I would like to renew my call for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to come to the House to address a matter that is covered in all our national newspapers today. The budgetary measure to which I refer is the 6% commercial charge, or transactional tax levy, on agricultural land. It is an issue in the media and also for many small farmers, in particular. The intended consequences and ramifications of this measure are enormous. A farmer who owns approximately 600 acres in County Kildare said to me this morning that he had thought Fine Gael was the farming community's greatest supporter. Through his involvement in the Irish Farmers Association, he will be cranking up a massive campaign against the Government on this tax. I am not for a moment advocating for farmers who have more than 100 ha. I am talking about very small farmers who will be crippled by this tax. When we debated the budget the other day, I indicated that the transitional tax will have an impact on one-off shops in small towns and villages in rural areas. At a time when the Government is advocating a policy of living over such shops, we should be incentivising people to tidy and redevelop small vacant retail units in towns and villages all over the country. I believe that because of the 6% charge, this might not happen as quickly as we might like it to happen. It is important to deal with that. I would like to renew my call for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to address the impact on small farmers of new regulations with regard to fodder, hay and silage. The changes in question, which I discussed here yesterday, were introduced by the Department last week. I have mentioned two agriculture issues.

I thank the Leader for organising next week's statements on child care in the presence of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone. I would like him, through his office, to signal to the Minister that we will be asking questions about the impact of the budget on beefing up the recruitment of social workers. I hope we will get some information on this matter next week. The Minister has said in this House - I checked the record this morning - that she is greatly concerned about the lack of resources and the insufficient number of social workers needed to deal with very vulnerable children. I am giving notice here today that I will question the Minister on this matter next week. I am looking forward to it. I would like the Minister to be equipped to answer my questions. The Leader might signal my intention to the Minister so that she will be able to share with us the budgetary implications of her objective to have more social workers in place in line with the statutory requirements of social services.

There is some depressing news coming out of Brussels this morning. Michel Barnier has said he does not intend to recommend to the EU leaders that the talks should move on to trade issues next week. This is a huge kick in the teeth for the island of Ireland. Mr. Barnier has also said the EU will not make concessions on the peace process, which is very welcome. Once again, we are sleepwalking our way into a very dangerous situation for this island. As I have said previously, the British electorate shot themselves in our foot. They never thought about the Border or the issues on the island of Ireland. This is the Achilles heel that will make Brexit simply unworkable. We are in a very dangerous situation again because the electorate will blame the EU and the fight will never be what the fight is about. We are in a very dangerous situation. I appreciate that there is a debate after lunch. This morning's news is very worrying and disturbing.

I would like to call for a debate on another issue. I am the father of a child who was born 11 months ago. When she was very young, she had reflux and she did not sleep, so we brought in a sleep trainer. I did not know what a sleep trainer was, but as a result of her work our young child is now sleeping from 7.30 p.m. until 7.30 a.m. Her mother and I are delighted. This episode made me realise that many people who are affected by simple little issues are asking where to get facilities like this and are anxious to contact people who can help them. I understand that many people are providing these services on Skype. The difference that has been made by the sleep trainer who came into our house for two days has been incredible. Our baby is sleeping and everyone is very happy. Maybe we should invite the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs or the Minister for Health to come to the House to discuss this issue, perhaps with a view to establishing a helpline for parents to ring or something like that. I never thought I would be standing up in the Seanad saying that this was one the best things ever to happen to me. Many parents, especially mothers, do not realise that assistance is available. Perhaps we could call for a debate, during which the Minister could outline the position in this regard. I appreciate that there are many more important things in the health budget, but maybe this is something we could look at. I do not think there is enough awareness of a facility and resource that could be very helpful for the mothers and fathers of young children.