I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and I thank the Minister for her response to the motion. It has been very useful. She covered a lot of the issues or questions that have been asked. She is giving us food for thought. I also want to thank the Labour Party for tabling this motion. It is an excellent motion and there is also some overlap with some of the work we have been doing with the women's caucus on the care economy. We were hoping to have an all-party motion on that. There is a lot of overlap with this. The Minis…

I thank the Minister of State for being here. While childcare is primarily the responsibility of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, there could be a planning solution to the serious shortage of childcare places in local communities. It will not fix everything but it is the kind of change we need to see. The childcare facilities guidelines for planning authorities from 2001 are in place to steer local planning authorities such as Fingal County Council on the provision of childcar…

I thank the Minister of State. I am aware of that review and I am glad it is happening. There is a reason I am pitching this to him. I pointed out why the guidelines are not delivering and that they are not working. In the same way we do with social housing, we need to take a Part V approach when it comes to childcare. A childcare facility should be mandatory in a new development and in an area that needs childcare. It should be agreed before commencement. During the preplanning stage, childcare facilities similar …

I thank the Minister for Justice for taking this Commencement matter. We are here to talk about anti-social behaviour and an increase in knife crime in urban communities. I wish to pay my respects to the family of Aaron Keating in Ongar. Tragically, he was a victim of knife crime last week. There are no excuses for the taking of a life in these circumstances. The impact of an assault of this nature on a community is enormous and brings the concerns about public safety in communities and community safety to the fore…

I thank the Minister for her response. One issue which has come up in the past few days is the investigation time for knife crime. I believe it is only 24 hours as opposed to a week if there was a firearm involved. Gardaí have said to me that that would be something that might help. I am also interested in the work that is happening on the community safety partnerships, the Minister’s expert forum on anti-social behaviour, and her subgroup on knife crime with regard to what the next steps are. I am looking to place…

I want to raise a report we received from the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, a couple of days ago with regard to problem gambling. It stated that an earlier figure that has been in the public domain, which is that 12,000 adults are impacted, is most likely an underestimation of the problem of gambling. We know that it does not just affect people directly, but that it affects their families and communities around them. What is interesting about this report is that it identifies people who are more vul…

I express my deepest sympathy to all former Senator Jackman's family members. The distinction of her career as both a councillor and Senator has been well described. She was a tireless advocate who worked diligently to address the needs and concerns of the people of Castletroy. She was a founding member of the Women's Political Association in Limerick and was involved in establishing Castletroy College. One of her many achievements was being the first female cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council in 1999. That de…

We need to talk about knife crime. Some 2,000 to 2,500 knives are seized per year currently, with 2,132 seized in 2023, and according to our colleague, Deputy Alan Farrell, that is an increase of 78% in the past seven years. The highest number was in 2020, during Covid, when there was a strong community presence. I think we all agree on the need for increased visibility of community gardaí on our streets and in communities. I sincerely hope the intensive recruitment campaign that is under way for 1,000 gardaí will …

I thank the members of Young Fine Gael for their hard work on this, in identifying an issue that really needed to be focused on to shine the spotlight on it. I thank Senator Ward for helping to bring it to this point, and Senators Doherty and Seery Kearney for their involvement. It is great to be part of a party that is a campaigning party, because that is what it is all about. I very much support the idea that spiking is a stand-alone offence, because there are layers to this. It is not just as simple as poisoning…

I thank Senators McGreehan and Blaney. I know that normally wild horses would not keep Senator Blaney away from a debate like this so I hope everything is okay. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs is welcome to the Chamber and I thank him for all the work he has done on reconciliation, Northern Ireland and the shared island unit as Taoiseach. It comes from a genuine place and that comes across. I am appreciative of his work and I am grateful for his kind words and gestures when my father died. This is abo…

I thank the Senator very much.

I raise the shambles that is going on at Dublin Airport because there is not enough car parking in the short term. For our national airport to advise passengers to get lifts from friends is something I do not think I have ever heard before. If it is bad now, it will be bedlam during the summer. This is not about increasing the car parking spaces at Dublin Airport; this is because there is a car park that has 6,000 spaces but which is closed. One fifth of car parking spaces are not available. The Dublin Airport Auth…

I would challenge that decision.

I congratulate the Minister on this legislation to deal with the registration of social workers, to look at UK medical degrees and to make sure there is access for training posts in Ireland. I am probably going to be in the same territory as my colleague Senator Seery Kearney. As we know, CORU is a multi-professional regulator that looks after the nine professions and the hugely valuable work of physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, radiographers, social workers and dieticians but not, at present, psych…

I thank the Minister of State. As he may know, we are in the middle of the Phoenix Park parking strategy, which is out for public consultation. I believe the Phoenix Park can, and should, be accessible and inclusive for all. The current commentary from the OPW is about how the popularity of the park is unsustainable, and the numbers have to be controlled. However, what we have seen over the past couple of years is a single-minded strategy that targets car users. We saw that with the attempted gate closures at strat…

I thank the Minister of State. It is positive that they are looking at toilet infrastructure where there is a wastewater supply, but like I have said, they do not need to just restrict themselves to that. In fact, using these eco-toilets which are run on a composting basis would fit in with how people use the park, and prevent people going to the same places so they can have the reliability of accessing this essential infrastructure which makes the park a welcoming place. I hoped the Minister of State with responsi…

They are doing it in Fingal County Council. They have two sites where they are using eco-toilets which do not need the water supply.

Ruled out.

I thank both speakers for their kind words about my dad. It is very much appreciated. I think he would agree with me when I say that we were the lucky ones. I too want to remember the 3,700 people who lost their lives and, of course, the people who never gave up on finding peace. I thank Mr. Ahern for marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement with us today. I have had the opportunity to hear him speak a number of times over the past six months and I learn something new every time. Your contribution …

As part of the commemoration of 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement, we met the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains. That has been a success for some families but not for all. There are still four families who are waiting for their loved ones to be returned. We remember families like that of Columba McVeigh, who are searching for Columba at the moment in County Monaghan. I just want to thank Mr. Ahern for his contribution to peace on our island and for the opportunity to thank him.