in Westport, which is the Leader's home county, I feel they are not getting that support. I also feel that the way the Commissioner handled the infamous bicycle case was wrong. I still believe that the Minister should be in Westport engaging with gardaí.

Sulky racing is an issue that I have raised previously. Unfortunately, it is still taking place. I was horrified to read reports recently of sulky racing taking part on a blueway. Our blueways and greenways are fantastic assets to this country and the countryside. They support tourism and are for use by local people. Sulky racing on them would dissuade people from using them. More rules and regulations should be introduced in the interest of public safety and animal welfare.

Lastly, I wish to raise to the volume of red tape faced by operators in the early childhood care sector. Many of these small operators, which are the backbone of the sector, do their own accounts in the main. However, those who signed up for the core funding model must supply a full chartered set of accounts. That means these providers must spend 80% of their time on administration as opposed to with the children. The Department of children should examine this requirement to see how best it can support providers going forward, particularly small operators.

An Cathaoirleach

To clarify, as the Senator will know, operational matters are not a matter for any Minister. It is a matter for the Garda Commissioner who allocates resources, including Garda personnel. That is the reason the Commencement matter was ruled out of order.

Senator Mary Seery Kearney

Last year, the Data Protection Commission published a report on an investigation it had launched into the Department of Health keeping dossiers on families who were taking cases against the State over the provision of services to their children with disabilities. There was an outcome to the report, which resulted from a whistleblower’s actions two years earlier. The Department was fined and told that it should not be keeping dossiers, as doing so was excessive and wrong and it was an unlawful gathering of data on families to besmirch them in legal cases where they were justifiably making claims against the State for services that were owed to their children.

I have very strong reason to believe that the Department and staff within the HSE are still doing that, and that if people caring for family members with disabilities raise their heads above the parapet, the might of the HSE will come down to cover its own back over the abject failure over a long period to deliver services to people.

I have previously called for statements in the House on the delivery of services. Where are we with that delivery? We have held a couple of sessions of statements and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is good, but we need the HSE to be accountable. When we sought statements on who was accountable for the HSE’s failure to deliver these services, we encountered an issue, as the HSE is under the Department of Health, but also under the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

At the heart of my comments is a woman whose 22-year-old son lives with her. They transferred from CHO 9 to CHO 7. Since then, he has received no day care services. He gets respite care every fortnight. Recently, he was brought in for respite for four weeks. During that time, he was in four different centres and received no day services.

Since he has been home, his mother has been under scrutiny by the HSE and a rather defamatory report has been published about her because she rang up and asked that someone do their job and produce the package of services to follow her son from CHO 9 to CHO 7 that is still not being delivered. We need accountability. There is no accountability to these families. They are just cut adrift. We need statements on this matter in the House and the Minister for Health to come in, because the buck is being passed between the Department of Health and the Department of children on this. We need it to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

Senator Victor Boyhan

I raise the issue of the Irish Farmers Association, IFA. I commend Mr. Francie Gorman, the IFA president, on the good body of work that is his manifesto, which has been published, for the European and local elections. It is a substantial body of work. I thank and commend the IFA and Mr. Gorman, as president, on the manifesto, his leadership and guidance and the succinct and clear asks set out in the manifesto.

I am a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I was elected to the agricultural panel of Seanad Éireann. I have always championed agriculture, forestry, food, horticulture and fisheries. It is a key part of my mandate in Seanad Éireann to do so. It is important that this manifesto is addressed. It will be a guide and great help to the Leader and other candidates. I take this opportunity to wish the Leader and Deputy Leader well in the European elections.

This is the bible for rural Ireland and what farmers and rural communities are looking for. It addresses: CAP; overregulation; the issue and challenges around the simplification of agricultural policy; the nitrates directive; environmental fairness, which is a key issue in this debate; planning; the controversial residential zoned land, RZL, tax, which is still an issue; ash dieback; connectivity between political establishments and the European Union and rural communities and farmers; environmental inspections; the lack of a new revised charter for farmers and agriculture, which needs to be updated - it has long been promised; horticulture; food production; local authority farm inspections, which are especially challenging at this time; and the need for accurate calculations in respect of admissions and removals. The IFA manifesto is not a desktop exercise alone. It involved boots on the ground. It is experienced farmers making requests of politicians and we need to respond favourably. I salute the IFA for reasonable and fair proposals and pathways for sustainable and successful agriculture, which is critical to the Irish economy and its activities in employment, rural and urban communities and fairness across the sector.

I thank the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, for her announcement yesterday of €40 million for the repairs and improvements scheme for non-public roads and laneways, commonly known as the local improvement scheme, LIS. It is a good and positive initiative. She is clearly well connected into rural and agricultural communities. I am a great admirer of her work. We can accept the scheme as a positive announcement. These announcements seem to be coming every day; I cannot keep up with the Minister. She clearly has her boots on the ground, like many farmers, and this is the basis we should concentrate on regarding policy in the run-up to the European and local elections.