I have a couple of issues following on from yesterday's second meeting of the Joint Committee on Autism. We met with the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan, the Irish National Teachers Organisation and the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland. One common theme that has come up over the past couple of meetings in particular is the issue of the summer provision. We have a situation at present where a significant number of special schools in the country are not providing the summer p…

I wish my colleagues a happy Pride and I hope the weather is as good on Saturday as it is today. I concur with Senator Murphy's comments on Shannonside and Midlands 103. We are blessed with quality journalists in both of those radio stations in our area. I concur with the comments of Senator Fitzpatrick and I second her proposal that the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth would come in here. We have a serious disparity in the funding going into the early years sector, where those tha…

I support the comments of Senator Buttimer. Drastic action is needed. I have been appointed by the Government as Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism. We will start our public meetings next week. We will meet with the National Council for Special Education, AsIAm and the Ministers of State, Deputies Madigan and Rabbitte, before the summer recess and we will bring recommendations for policy changes to the Government at the end of March next year. I fully support the comments of my colleague Senator B…

The Minister of State is very welcome. This matter is with regard to the proposed public health (tobacco and nicotine inhaling products) Bill. I thank Grace Kearney from the Bridgeway Family Resource Centre in Ballymahon whom I met recently on a visit to Ballymahon Vocational School. She highlighted this serious issue and the epidemic among children as young as 12 years of age who vape on a regular basis. It is seen as cool. The reality is that teenagers do not know what they are putting into their bodies. It is se…

I thank the Minister of State for his comments. I also thank Senator Wilson for sharing this Commencement matter with me and I support his comments. The Minister of State in his reply said the review found a strong association in the majority of the examined studies between the use of e-cigarettes and a subsequent uptake in smoking. That is a key point. If we want to stop young people from smoking, we need to ban these substances. We do not know what this can lead to. We are allowing people to be addicted at 12 yea…

It is an honour for me to welcome a number of neighbours of mine from home here who are members of the Killoe Men's Shed in County Longford. I pay tribute to them for the work they did through the Covid-19 pandemic period, and I take this opportunity to express my thanks to them. It was a difficult time for everybody but the Killoe Men's Shed and men's sheds throughout the country did magnificent work in helping with rural isolation etc. I say, "Well done." A number of weeks ago we met with the Irish Men's Sheds As…

I concur with the comments made by Senators Buttimer and Ward in particular regarding the Garda and compliment the organisation. I agree with the comments of Senator Buttimer in respect of gardaí on the streets.

This issue is especially significant in my county and county town, where issues have been reported in the media. We need to see gardaí on the streets and additional resources need to be put in place in order that people will feel more secure in our county town. We have a great town, a great county, great people and great businesses, and we are just looking for that little bit of additional support. Ours is one of the pilot areas for the community safety partnership, which is up and running. It is a great initiative…

I wish to raise a couple of issues. The first involves a word of warning to businesses. Chambers of commerce are promoting companies seeking contracts with businesses in respect of health and safety coverage. However, when you read the small print, you see that there is no cooling-off period to allow people to pull out of those contracts. I just offer a word of warning people and advise them to look at these contracts. Something needs to be inserted into consumer legislation to ensure this is not allowed because a …

I am sharing time with Senator Burke. I welcome the Tánaiste and I welcome the legislation. I pay tribute to him for driving forward significant changes for workers throughout the country, which is extremely welcome. It is also welcome that there will be a gradual introduction of statutory sick pay over a number of years, building up to an entitlement of ten days. However, I am concerned that this provision will put a lot of stresses on many businesses, particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors. I have a s…

The reality is that the Government will never be in a position to compensate people for the cost-of-living increases. In fact, Ireland and the rest of the world are facing a cost-of-living crisis. It is driven by inflation, which is largely caused by factors beyond our control. Sinn Féin is criticising and asking what Fine Gael has done. It is demanding social welfare increases. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, made over €500 million available in the last budget for social welfare increases. Th…

I wish to raise a couple of issues. The first relates to childcare and is becoming a major issue in the community childcare facilities with which I work in Longford. I am sure the situation is replicated across the country. Some facilities are at a point where they are struggling to get staff in order to provide services and are turning away parents who are looking to get their children into childcare for the September coming. We need the relevant Minister to attend the Chamber because the issue needs to be dealt w…

I support the amendment tabled by Senators Cassells and Byrne. Senator Cassells hit the nail on the head. The Bill is about the protection of Irish citizens and, in particular, Irish children. That has to be our number one priority.

With regard to section 139D and the issue of age-appropriate online content, the Bill refers to content that is unsuitable for children, either generally or below a particular age, having regard to their capabilities, but it does not actually state an age. What is an appropriate age? There was a recommendation from the Oireachtas joint committee to have a minimum age for social media accounts and put the responsibility on social media companies to have a minimum age for children setting up accounts. At present, it …

On amendments Nos. 208 to 210, inclusive, the joint committee noted that no implementation date is set. It is important that we add a date. Whether it is feasible to set a date of 1 January 2023 or 12 months from now, I do not know. The latter might be more feasible because we do not know when the Bill will be enacted. We have a long way to go yet before that happens but we are getting there. One point the joint committee took from its meetings with the various media companies, including Virgin, TG4 and RTÉ, was th…

It is a great honour for me, coming from Ballinalee in County Longford, to welcome the sixth class pupils from my own local national school, Scoil Samhthann, and their teacher, Ms McCormack, and the vice-principal, Mrs. Farrelly. I hope they enjoy their stay. The name "Samhthann" comes from an abbess at a Christian site in our community that was founded by St. Patrick. There is a great history which goes back to there. I have to say that it was that school which gave me my grounding and learning, and I thoroughly e…

I want to speak on amendments Nos. 173 and 174. To add in these lines will only strengthen the Bill. They are simple and short measures, but it is important that they would be added. I compliment the Irish Heart Foundation, which many of us met during the pre-legislative scrutiny phase, on the work it has done and for the interest it has taken in this Bill in the interests of children's health. I would be fully supportive of adding in these small amendments, which strengthen the Bill. On alcohol, I said yesterday -…

I, too, welcome the representatives of St. Sinneach's National School. I welcome the principal, Ms Glynn, sixth class teacher, Ms Lavelle, and all the students to the House. I hope they enjoy their trip to Dublin. I concur with the Cathaoirleach's comments that there is a homework pass for this evening and perhaps for the rest of the week. It is a fantastic school in south Longford. Senator Ahearn mentioned the CLÁR scheme. I know St. Sinneach's was successful in getting a grant last year through that scheme. Those…

What this Bill and this discussion have done is highlighted the lack of consultants and highlighted the fact that we, as the Government, have made those promises, announced the positions and they have not been put in place. Collectively, the Government has to take responsibility for that and to make sure both that people are recruited to fill those positions and that the numbers are increased. We need to put further investment into the Department of Health and into an advertising campaign to promote breastfeeding. …

The amendment has a lot of merit. I would not like a complainant to be left waiting indefinitely so a time limit would ensure that a decision is dealt with and the person informed.