Joe O'Reilly
Labour Panel · Fine Gael · Ireland
“As the Minister said, the Commission is coming up with proposals, and this exercise by us, and please God we will finish it before the summer, will make a difference in leading the European effort. We are winning support for suspension of trade.”
“At the outset, I welcome the Minister to the House and thank her for her leadership in this area and commitment in her opening remarks to go on pushing at European level to get a consensus on real action on the trade agreement and individual sanctions.”
“We recognise the State of Palestine. We have been consistent in our public criticism of the genocide in Gaza, we took a strong position at the UN, we were a co-sponsor of the ICJ, and latterly, we have given leadership at EU level.”
“To turn to the issue of today, the illegal settlements, in international law they are clearly illegal and are expanding. They cause access to land resources for Palestinians to be restricted, there is settler violence, and Palestinian families continue to face displacement and growing insecurity.”
“It will enhance our moral authority in Europe and give leadership to other European countries. It is, at its most fundamental level, coupled with our previous action on recognising Palestine, joining the ICJ case and strong public statements, another act of solidarity with the victims of these illegal settlements.”
“If the opposite were merited, we would be saying it equally loudly. The Minister of State made a point that was echoed by my colleagues, Senators Boyhan and Casey, about the importance of the necessary transition from fossil fuels. I would like to hear the Minister of State respond at the end of the debate.”
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“I take the point about domiciliary care for adults, but this is no good to children. It is right that that is there for adults, and of course I am in favour of it, but for children this does not deal with it. A child in Shercock or Bailieborough, say, where I live so it is easier for me to talk about it, will now spend four or five hours of a day going to Cavan town for a service. They are taken out of the primary school, the parents are discommoded and other children suffer. It is madness. I ask the Minister personally to look at this specifically because this does not arise from a lack of speech and language therapists. Of course we need more of them, but there is no logic to this. The speech and language therapists can commute in 20 or 25 minutes from, say, Bailieborough to Cavan in a car.”
“I thank the Minister for that. I accept her bona fides and accept that she is doing everything possible to increase the number of speech and language therapists. The issue here, however, is that this has been centralised and moved from the villages and the small towns. The Minister might say that is because of a lack of speech and language therapists. There are enough there at the moment to deliver the services. It will take the speech and language therapist, unless he or she is walking, only a short time to commute from one town to the other and provide the service locally, so this is an absurdity. If we had a map of Cavan here, and if you take the service out of the towns of Mullagh, Virginia, Bailieborough and Shercock and move it to Cootehill, Ballyconnell and Cavan, we would see there is no logic to this, only disturbing parents.”
“However, I am a teacher by background, and I cannot see how speech and language therapy delivery is improved by moving its location. It is a one-to-one thing with very little resources. It is mind-bogglingly stupid unless I have been misinformed.”
“I am aware that the non-attendance policy takes them out of the service quickly. In other words, if somebody is due to attend and they miss one or two, then they are struck off and go off the service for non-attendance. This will greatly increase non-attendance. That is a huge part of it in my view, and there is anecdotal evidence to support that. If I understand properly the values of Sláintecare or what it seeks to achieve, this totally contravenes it. There are many vulnerable families in the area I am discussing and in other areas in the county. I understand that in the case of cancer services and other clinical needs, there are cases for centralisation on the grounds of not losing excellence, etc. Those arguments have been well rehearsed.”
“In an area like Cavan, while huge strides were made in public transport during the previous Government, which is outside this debate, and there are much improved bus services, there are still not trains. Using the buses to go to Cavan town involves quite a chunk of a day and it is expensive. For many families, the time involved in getting to Cavan town and back is not available to them either because of work or having other children to care for. This repeats itself in areas like Ballyconnell and others. The extra time involved will greatly damage their schooling. The children are not attending school if they are travelling to get there and presumably there are all sorts of diversions the children will insist on when they get to Cavan town. They are, therefore, losing out on schooling.”
“I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this Commencement matter, which is important to the people I represent. I thank the Minister for coming in to take the question in person and give it the seriousness it deserves. I have lived in the Bailieborough area for more than roughly 30 years and in all of that time, there has been a speech and language service available to parents in Bailieborough, Shercock and Mullagh. I understand that this would have been the case in most areas throughout the county. It is my understanding from parents in this area that the service has been abandoned, and families are now asked to attend the service in the town of Cavan. In other words, it is centralised. Not all of the families have transport. It is difficult to overcome this, and the costs are big as the Minister will appreciate.”
“God forbid, but if there are to be any redundancies, there should be full support for the workers so that they can be retrained, reorganised or re-employed. The big ambition is to have the company bought, supported and reopened. Anything that can be done should be done, whether it is to look at the existing people, as it is still in examinership, but more likely to a purchaser. I will await a response and we can then take the discussion further.”
“Any support that can be put in place should be put in place. There should be a whole-of-government response, and this should be holistic in nature. I refer, for example, to circumstances where a buyer may want planning permission. Any buyer should be supported through the process of purchasing the operation and maintaining the jobs there. It is critical to maintain the jobs. The first big ask is that we try to achieve this. There is anecdotal evidence there might be a little white in that regard, there but we do not know. It is all only pub talk at this point. We need to get something concrete going there. I ask the Leader to speak directly to the Minister. I would appreciate a direct response in view of the gravity of the situation.”
“I want to raise a matter that is very important to the community from whence I come and the surrounding area. I am anxious that the Leader speak directly to the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke, on foot of this intervention. The Leader is aware that Wellman International, which based in Mullagh in County Cavan, has gone into examinership. The company employs approximately 240 people, many from Meath but also a good number from east Cavan and County Louth. It is an important local employer in an area to which it is not easy to attract employment. This makes it critical. The company has gone into examinership. Given that it is not receivership, there is potential. I would like the Leader to ask the Minister to be very proactive in seeking and supporting a buyer for it, and to make it easy to buy it.”
“It did feed into this situation with settlements and with support of Hamas, and unfortunately this is the tragic outcome. Action is needed now. I look forward to the Minister of State outlining a programme of actions here.”
“Relations of ours, generations back or down, will walk along Trafalgar Square or the Champs-Élysées, or in Dublin or Germany or wherever, and unfortunately may be victims. This is coming and there is a self-interest here. That is not the reason to do it but it is a by-product we are going to have. Let us get one misnomer out of the way. In taking strong action, and we have to take strong action, there is not a shred of antisemitism in this. The people who are horrified by Gaza today and the proposed 22 new settlements in the West Bank are similarly horrified by antisemitism and horrified by the events of 7 October. The last thing I would say is on the excellent speech by Senator McDowell. The Senator is right. Israel did create these conditions over a number of years.”
“It is a multifaceted approach. It is the occupied territories Bill, the embargo on arms, a call for the ceasefire, getting the aid in, supporting the new EU initiatives and pushing for more. There is self-interest here. This is a tragic reality, and we would be horrified if it happens, but we are giving rise to and creating the conditions for a new generation of suicide bombers. Let us have no illusions about a 15- or 16-year-old child who sees their family obliterated, their home obliterated and their people displaced. If that child is intelligent and bright he or she could potentially and tragically become a suicide bomber. It is the wrong response but it is the response we will have.”
“We must acknowledge that. We should salute her in that. We should and we are now implementing the occupied territories Bill. We should not go into recess this summer until that is implemented. There has been a late conversion by such countries as England, and France and Germany within the EU. We should be at the forefront of keeping the momentum to that late conversion. We should be out there in the EU pushing for that to continue. We should be strongly against the arms going into Israel. An embargo on arms has to take place at this stage. There is no equivocation on that, no counterargument. There cannot be, given what is happening there. We need to be taking these actions immediately. When the Minister of State responds, and I know he is active on these issues, he will state clearly that we are going to act on all these fronts.”
“As I mention displacement, sadly, we have the prospect, and it was referenced earlier, of 22 new settlements in the West Bank, which is a horror that could slip through very handily in the midst of this and not be noticed. This is an assault on women and children predominantly, which is an aspect that needs to be remembered. Women and children are at the forefront of suffering here, and no more than that extraordinary case of the doctor who lost her nine children. It is shocking that we have the looting and the food sitting on the trains. The humanitarian aid is in trucks, including Irish aid, and not getting in. The question arises as to what we do. At this point it would be churlish not to acknowledge the extraordinary pioneering work of our good colleague Senator Francis Black in this area over a number of years.”
“I welcome the Minister of State and acknowledge the fact the Chair of the foreign affairs committee, Deputy Lahart, has been at most of this debate. As I serve on that committee, it is good that he is taking the matter so seriously. I acknowledge the Tánaiste as a politician who, from day one, has been strong on this issue and is not a newcomer to it. This is a story of depravity. It is a story of inhuman activity. It is unquestionably genocide, with 55,000 dead by 14 May last. It is complicity in famine with the 80-day blockade on aid. It is so bad that future generations will, open-mouthed and aghast, ask us where we stood and what did we do. It involves the demolition of homes, hospitals, schools and infrastructure and the complete displacement of people.”
“I would be interested in knowing if we will go on investing in tourism infrastructure. In our local town we are developing a plantation museum. It is plantation country in a very big way and there was a sizeable plantation there in the 1600s. Many of the diaspora in Canada and America, for example, want to come home to see it, as well as their family roots and the area. There is great potential to invest in tourism infrastructure throughout the country. I thank the Minister for being here and look forward to his response.”
“There is no reason many people who may not have been getting the full chance could not do that. Physical infrastructure regarding water, as I mentioned, is important, as are roads. One of the tragedies of our history, though understandable in the context of the times with emigration, the car industry, etc., is that we got rid of railways. We need to restore them across the country and to develop a rail infrastructure. We of course need a road infrastructure and, to be parochial, road infrastructure is very critical in my area which is very involved in food production, both in primary production and processing. That is necessary. Foreign direct investment also matters. Tourism is a great Irish problem. We have tremendous potential for heritage tourism. It is a great driver of economic success.”
“I would like to think we will go on investing in education, the development of skills and apprenticeships and making them attractive. I mentioned AI. We must ensure our population is skilled in that sphere also. Our investment in education is important. I have talked a lot recently in the Seanad about special needs and disabilities. That is an important part of our economic future. The Minister often says in his own remarks that our economic future and getting the economy right is ultimately only about getting life right for people and creating the right living conditions. I would be interested to know and to hear him say he is committed to investing in the disability sector, education for people with special needs and ensuring every citizen can fully participate in the economy and create wealth.”
“That kind of thing has to be eliminated. Of course we need to be abreast of technological advancements. I will be interested when the Minister is summing up to see what he will say about our position vis-à-vis artificial intelligence and its onset and how we will be fit to be part of that revolution ourselves in an active sense and be recipients of its best qualities. We cannot allow a fear of what may be the bad side to keep us out of that race. It is like rural electrification, the industrial revolution or IT when it first arrived. We must be up there with it and using it for the best possible advantage. Human capital is of course the great investment and something we have got right consistently in Ireland.”
“I know it is a current debate but it is worthy of repetition in the Minister's presence that we need to get that linkage and the consistent investment and support of Irish Water but also that Irish Water must respond to housing needs and planning applications in a given area. We had a classic example of that for a long time - indeed, at the moment as well but it is being dealt with - in Virginia, County Cavan, where there were a number of proposed developments. It is extraordinary. It is one of the areas of County Cavan and that region that has the greatest demand. There is a great demand for housing, both private and social. There are many sites that have permission to build and have been designated but where the water and sewerage system needs to be upgraded and building is not being allowed because of that.”
“It is important to be ready for all eventualities and that we are consistently consolidating that. The pensions reserve fund is a necessary exercise too, given our demographic and ageing population. That is an important strategic weapon also. Critically, the strategic investment fund, future-proofing and ensuring the future of Ireland's strategic investment funding are very important. It is important that we keep a sharp focus on having infrastructure, including water infrastructure and Irish Water, efficient and working well and delivering to complement the need for housing and proposed housing developments. There is a huge need in that regard.”
“It is a reasonable proposition that is what is here will stay in every scenario, given our educated workforce, our favourable environment relative to industrial peace and a good environment on every front. It is very probable that what is here will stay, but of course the challenge will be to attract new foreign direct investment into the future if there were the kind of environment that is threatened. That is a concern. It was a very good initiative on the Minister's part to put in place in 2019 the National Reserve Fund or, as it is popularly known, the rainy day fund. It prepares us or leaves us ready for severe shocks, including natural disasters. In an Irish context, that could be something like foot and mouth disease, threats to agriculture, a whole range of climate events, another pandemic - who knows.”
“There remains a 10% tariff, but it is good that there is a hold on the more severe impacts and that there are negotiations. Hopefully, common sense will ultimately prevail because the tariffs are not good for either the American consumer or the consumers here. That presents a challenge which we have to be ready for and it could potentially have impacts on employment or negative impacts on the public finances. Some of the opening position we are in helps to insulate us from that but, having said that, it is not to be welcomed or advocated and hopefully can be avoided. It is important that we go on achieving foreign direct investment into the country. We have done well so far.”
“As we begin a discussion today on the economic outlook and future, we have a good backdrop in that we have 2.8 million people in employment, 4% unemployment, which is effectively close to full employment, the easing of inflation and a surplus of €8.7 billion. Those are good, strong opening positions as we discuss and look to the future. We can be proud of those achievements. As a people, while it took the leadership from the Minister and his Cabinet colleagues, it also took a buy-in by the Irish people at all stages, and the Irish people are to be acknowledged for that. We are in a good, healthy position by way of backdrop. Obviously, the immediate threat of tariffs creates a new reality and a new challenge. As the Minister said, it is good that it has been put on hold somewhat.”
“The Minister is very welcome. It is good to have him back in the Seanad, and I thank him for his management of the economy, which has left us in such a shape and position that we were able to cope with Covid; deal with the outcome of the Ukraine war in terms of inflation and the effect on families, etc.; and be in a strong position coming into the Brexit scenario. His management of the economy has left us in a strong position consistently, and that remains the case as we face new challenges. I acknowledge that and thank him for that. As the Minister said in his opening remarks, we have a good backdrop here.”
“One of the great problems is that, at weekends, a lot of ATMs run out of cash. They are not properly stocked with money and they tend to run out on a Saturday afternoon and leave people stranded on a Sunday. It is quite a problem and is a real issue now that the banks have effectively deserted rural Ireland. We need ATMs and we need a network of them. I look forward to the Minister of State's response and I certainly support Senator Boyhan, whose important point was well made.”
“I welcome my very good personal friend, Deputy Canney, to the House. We served on committees together in the past. I have not had the opportunity to either welcome or congratulate him before now. It was a privilege to work with him in another capacity previously and it is great to see him here today as a Minister of State. I know he brings a lot of skill and dedication to the role. I support my good friend and colleague, Senator Boyhan, on this important matter. It is a huge issue. We have had the banks close all over rural Ireland. Now we need an assurance by way of the inventory that Senator Boyhan talked about and we need a monitoring process to ensure we actually have a good spread of ATMs throughout the country. No place with a reasonable population or that is a centre of access should be without an ATM.”
“He was clearly a good man - a good family, GAA, club and community man, a good professional, and a patriot who was serving the people of Ireland and trying to keep us safe. It is a sad day to be doing this. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.”
“It is a cruel irony and a cruel twist of fate that he should be killed while trying to preserve our safety and that of others by controlling speed on the roads. That this should happen is a particularly brutal form of fate. There certainly needs to be a review of safety around these operations on the roads, and the Garda Commissioner said this would be the case. The deputy general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, Mr. Bolger, has called for the same. I wish to express my sympathy to all of Garda Flatley's colleagues, to members of the GRA and its officer board, to all gardaí in the country, to the Commissioner, etc. It is a huge tragedy for our country.”
“It is an occasion of great sadness to stand here and express sympathy to the family and colleagues of Garda Kevin Flatley, who lived in Balbriggan. He was 49 years old and a father of two, and our sympathy goes to his wife Una and his daughters Aoife and Erin. He was coach of the under-10 girls' team at O'Dwyers GAA club in Balbriggan, and there were huge tributes there about his positivity and the affection he was held in by people. The phrase used was that he had a great grá for the GAA. He spent 26 years working as a garda, having been part of the roads policing unit since 2018, serving as a community garda before that. Among the phrases, expressions of sympathy and remarks used after his tragic death were that he was an all-round gentleman, he was diligent, and he always completed the job perfectly.”
“I move: That, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders— (1) the Select Committees as contained in the report of the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight entitled ‘First Report of the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight on Orders of Reference and Establishment of Committees’, laid before Seanad Éireann on 7th May, 2025, are hereby appointed pursuant to Standing Order 78, with the Orders of Reference as contained in the report, including the remit, powers, number of members and quorum of each Committee; (2) each Select Committee listed in the report shall be joined with a Select Committee appointed by Dáil Éireann to form a Joint Committee, to carry out the functions set out in Standing Order 79, other than at paragraph (5) thereof.”
“Paul Brady has brought honour and distinction to himself and his family, to Mullahoran, to Cavan and to Ireland in handball. I wish him well yet again. He is teaching in a school where I previously taught in Cavan town, St. Phelim's school. He is a wonderful asset to that school and to that community because of his sporting prowess and his being a wonderful role model for young people. Senator Keogan proposed an amendment to the Order of Business relating to sugary drinks, etc. She makes that point very well. It is very pertinent. It is a real health issue. It is an issue for our young people. Obesity is a national challenge, with subsequent type 2 diabetes arising. It needs to be dealt with and I support her in all of that. I thank Senators for all their contributions.”
“I actually helped him get some people to do the interviews for him. Rural isolation is challenging in its own right without adding to it, and community alert is a great help here. Indeed, there is also isolation in cities and towns, so it is very important. Senator Sarah O'Reilly mentioned Paul Brady, whom I know very well. He is a professional colleague from primary teaching. He is a nephew of Senator Keogan or a first cousin.”
“Senator Lynch has drawn our attention to the 40-year commemoration of the community alert scheme. It is certainly one of the better schemes. In an area called Laragh near me, I get messages every day from the community alert there. It is a wonderful scheme involving communities and is very reassuring for older people. It is a great thing and those involved are all volunteers. I gather, anecdotally, that, at the moment, it is very difficult to get volunteers in everything because of two people working in homes, because of commuting and because of so many societal pressures. We should celebrate our volunteers. The Senator is right in identifying this group of wonderful volunteers who bring comfort and service to people living in isolated places. A son of mine just did a thesis on the impact of rural isolation on people. I have read it.”
“He asked about the O'Sullivan Beara walk right through the country up from Kinsale. He made the point that we should talk about our tourism walks, identify them, market them, make them fit for purpose and make them accessible. The Senator makes a very good point. In the town of Bailieborough where I have the pleasure to live, we will have a Plantation museum because that is Plantation country. It is in that genre and that sphere that heritage sites, heritage walks, religious trails etc. should be celebrated, made fit for purpose, made accessible and marketed by our tourism people. If people will go to do the camino, why would they not come here and do St. Declan's Way? There is a new camino in Killashandra in County Cavan which is doing very well and has a walk a couple of times a year.”
“I agree with Senator Boyle that we should have a planning system where, within health and safety guidelines, needless to say, and those parameters only, it should be possible to build a home, live and raise a family, live on family farm or buy a local neighbour’s site and live there. It is reasonable. Senator Boyle, as always, raised an important matter. It should be dealt with. It is across a couple of Departments and it is a local authority issue as well. We will bring it forward and see what can be done. It certainly arises. When our Seanad group meets - I presume all parties are similar - the question of planning laws also arises. We will keep it there. Senator Mullen raised the very interesting question of the walks and the Irish caminos, if you like, such as St. Declan's Way.”
“I concur with that. I welcome the students. It is great to have visitors here in the people’s House – it is their House. I return to Senator Boyle. As I said, I was a member of Cavan County Council for 20 years. Senator Sarah O’Reilly followed me onto Cavan County Council some years later, and she may tell me, formally or informally, if this continued to be the case, but the question of planning, including one-off planning, and the capacity to build houses in rural areas was always on the agenda. It nearly arose monthly. Cavan had one of the most benign planning systems, and I would have thought one of the most sensitive in the country, yet it arose. Donegal is a beautiful and fabulous county.”
“Imagine keeping food, medical supplies and water from people. Imagine indiscriminately bombing and razing homes and people in pursuit of Hamas personnel, for example, bombing 1,000 people in pursuit of maybe two Hamas personnel. It is a travesty. I lack the English to properly describe it, and I think most of us do. I agree with Senator McCarthy about that. Senator Boyle raised a point. I was a member of Cavan County Council for 20 years-----”
“I suggest the Senator, as he probably is doing, go into dialogue with the Minister of State. Senator McCarthy eloquently, as always, raised the question of Gaza and Hamas, as was raised earlier by Senator Stephenson. I responded then, and I make the same response to Senator McCarthy. It is one of the shocking blights on humanity. When our grandchildren get to be ten and 12 and are aware of the world, read a bit of history and hear things, they will ask us what we did about Gaza, did we go to the protests, did we stand up against what was happening, and did we speak against it if we were in public life. It is a shocking horror. It is a blight on humanity. It is terrible that it should happen in the cradle of civilisation and the cradle of Christianity. This inhumane action and collection of actions are terrible.”
“You would be better offering them nothing than gratuitously and insultingly offering them something that will not get an alternative home. It is a question that I humbly suggest the Senator pursue on a personal basis with the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, but it should and will also be brought to him as a consequence of today. It is hoped proper compensation will apply. It is very little in the context of our national budget. It is shocking that these kinds of arbitrary exercise take place and families suffer in this fashion. I agree with the Senator that something needs to be done. Am I correct that he said that they were three times flooded? Yes. That is the point I wanted to bring out. That is shocking. That adds insult to injury. It was a point well made and it will be brought forward.”
“It is reasonable that the Senator would call for that. All I can say to Senator Kennelly, my Kerry colleague, is to remind him, in the spirit of personal and social banter, of the time we beat Kerry in 1947 in the Polo Grounds. Sadly, we are still dining out on that one. We have had some victories since, but that was the last big victory over Kerry. I never cease to remind him of it. To get more to the point, he raised a number of questions. He raised the case of the Gabrielyan family, who, he tells us, were the victims of flooding two or three times. He is right to advocate for them. It should not be the case they were flooded two or three times. The amount of compensation they have been offered is not adequate to provide an alternative home, and that is a nonsense.”
“Members of the delegation told me there was a staffing shortage in the section. It is difficult to recruit staff and there are not always enough resources to keep them going. It is lunacy that we would not adequately staff the section if the scheme has been in place for so long and is not getting the desired result. It is a shocking hole for money and a waste of public expenditure for 40 or 50 years. The matter needs to be dealt with. I congratulate the Senator for raising the matter. I will bring it forward to the Minister. It will be interesting to see what arises from the Minister's response today. I understand he will respond in a public sense today; I am anecdotally aware that he is so doing. We will have to see. He will make a statement shortly, if he has not done so already. I have no difficulty with suggesting a debate.”
“We must ensure that money invested is used well. The Senator made the point that the TB scheme had a disappointing outcome. I am of a certain age and happen to remember the scheme as a child. It was consistent over many years and the story did not alter over that span of years.. The scheme still seems to have the same aspiration and has not dealt with TB in any comprehensive fashion. The Minister will make announcements today, I gather. I understand that to be the case; I am not au fait with the elements thereof. I accidentally had a good chat with him when meeting an Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association, ICSA, delegation that was visiting the Minister, Deputy Heydon, this morning. It was led by our neighbour from west Cavan, Hugh Farrell, general secretary of the ICSA, and met the Minister to discuss the badger cull.”
“Without getting into any party political issues, the Minister for Justice is quite local and should surely be as conversant as the Senator is on this issue. It is to be hoped he will respond and I have no doubt he will. The issue requires a response. As the Senator said, there are family homes, traders and so on close by. The situation needs to be dealt with and I will bring the matter forward. My neighbour from down the road at home and somebody who is a fearless advocate for our community, Senator Sarah O'Reilly, pertinently and correctly raised an issue. One of our jobs is not only to seek investment in public schemes, works and services, but to also ensure that there is not wasteful investment and that there are results. That is as much a function of a public representative as to call for further investment.”
“Senator Andrews raised the pertinent question of the barriers around Mount Street, which I understand extend to the canal. Thank God, the tents are gone and there has been somewhat of an alleviation in the situation that gave rise to the barriers in the first instance. There was a health and safety exercise, among other things, at that time. The barriers should of course be removed. Dublin is a great tourism location. It is our capital city and attracts a phenomenal number of visitors during the summer. For that reason, anything that is an eyesore and blight on the tourism product and life for local people, traders and so on is wrong. The Senator is correct to raise this point. It behoves the Government and city council to respond immediately.”
“Were the ambulance to have been an hour late, let alone two hours, I would not be standing here today. That is why I get the point, and anyone sane gets the point. We cannot have a two-hour wait for an ambulance. By definition, the need for an ambulance means that two hours is too long. Senator Duffy is right to bring this to the floor of the House. This point must go to the Minister. I humbly suggest that he raise the matter with his local HSE officials as well and that he gets it raised at local level. It needs to come on to the national and local forums. It is a horror. The Senator wants to wish his under-12 football team well in the all-Ireland and I think that is a reasonable wish. It is a great credit to them that they have reached the all-Ireland. I hope Senator Duffy will have a good day at the match and that they will win.”
“We do need to have this service within this country, to make it available here and not to be outsourcing it. We should never outsource anything that can be done in this country. Action needs to be taken on that. Senator Mark Duffy raised the question of the ambulance response time in Mayo, specifically in Bangor Erris, if I heard him correctly, Belmullet and that area. I have a very good friend, Councillor Coyle, there, a wonderful individual and quite a character who has a huge family history in this State from its foundations. Councillor Coyle keeps me abreast of these things too. Senator Duffy makes a really good point that we cannot have a two-hour waiting time for an ambulance. My middle son was grievously ill a few years ago and thank God, the ambulance arrived within 20 minutes.”
“I had the occasion to visit Donegal and to be brought around by former Councillor McGuinness to visit homes and see walls, and it was a horror to see the broken-down walls. It is through no fault of the homeowners who have mortgages and all of that. I will take Senator Black's point. We will bring it to the Minister. I will mention it to Senator Kyne again. Senator Black makes the point well and it needs dealing with. Senator Davitt raised the point that genetic testing in Ireland is outsourced abroad and that we should have a national service. Without being patronising or showing partiality to a colleague of long standing, I do think Senator Davitt has a happy ability to bring very pertinent issues to the floor of this House and he is yet again correct.”
“He is actually visiting Cavan tonight and I will raise it with him personally on the fringes of that visit. Senator Black, who is not with us at the moment, raised the question of the concrete blocks scheme. She acknowledged that Senator Boyle had raised this on the previous day. She was saying that there has been a delay in the payments. There has been a holding up of people who need the money to build new homes or to renovate their homes. The scheme is in a frozen state, not to flippantly use a term from conflict, and it was said that the scheme needs to be put into activity. The payments need to go out and people need to be compensated for the defective blocks, which is not their fault.”
“That is not to take from the Senator’s argument, but the point needs to be made that it should not have been abused. Tragically, it was abused in the big cities, notably this one, and particularly at concert events and so on. That abuse lost public support for it. Having said that, the Senator's point is well made that there is an issue in hospitality. I would also remind the Senator, who is more than aware, that there have been rates remissions for the hospitality sector, that these have been very valuable, and they were an initiative of the last Government which will hopefully be continued by this one. I will take the Senator's point. We have an excellent Minister now, my neighbour in this area, the Minister for tourism, and I will bring the Senator's point to him. It is a point well made.”