Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome Eileen, Julie, Chloe and Matthew. They are very welcome here today with Denis, it is lovely to have them in the Chamber. I concur with the Cathaoirleach's remarks and wish Senator Doherty the very best on her resignation from the Seanad and ascension to the European Parliament. She was a fantastic Member of this House, a great colleague, somebody I worked very well and very closely with between being Leader and Deputy Leader. She was a great person to work with, always straight-up, never took anybody short and was a very able and articulate Member of this House. I wish her well as she represents Dublin in the European Parliament for the term ahead.

The Order of Business today is No. 1, Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024 - all Stages, to be taken at 12.45 p. m. and the proceedings thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 2.15 p. m., by the putting of one question from the Chair which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by Government, the time allocated to the opening remarks by the Minister on Second Stage shall not exceed eight minutes; group spokespersons should not exceed eight minutes; all other Senators should not exceed four minutes, time may be shared, and the Minister to be given no less than eight minutes to reply to the debate and Committee and Remaining Stages will be taken immediately thereafter; No. 2, Statements on migration, to be taken at 4 p.m. and to conclude at 5.45 p. m. if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed ten minutes, all other Senators not to exceed four minutes, time may be shared, and the Minister to be given no less than ten minutes to reply to the debate; No. 3, Civil Registration (Electronic Registration) Bill 2024 - Committee and Remaining Stages to be taken at 5.45 p. m.; and No. 4, Digital Services (Levy) Bill 2024 - Committee and Remaining Stages to be taken at 6 p.m. or on the conclusion of No. 3, whichever is the later.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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Before I call on Senator O'Loughlin, at the beginning of the Order of Business I neglected to congratulate the Filipino Government and the people on the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Ireland and the Philippines, which were established in July 1984. During that time, our bilateral relationship has developed significantly, including enhanced political engagement, strengthened trade and economic links, as well as a deepening of the people to people links and a shared commitment to multilateralism and to a rule-based international order. The opening of our embassy in Manila in November 2021 has given us the opportunity to strengthen this relationship and enhance our diplomatic footprint in the region.

I acknowledge today, as we celebrate 40 years of that relationship, the large number of Filipino people who have made a significant contribution to Ireland and now call it home, contributing to our society and economy across a variety of sectors. I want to particularly thank our Filipino healthcare workers who supported our health system during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and who have taken Irish people to their hearts in the way they administer care in our health system.My late father had the pleasure of travelling to the Philippines with the Cope Foundation to recruit nurses and other healthcare workers to come to Ireland. He always spoke highly of the Filipino people and their commitment to the patient, as opposed to the entity of the organisation. As we mark the 40th anniversary of our relationship, we look forward to the next chapter in our warm and flourishing friendship.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I support the Order of Business as outlined by the Leader. In echoing the Cathaoirleach’s words of support and best wishes to Regina Doherty, it always amuses me when I hear the term "casual vacancy" because there is nothing casual about it. In fact, J.K. Rowling wrote a really good book about a casual vacancy in a county council election. It is well worth reading.

Yesterday, as we are aware, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Chambers, published the summer economic statement for 2024, which sets out the fiscal parameters for budget 2025. The figures are a testament to the prudent management of our economy and of the public finances and put us in a good position, once again, to be able to deliver a strong budget for 2025. I commit to working in the background for better investment in our schools through increased capitation, which is badly needed, for our public transport infrastructure and for enhanced cost-of-living supports for those most at risk in our society, while also supporting our local business sector.

Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to take a short boat trip down the Grand Canal in Kildare, by the Pollardstown Fen. It was absolutely beautiful. A group of volunteers there have started offering these tours as a pilot project. We reckon we were probably the first group in 50 years to navigate this specific part of the waterway. I give a big shout-out to Frank Moran and Arthur Voigt in that regard. I mention this because being at home and close to nature is wonderful, and we came across herons, families of swans and so on. Waterways Ireland has been very helpful with this project, but there is an issue with some of the bridges that cross the canals. One bridge, at Ballyteague, has been damaged and barges cannot get through it. Milltown Bridge is damaged, too, and is dangerous for those who are around it. A survey of the bridges needs to be done. I appreciate it is a big task but they are part of our heritage and they need to be repaired where necessary.

Another issue relates to Airbnb operators, especially in rural areas. It is very much feared that thousands of them will have to close if legislation goes through whereby, if they are in an rent pressure zone, RPZ, according to their eircode, they will not be able to operate as an Airbnb. It is good that we have RPZs and in towns such as Newbridge and Kildare, it is important we have them, but there are Airbnbs that are still within those eircodes, such as on the Curragh, that provide a terrific service for those who wish to come and stay for a few days, either for events or just to see the lovely nature and so on in the Curragh. There should be an exemption for these Airbnbs and I hope the Leader will ask the Minister for a debate in that regard.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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Over recent years, I have spoken in the House about the apartment defects issue on numerous occasions. I welcome to the Gallery Sam and Odette Doran of the Not Our Fault campaign. They represent more than 100,000 homeowners throughout the country who, through no fault of their own, have found themselves to be living in multi-unit developments where there are fire defects. The sequence of events is such that on 18 January 2023, there was the announcement of 100% redress, which was fantastic news. Emergency funding was to be put in place, with interim funding to be provided before legislation for the scheme was brought forward. A code of practice was published and owner management companies are fully complying with it, which was to lead to the interim funding payment.

The portal was opened in December 2023 and groups such as the Park West development, which Sam and Odette are managing, overseeing and putting in all the hard work for, did all the work of preparation for their scheme. They have undertaken at least three surveys. They have incurred much more than €70,000 in costs in getting themselves ready and being able to submit, only to find the fire officer has again and again put in impediments that do not allow them to complete the scheme. A fire officer is saying they will not agree to an interim scheme unless the Government underwrites the liability of the gap before the full works are completed. The problem with that is that the fire officer is, in addition, seeking further upgrades that are not covered by the scheme as published. Many schemes have paid out and raided their sinking funds, where they are lucky enough to have them, to try to bring their developments up to some level in order that they can get insurance. A lot of them have had difficulties obtaining insurance and those who have insurance are paying exorbitant prices for it.

We have a fundamental problem here. We are not likely to get statements between now and the end of term, obviously, because that is not next week, although the Planning and Development Bill will bring the Minister to the Chamber. I am asking my Fianna Fáil colleagues to raise this today at their parliamentary party meeting. I will be raising it at mine. It is not okay that people are living in defective apartment blocks with no momentum moving forward. This is a case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory following a fantastic announcement on the part of the Government. It is not being delivered on and ordinary homeowners are being left vulnerable and with the headache of having to sort this out. It needs urgent attention.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I call for a debate in the new term to discuss the UK's Cass review on gender identity services for children and young people in Ireland. Dr. Hilary Cass was asked by the UK National Health Service, NHS, to chair an independent to chair an independent review and make recommendations on how to improve services for young people experiencing issues with their gender identity and ensure that the best models for safe and effective services were commissioned. Having taken four years to complete, the Cass review is the most thorough scientific review of the evidence for treatments for gender-questioning and gender-distressed young people ever undertaken. Dr. Cass has since received a peerage for her service to her country, on which she should be universally commended.

She recommended a fundamentally different service model, one in line with the normal paediatric provision, providing holistic evidence-based care to gender-questioning children and young people. The review proposes moving away from the affirmative pathway of puberty blockers and hormones to a service based on psychosocial support. This would involve giving attention to all factors that may be contributing to a young person's difficulties or distress, including mental health issues, social problems and neurodiversity. The Cass review highlights concerns about the risk of diagnostic overshadowing where there is a single focus on gender and the need for puberty blockers. This then prevents the other issues affecting the child or young person from being addressed. Puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones should not be routinely prescribed.

Between 2011 and 2021, some 234 young people in Ireland, an average of 21 people per year, were referred to the Tavistock gender identity development services programme. Undoubtedly, this figure for children in Ireland requesting these types of services has increased since 2021. The HSE response to the Cass report will be reviewed as part of a new model of gender healthcare that will be developed up to 2026. That is far too late to conduct a review. This is fundamentally a question of children's welfare, and we are witnessing the chronic failure of the State in this regard. What will it take for the Government and this country to genuinely look after the welfare of the children of this nation? We are letting the children of this nation suffer in so many ways. With the announcement of an €8.3 billion spending package for budget 2025, it is shameful that we would not prioritise children's healthcare. For this reason, I ask that Ireland conduct our own review in order that we can support and protect our young people.

Róisín Garvey (Green Party)
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I have deep concerns about the new national planning framework. I feel as a Government we have failed. We seem to continue with the narrative that all roads need to lead to Dublin. Under this revised framework, which only comes out every six years and has just been published, there will be no change in this idea. We set out figures for the regions and cities, including Dublin. The plans are Dublin-centric and Dublin-heavy. The population and housing increases envisioned for regional cities are paltry compared with those envisioned for Dublin.

We cannot constantly expect more and more people to live in Dublin when we need people to live all over Ireland. This is good for climate change, regional balance and jobs. With the roll-out of fibre broadband, people can work from anywhere and everywhere. Yet, our targets are abysmal. Over 165,000 houses were built in the past five years. Dublin city only represents about 10% of the population, yet 33% of those houses were built in that area. Cork city represents 4.4% of the population, but only 2.7% of the houses built were built there. In my county, Clare, we built only 500 houses a year for the past five years, even though our population is increasing by thousands every year.

I want to acknowledge that, thanks to my colleague and former party leader, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the national planning framework has, for the first time, a provision that takes the national renewable energy targets and provides proper regional targets for renewable energy. At least we got the energy side of things right with regard to regional balance, but we have completely failed in other respects. I am disappointed by my colleagues in government, in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, for allowing this to happen. For the next six years, we again have big plans for Dublin but are neglecting the regional areas.

The Green Party fought tooth and nail but we failed to get the Government parties to listen. We do not all live in Dublin. We all want to live in other places and we have to provide choices. We are failing when it comes to delivering on housing outside of the cities. The vision in the national planning framework continues with the same old same old that all roads lead to Dublin.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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All roads now lead to Senator Paul Gavan.

Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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I want to raise two issues. The first is a lady whose name has been mentioned a number of times, rightly so. I refer to the courage of Natasha O'Brien, who was the victim of an horrific assault by a member of our armed services. People have spoken very eloquently about her courage and bravery. I want to highlight the horrendous social media campaign against her in the past couple of weeks. There have been the most horrendous attacks on her personally and scurrilous comments about her. There has been nonsense about there being more to the story.

I dug a little further to have a look at the people who are making these comments and see what they had in common. What they had in common is that they are part of the Ireland is full, anti-Palestinian, Islamophobia, which we know is widespread across social media, and anti-LGBT brigades. There is a message of hatred washing across social media. Even in circumstances where a poor woman was beaten nearly to within an inch of her life, they think they can attack her. We need to call this out.

I am genuinely very worried, as I know others are, about the culture of it now being somehow acceptable to have violence against a woman. We need a debate on this. When we come back after the summer - we are not sure how long we will come back for - I urge the Leader to prioritise this for an early debate because all of us need to call it out, not just the actions but who these people are and what else they represent. Not all of us know who these people are and what they do. Most of us come across them on social media and sometimes in person. All of us need to be stronger and call that out.

The second issue I want to raise is one that has come up again in the past couple of days, namely, early years education. I do not like referring to it as childcare because it is much more valuable than that. A SIPTU presentation here last week told us that there is a 25% turnover in the sector. Workers are caught in a cycle of low pay, a staffing crisis and increased stress and burnout. It is a particularly challenging time for them. I want to be fair. The Minister, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, deserves some credit for establishing an employment regulation order, ERO. However, not enough has been done. The rate of pay in the sector is still incredibly low.

There is a fundamental point we will need to discuss. I heard others yesterday speak about the pressure on small businesses. I accept that, but surely we need to talk about why we do not have a publicly provided early years education service. Is there an ideological objection to that? It came up in the debate in the audiovisual room last week. Does the Government see a small business model as being the appropriate model for providing early years education? Certainly, I do not. We would never suggest that we provide national school education via a small business model, so why are we the laggards in Europe? Across Europe, there is publicly provided childcare and early years education. That is what we need here and it is why we need a debate on the topic.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Leader for a debate in the House on Uisce Éireann. It is a gripe of mine. I am not denigrating the authority, but there are issues with its capacity, financial support and ability to deal with the demands for water from our ever-growing population. In my lifetime, there has been substantial building of houses and apartments. I have come to Dublin since I was a student; I will not say for how many years but it is in excess of 40. There have been major developments in Dublin. Does Uisce Éireann have the capacity and reservoirs to deal with the growing demand and population of the country? I am saying this in a positive way. Is there sufficient Government funding to enable Uisce Éireann to deal with capacity?

There are constant breakages. Week in, week out, there are notices about breakages, delays and whatever else in the water supply in the Clonakilty area of west Cork. That is not good enough in this day and age. Uisce Éireann, perhaps through no fault of its own, cannot keep pace with the current development in Ireland. I am saying this in a balanced way. My home town is Bantry. I have recent experience of visiting family who live there. The quality of the water coming through the taps is far from good. I would not drink it. There are many issues with the supply of water by Uisce Éireann to the citizens of Ireland. I do not think it has enough manpower or funding behind it. The Government and the Department that deals with Uisce Éireann should take a good look at this. We will go into a cul-de-sac in terms of water. It is a simple, basic need for people. Bearing in mind the volume of water that falls in Ireland, we should make a better fist of this resource.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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We will move from one part of west Cork to the other. I call Senator Tim Lombard.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I want to make sure we have an age-friendly public transport service. There has been significant investment in public transport in the past four years and I acknowledge the Government's commitment to it. It has made the lives of many people much easier in terms of getting around. We have issues where bus shelters have been provided, which are appropriate, but a timetable has not been provided in them.

A man called to my office in Bandon yesterday. A brand new bus shelter has been provided in the town but this man cannot get the timetable for the service unless he goes online. He is of a significant age. The only way he can get the information is to ring his son in Dublin and ask him to google the timetable. We need to make sure timetables for the public transport network are provided at bus shelters. Having timetables strictly online does not work.

The bus office in Cork tells people to google the information and look it up online because the information is on the website. There is still a place for paper in our society. We know that cash is still king in many ways. When it comes to our ageing population, a certain demographic needs information on bus timetables to be provided in bus shelters. Not everyone can access the online network. People are shying away from going on public transportation. It is a small but important issue.

We need joined-up thinking to ensure we connect everyone in society. Everyone of a certain age needs the information to be made available to him or her. Unfortunately, because of the way the NTA has moved its model in the past couple of years, timetable information is only available online. This has knock-on implications for the older generation which has free transportation. Older people are shying away from getting the bus because they do not know when it will turn up.I suggest that we send correspondence to the Minister for Transport about this issue in order that he can make the NTA aware of this issue so the authority can get significant movement to ensure there is age inclusivity when it comes to this issue.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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The Leader will know that over the last few years I have spoken quite a lot on the search and rescue contract that is now passing from CHC to Bristow. Today, I want to draw to the attention of the Leader, and perhaps she will draw it to the attention of the Minister, a crash that took place in February of this year in Norway. I refer to the Norwegian national oil and gas operator. The company that won the contract was going through what our search and rescue service is going through now, which is a transition from one operator to another operator. In the case of what happened in Norway, the aircraft remained constant. A new company was taking over, they were using the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter and the period of time required to move from one operator to the other is the issue at hand. A report on the crash has just been issued and it shows that the transition time for the change of contract operator was too short.

As to why I bring this matter to the attention of the Leader and ask her to bring it to the attention of the Minister for Transport, Bristow has won the contract. Anyone in the Oireachtas is getting regular updates from Bristow. I wish Bristow well in the future but I never wanted it nor anybody else to get the contract because I believe that the State should do it itself but that is a different argument. I am concerned about the fact that we lost the crew of an S-92 called R116 off the coast of Belmullet and there have been several reports condemning the way things were done. Now we are in a situation where a new contractor is in place and we have too tight a timeline. The new contractor will not use S-92 aircraft but AgustaWestland AW189 aircraft. The timeframe to bring the crews up to speed is far too tight and I believe that we are now going to put the new crews in the new SAR service in serious peril by not giving enough time for the transition to move, not just from one employer to the other but to change from one type of helicopter to a different type of helicopter. I have put that on the record today and I will come back to this matter later when I have more information but I am really concerned. I would also like Bristow to make a statement as to how prepared it believes it will be in time for this contract.

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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The cross-Border healthcare directive has been a hugely successful healthcare plan for those in the Republic who find themselves on waiting lists for whatever procedures. Very many people have availed of the directive. An issue has now arisen in respect of those who seek cataract surgery. I understand that the success of the scheme speaks for itself. Since 2017, over 4,000 people have travelled to the North of Ireland, in this instance, to avail of cataract surgery and the HSE has reimbursed people a certain amount of money. The sum used to be somewhere in the region of over €1,900 but as and from 1 July, the amount has been reduced to €800-odd for the procedure. The net result of the decrease is that the procedure will cost people more money.

As Senators can imagine, cataract surgery can be life changing. Apparently the new reimbursement amount was introduced after 1 July, which is only a few days ago, but there was very little communication about the change. So much so that people who had their procedures booked for a long time were only told just a week or two before their surgery that the reimbursement figure has been cut in half, which is very disappointing. I have contacted the HSE about the matter and await correspondence. It would be useful for us to have a debate, perhaps when we return after the recess, about the Northern Ireland healthcare plan or on arrangements for anyone who wants to travel anywhere in the EU to have these procedures done. The initiative has been hugely successful and it is disappointing that the reimbursement figure has been cut in half. I would very much welcome a debate on the matter.

Tom Clonan (Independent)
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I echo the congratulations to Regina Doherty on her election to Europe. In the two years that I have been here, she has been a great colleague and mentor. She is originally from Finglas and Ballymun so while I am not saying it is the Finglas Mafia who were in play, she is a great colleague and I am delighted to see her go to Europe.

I wish to welcome Nikki Bradley to the House whom I met with the Taoiseach, Deputy Simon Harris, this morning.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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Ms Bradley has not been nominated yet.

Tom Clonan (Independent)
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I am just welcoming Ms Bradley to the House out of politeness. I have not said anything else. I had the great pleasure to meet her with the Taoiseach on the way in this morning. She will be a fantastic appointment, when that takes place.

Yesterday, I spoke about the waiting lists for scoliosis for spinal surgery in the Children's Hospital Ireland group. Despite the commitments given by the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, that the waiting lists would be reduced, we still have hundreds of children on that waiting list suffering and deteriorating with life-altering and life-limiting consequences. Since I spoke yesterday, I have had a volume of correspondence from parents of children on that list. It is not just spinal surgery. One mum contacted me yesterday to tell me of a two-year-old who has had to have a limb amputated because the surgery for limb reconstruction was not available. What kind of a Republic is this where a two-year-old has an unnecessary amputation? We should be ashamed of ourselves. I have called this out for quite some time. This is unacceptable.

There is another situation where children are not getting botox injections to the bladder, which prevents urine going back up into the kidneys. These are children with spina bifida, hydrocephalus and other conditions who will be forced to go on dialysis and who, at some point, may experience kidney failure. This is unheard of in other European Union countries. What is going on? It is an absolute travesty. This is an international scandal. Before we go into recess, I prevail on the Leader to ask the Minister what is going on. We cannot continue to fail disabled children in this way.

Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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It is horrendous.

Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail)
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I thank those Members who contributed to the Order of Business. First to speak this morning was Senator Fiona O'Loughlin. She welcomed the announcement yesterday by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Jack Chambers, of the summer economic statement, which outlines the budgetary parameters for the upcoming budget in a few months' time. The Senator made the point that the economy has been well managed, there is space to do some work on the budget and that the Government has done a good job in making sure that the public finances are kept in a healthy space.

The Senator also drew our attention to the Grand Canal in Kildare and a pilot project that re-opened a waterway that had not been travelled on for more than 50 years. It is great to see the waterway back up and running. The Senator also raised concerns around legislation coming through for Airbnbs that might prevent some Airbnbs in a rent-pressure zone remaining open. She suggested there might be exemptions made on a case-by-case basis, where appropriate.

Senator Mary Seery Kearney raised the issue of the apartment defects scheme, which she has done on numerous occasions. She was accompanied in the House by Sam and Odette Doran of the Not Our Fault campaign who are in the Gallery. The Senator has asked for an update and more progress because while welcoming the fact that a good scheme has been put in place, extra requirements have been placed on homeowners that were not envisaged at the outset.

Senator Keogan mentioned the UK's Cass review on gender identity services and I concur with the Senator's remarks. I think the review throws up a lot of issues. The UK is often ahead of us in terms of dealing with issues and challenges due to its size of the country and its population. If we can learn from our nearest neighbour in respect of mistakes that they may have made, and changes that they are making to their system, then I think we should do that. I certainly agree that 2026 seems like a very faraway date if we know we have an issue to deal with.It is good that Dr. Cass has stated that puberty blockers should not automatically be prescribed and should not be the first port of call. The consequences of puberty blockers for later in life are significant, severe, life-limiting and life-changing if their prescription is shown not to be the right call. It should not be done lightly.

This is a complex area and I do not pretend to be an expert in it. We are all still learning. However, the protection of children must be paramount. If a body of work has been done over a significant period of time with proper expertise from which we can learn, we should absolutely be learning from it and not repeating the mistakes that have been made elsewhere. There are certainly questions to be asked in this State about how we have dealt with those issues to date. I will certainly request a debate on the matter but it will not happen until the new term because we have a packed agenda for next week with the planning Bill.

Senator Garvey raised concerns about the national planning framework and what she views as the Dublin-centric approach to planning. In her view, all roads still lead to Dublin. She makes a valid point in that there is definitely a deficit of infrastructure in parts of the country, particularly in the west, where Senator Garvey lives, and in the north west, where I live. There is work to be done to bring the infrastructure up to the same level as other parts of the country. That work is under way. There needs to be investment in developing our regions. Providing more balanced development across the country is of benefit to all regions.

Senator Gavan spoke about the bravery of Ms Natasha O'Brien. She has been spoken about in this House on a number of occasions. To her credit, she is a fantastic woman who has done the State and women a great service. I have seen some of the commentary online, which is disturbing and worrying. There is an element of victim blaming and suggestions that she somehow brought the assault on herself, was deserving of it or that there is more to the story. The facts were laid before the courts so we know what happened. The facts are not disputed. Her attacker, the convicted man in question, pleaded guilty. There is no question as to what happened. The Senator is right that there seems to a trend whereby certain people become a part of various negative campaigns. There is definitely a lot of hatred out there. We have to remind ourselves that, thankfully, social media is not real life. However, it is worrying that such online commentary is increasing. For somebody who is the victim of a crime, it is more traumatising to have to read those comments. Thankfully, those people are in the minority in the country but they are a very vocal minority because they have a platform. Social media companies have a significant role to play to moderate their platforms and to ensure that people are safe.

I take on board the points made by the Senator in respect of early years education. We have done a good job of work in the early years sector over the past four years. There have been improvements to pay and conditions. A significant amount of Government funding has gone into the early years sector. There has also been a reduction in the costs to parents. However, we have a long way to go. We were coming from a very low base and are behind the curve in comparison with many EU countries. We have come a good bit of the way but have a long way to go yet.

The issue of the early years sector and the provision of childcare was raised from a different angle yesterday. It is not just about childcare. "Early years education" is the correct term. It would be good to see early years education and childcare provision come under the Department of Education, as opposed to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. There are too many aspects to the latter Department and the issue would fit better within the Department of Education. That is its natural home. I would love to see that movement happen under the next government, whenever it is formed.

There is pressure in respect of places and the turnover of staff in the sector. It is a predominantly female profession and has been undervalued for a long time. That is changing. There has been acknowledgement from the Government that the job is crucial to the education of our children and young people. It will take time to increase the remuneration of employees in that sector but it is on the way. I would like for it to happen at an accelerated pace to try to deal with the level of turnover. I made the point yesterday that I would also like to see more support for parents who would like to stay at home and mind their children. I would like for that to become a viable choice and not only for those who have the money to do so. We know that for financial reasons, it is not an option for some people. It is about parental choice and ensuring that we maintain staff in the sector to provide that choice for children and parents.

Senator O'Donovan asked for a debate on Uisce Éireann. We will look at that in the new term. The Senator raised concerns about the capacity of Uisce Éireann to deal with increasing demand and the job it has to facilitate the development and building of houses. That is an important body of work that must be done for the State. It is important that there is financial support available and that Uisce Éireann has the capacity and resources to deliver what is needed.

Senator Lombard asked for a debate on an age-friendly public transport service. He said that a lot of information is available online but that is not always accessible to the more mature members of our society.

Senator Craughwell raised concerns about the search and rescue contract, the preparedness of Bristow and the time being made available to the crew coming in. I take on board the Senator's comments in that regard.

Senator Gallagher raised an interesting point. I was not aware that the reimbursement under the cross-border healthcare directive for cataract surgery has been halved, as of 1 July. That is concerning. People are accessing healthcare services in the North because the waiting lists here are still too long for those key surgeries. A reduction of €800 is significant for somebody who has to pay for themselves. They were probably still paying a little bit anyway when €1,900 was available. The Senator might consider it worthwhile to prepare a Commencement matter on that point to try to get some more information and detail as to why that decision was made and the reasoning and evidence behind it.

Senator Clonan welcomed Nikki Bradley to the House. I had the pleasure of meeting her outside the Chamber and it is great to see her in Leinster House. I take on board the point the Senator made. There are many good things happening in our health service and we deliver well in some areas. We have the longest life expectancy in Europe. We are living longer. There are many good things. We have done well in respect of cancer care and cardiac and stroke issues. However, when it comes to paediatric care, we are falling short on the scoliosis issue. It is not just the Minister of Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, who has tried to work in that regard. Previous Ministers for Health promised to end waiting lists. I do not know what we are finding difficult to deal with. I understand it is difficult to get the surgeons required to do this work because it is so complex. At this stage, children must be prioritised and their healthcare must come first. I am not aware of the detail of the case of the two-year-old about whom the Senator spoke. If what he said on the floor of the House is what happened, it is absolutely appalling.

Tom Clonan (Independent)
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Of course what I said was accurate.

Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail)
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I had not heard about it and do not know the individuals, the mum or the child, in question. It is horrific that it could happen in a developed country. We must ensure that children are given every opportunity and that healthcare is delivered for children. Most importantly, above any other members of society, children must come first.

The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, is working day and night to try to solve the scoliosis issue, to alleviate the pressures and the waiting lists, but it is proving challenging. As I said, previous Ministers have also tried. Progress is being made but I appreciate that for the children waiting for surgery, it is not enough. It is taking too long. I certainly hope to see the issue resolved and that we are not still talking about the issue not being resolved in the new term. Time is of the essence for those families and children.