Senator O'Brien proposed an amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 13 be taken before No. 2. It is with regard to publishing a Bill. I have no problem with this, and I agree to the amendment.

I agree with him that there have been difficulties with the fair deal scheme. I understand that on 20 January there were 763 delayed discharges nationally, of which 368 were in the Dublin teaching hospitals. A focus on these delayed discharges is key to efficient patient flow, and significant resources are being applied to provide the best possible mix of support and services. The Government committed an additional €25 million in the budget for 2015 to address delayed discharges. This has resulted in 300 extra approvals under the nursing home support scheme. The waiting time for approved funding has dropped from 17 weeks, which it was before Christmas, to 11 weeks, as the Senator mentioned. A total of 50 additional short-stay beds have been sourced from the private sector. A total of 400 home care packages were approved in the greater Dublin area for 2015. All requirements for home care are being met across the target hospitals, with 80 home care packages currently deployed, and the number is increasing daily. A further 386 transitional beds were approved across all acute hospitals by the week ending 23 January. These are the transitional care beds put in place to address the surge in delayed discharges which the Senator mentioned. There are no significant delays associated with the provision of home care.

This is monitored daily. As of October 2014, some 8.5 million home care hours had been provided to 46,608 people and 13,000 home care packages had been approved to enable older people to remain living in their communities. In addition to these measures, the HSE has allocated 165 transitional care beds to support Dublin's academic teaching hospitals, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and Naas General Hospital. As of 26 January 2015, all of these beds had been assessed.

In light of the recent surge in activity in emergency departments, the HSE is considering the potential of spare capacity for short-stay beds in the private nursing home sector. The HSE is profiling where the extra potential capacity is and matching the locations to the patients. It is on target to bring about additional bed streams at Mount Carmel Hospital on a phased basis from the end of March.

There has been significant progress. We have asked the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to attend the Seanad to discuss the matter further. She has agreed, but it will be March before she is in a position to do so. I hope that the situation will have improved significantly by then.

I thank the Leader.

Senator Landy referred to the review of court services in County Tipperary. I assure him that there is no intention to close the courthouse in Carrick-on-Suir, which was refurbished recently.

A number of Senators discussed the measures to tackle the sale of cheap alcohol. The Minister has promised that the legislation will be before us by the summer. Senators made many points about the abuse of alcohol. Senator Wilson referred to the great level of co-operation between the Ministers on both sides of the Border. The measures will be co-ordinated, so that what happens in Ireland as regards the below-cost sale of alcohol will happen across the Border simultaneously. This is significant. Many Senators stated validly that the money saved from this initiative needed to be ring-fenced for public health measures.

Senators Norris and Gilroy condemned the murder of the Japanese journalist and Jordanian pilot. We would all like to be associated with the Senators' remarks. What happened was appalling. A new barbarity exists, which is most regrettable.

Senators MacSharry and Henry referred to the issue of alcohol and I have addressed that.

Senator Burke discussed attendance levels at accident and emergency departments and the outstanding fees. Responsibility for collecting those fees lies with each hospital. I am sure that hospitals will be following up on the matter. The Senator alluded to the Minister's willingness to include general practitioners, GPs, and representatives of nursing homes on the emergency committee to deal with accident and emergency units and so on. This is important.

Senators Quinn and Craughwell raised the need for banks to treat all customers equally. I agree, but giving benefits to new customers while not extending the same benefits to existing ones seems to be the order of the day. I will bring this matter to the attention of the Minister for Finance.

It was mentioned that there may be a need to protect investors in crowd funding. Senator Quinn has raised this matter several times. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, attended the House to discuss it some time ago, but I will impress upon him the possible need for such legislation.

Senator Sheahan asked about the Coroners Bill. I will try to find a date for when the Bill will be on Committee Stage. He also raised the need for a debate on road safety. I will invite the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Donohoe, to the House to address the matter.

Senators Cullinane, Paul Coghlan and others discussed a debt conference. The Greek Government has stated that it does not intend to default on its loans, which is a major change from what we were led to believe was the situation. Some commentators have got it wrong by stating that we should try to emulate Greece. Our economies are fundamentally different. We have an open and dynamic economy with a highly flexible and educated workforce and a high-tech export base. Ireland has successfully exited the bailout and is firmly on the road to recovery without external conditional funding assistance. I do not understand any argument that proposes to derail our recovery and plunge our country back into economic chaos.

As to the matter of a debt conference, there are already forums for discussing debt issues, namely, the Eurogroup and ECOFIN. It was there that Ireland negotiated concessions to reduce our borrowing in the next decade by €50 billion. Without those concessions, we would have been unlikely to exit the bailout and restore growth to the economy. Our government-to-debt ratio fell more quickly last year than did any other eurozone country's and is no longer viewed as being unsustainable by the markets. We are still in the process of restructuring our bailout debts so as to make them even more affordable, having received unanimous European support for refinancing €18 billion of our IMF loans at much lower interest rates, saving the taxpayer at least €1.5 billion.

The option of applying for retrospective capitalisation of our core banks remains on the table but, as the Minister, Deputy Noonan, has made clear, we are also considering other options that might prove better for the Irish taxpayer and would not involve the transfer of ownership of our banking system to a bureaucracy in Luxembourg. We have already committed to recovering all funding that this Government injected into our core banks.

Senator Gilroy called for a debate with the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, regarding terrorism and, in particular, ISIS. I will try to arrange for it.

Senator O'Donovan discussed the commission of inquiry, a matter that was raised last week and again yesterday. It has been alleged that the terms of reference have changed since they were agreed. I am not sure whether that is the situation, but we will investigate. If the terms of reference have been changed as alleged, the Minister will attend the Seanad. However, I do not propose to accept the amendment to the Order of Business.

Senator Keane stated that today was world cancer day and referred to the benefits of early detection. It is right that we outline the successes in the treatment of cancer over the years and compliment everyone working in that field, including Senator Crown.

Hear, hear.

Our health care professionals are doing an excellent job. The successes in the treatment of cancer should be shouted out loud because people are fearful. Treatment has a tremendous success rate.

Senator O'Donnell discussed the people's forum and Irish Water. As she rightly pointed out, section 7 of the Water Services Act 2014 provides it as a function of the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, to establish that forum. The Department has met the CER to progress the forum's establishment.

The Department is preparing regulations to set out details of the forum and the Minister will be providing the draft regulations to the Oireachtas joint committee for comment before finalising the composition and membership of the forum. I hope that answers that question.

Senators Brennan and Mullen raised the national broadcaster and the lack of accountability in RTE on how the licence fee is spent, and also the question of the large salaries some presenters receive of which the public will not be made aware for at least three years. There is a question of accountability in that regard and I will bring that matter to the attention of the Minister.

Senator Craughwell raised Seanad reform proposals. That committee has met on several occasions and will continue to meet. I have spoken to the Chairman of that committee. When the report is complete, I will invite the Chairman to come in here and debate it with the Members of this House. That will provide an opportunity for each and every Member to go through it, as it deserves. I am sure it will be a comprehensive report. I am thankful that the Chairman is willing to come into the House, if invited, to discuss that report with us.

Senator Mooney stated that the Department of Children and Youth Affairs is holding back €1 million in lottery funding. I will certainly inquire what the position is in that regard. It is strange that €1 million of such a budget would be held back and I am not quite sure what the reason is for that.

Senator Healy Eames mentioned that she has written to the Minister regarding the accident and emergency department in Galway. I am sure the Minister will reply to her in that regard. Seeing that she has written to the Minister, there is nothing I can do to assist. I am sure that he will give her the necessary reply.

Senator Ó Clochartaigh raised Seachtain na Gaeilge. As in previous years, we will try to arrange some debates in the Irish language. The Senator also called for a debate on the EU Maritime and Fisheries Fund. I will ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, to come in and see if we can have a debate on that before proposals are sent to Europe.