I thank the 17 Members of the House for their contribution to the Order of Business. On behalf of myself and the Government, I thank and pay tribute to all our first responders-----

Hear, hear.

-----health care workers, including nurses, doctors, domestic staff, porters, catering staff, gardaí, Civil Defence, prison officers, the fire brigade, council staff and the ESB. It showed the importance and the dedication of our public service and public servants. They were led by Mr. Sean Hogan, chair of the National Emergency Coordination Group, NECG. I thank him and the staff of Met Éireann for their work over the four days. The decision to ask people not to use roads or travel was wise. That avoidance of danger meant people did not die on the roads. It is a testament to the fact there was vision by members of the NECG. It shows that community spirit is alive and well in our country, in our cities, in our towns and in rural Ireland, where neighbours became neighbours of old again and where people called, visited and ensured that others were okay, that driveways were cleared of snow and that people were safe and well. In the city of Cork, which I come from, men and women stayed overnight in camp beds in hospitals or were put up in hotels. A consultant in Cork University Hospital ran from Innishannon to the hospital. Catering staff went out to make sure that food was supplied to the hospital when the trucks could not get in. That is dedication. People walked to work, including first responders. We must also give credit to RTÉ, in particular our regional correspondents, and to those who work in TV3, for keeping us informed. It was a community effort by the people of Ireland to ensure that people were safe. People worked long hours and walked to work. They did whatever was necessary to ensure that people were kept safe in our hospitals and that services were running. I commend everybody on the work they did, including volunteers and those who were paid. We are a small island with a huge heart that reaches out beyond ourselves to ensure that we look after each other. It is the epitome of what is good about us as a people.

Senator Ardagh raised the issue of eating disorders. It was eating disorders awareness week last week. She is right that there is a deficit in beds but it is not just about beds. I know Fianna Fáil's leader, Deputy Micheál Martin, raised it. The HSE has committed to developing a plan relating to the development of services for eating disorders.

Up to 5% of our population is affected. The HSE, in launching a new model of care, is committed to creating eight adult and children eating disorder units throughout the country allowing for faster access to assessment and it is investing up to €2.8 million. This is about ensuring people can access services but, equally, I agree with the Senator that there is an issue relating to CAMHS, which needs to be fundamentally addressed, and it is not good enough or acceptable that there are waiting lists for CAMHS. The HSE, as part of its plan, announced in January a step-down model of care delivery, a specialist training programme along with a dedicated national eating disorder network and specialised inpatient eating disorder programmes within key psychiatric units nationally as well as in local hospitals, and the creation of additional care teams through the dedicated network. It will be a collaborative approach. New clinical posts are being advertised but more action is needed on the issue. It is important to have that debate and I am happy to ask the Minister to come to the House in this regard.

Senator Craughwell raised the issue of bullying. It is important to have a debate. There is no place, and can be no place, for bullying in any workplace, whether it is Teach Laighean, a small shop, a school staffroom or a major semi-State or private company.

Senators Reilly, Craughwell and Mullen raised the issue of insurance. The Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy D'Arcy, has been in the House on a number of occasions to discuss the issue. The Government established an insurance working group under the chairmanship of the Minister of State. An interim report was published in January with 15 of the 33 recommendations carried out. It is important that the working group be allowed to continue its work. More than half of the 71 associated actions have been implemented, which highlights the importance of the Government communicating with people. Senator Mullen referred to the issue of returning emigrants. In that case, protocols have been agreed with Insurance Ireland and they are being implemented. They commit insurers to accepting claims-free driving experience in other countries. Senators Craughwell and Reilly referred to the cost of insurance. Motor insurance premia have stabilised. CSO data, which is independent of Government, show a 16.3% reduction in cost from the peak in July 2017. If that is not an example of the need for Government to communicate, I do not know what is. Senator Mullen was not aware of that.

Saying it on the floor of the Seanad is much cheaper than buying newspaper space.

The Senator is a learned man who reads a lot. If he did not know that, then there is a need for the strategic communications unit. He just made the case for it.

The Government has the free platform of the Houses.

The problem is, as the Senator will be aware, very few listen to us in here.

We can have the debate another time, not on the Order of Business.

We should examine the report on the cost of motor insurance. I agree that there is a need to reduce the cost further and there is an obligation on all of us to work together to do that.

I join Senators Craughwell and McFadden in praising our Defence Forces in the context of Storm Emma. The men and women of the Defence Forces also deserve huge admiration and praise for their role in peacekeeping and for the role they play in the State. The Senators were correct to raise that.

Senator Black raised the issue of Irish Water communications. There is a need to communicate strategically, properly and in a timely manner. Irish Water is doing a good job in communicating. This issue again makes the case for the strategic communications unit and the need to provide more information. When it became clear that there was an issue with water supply, Irish Water mobilised on social media, although I accept that not everybody is on social media. Those who opposed Irish Water and payments to ensure we have running water now have a question to answer in the context of the company today. I take the Senator's point regarding the need for timely communication.

Senators Black, McFadden and Coghlan raised the issue of councillors' pay and conditions. As the Cathaoirleach knows, it was on the clár for last week but because of the decision to close the Houses, it was not debated. That debate will now take place on 27 March. It is not that we will not debate it. It has just been delayed.

Senator Devine referred to the health service, health care workers and the INMO campaign. I would be happy to have the Minister attend the House on that matter.

I congratulate Senator Bacik on her sterling work on Vótáil 100. I hope that we will all join her and our colleagues on international women's day on 8 March as we celebrate the centenary of women's suffrage. It is important to have that debate, which the House will in the coming weeks.

Tomorrow's statements on foreign affairs will be an opportune time to debate Syria with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney. I would be happy to facilitate a cross-party motion on Syria.

I am tempted to remind Senator Leyden that 2010 was the last bad outcome for snow and ice and that the Fianna Fáil Party was in government. We have learned from its mistakes.

Senator Boyhan raised the important issue of horticulture and the 21 key action points. I would be happy to have the Minister attend the House to discuss the matter.

Senators Reilly, Devine, Feighan and Bacik referred to the impending resignation of Mr. Tony O'Brien, chief executive of the HSE. As a former Chairman of the health committee, I pay tribute to Mr. O'Brien and thank him for the professional and courteous manner in which he dealt with the committee, and particularly me as its Chair. I always found him to be a most engaging and committed person who had only one motivation, that was, to ensure that we had a competent, caring and strong health care system that worked for the patient. I wish him well and thank him for his service. As Senator Feighan rightly stated, he has left the health service in a better place than when he found it. He is not universally popular because of some of his decisions, but he managed the health system and HSE in a time of diminished budgets.

Senator Reilly also made an impassioned plea to Fingal County Council regarding a particular family. I hope that it will listen to him. This is about ensuring that the family is safe from homelessness.

I join Senator Byrne in congratulating the people of the mid-west on the 600 new jobs. Members will be glad to hear that it is the largest number of jobs announced outside of Dublin, which shows that the Government governs beyond the M50. I congratulate Limerick and commend all involved in Innovate Limerick.

Senator Norris mentioned the ESB building on Fitzwilliam Square. The ESB began a major overhaul of that building at the end of last month. I wish it well. I was not around when it demolished the old Georgian streetscape. The Senator made a good point. This was the subject of an article in The Irish Times in recent days and there have also been previous decisions. I thank the Senator for raising the matter.

Senator O'Reilly made a pertinent contribution on the issue of roads. As we all know, there are craters in our roads and footpaths have deteriorated as a consequence of the storm. The knock-on effects of the storm will have a profound impact on county and city councils. I join the Senator in asking the Minister to consider giving them extra funding to repair roads, some of which have crumbled to the point of needing complete overhauls as opposed to patching.

Senator Mullen raised the issue of the strategic communications unit, SCU, and the national development plan. I am loath to start a political row with the Senator on the issue-----

Just give us a debate on it. That is all I ask.

I would be happy to have a debate on communications in government. Do people want the Government not to communicate at all? Do they want to cease communications on health, insurance, social protection, the national development plan-----

I believe that is what is called "a false dichotomy".

The problem-----

There is a happy medium between overload and nothing.

-----that Senator Mullen and others have is that they do not want to see good news in terms of the national development plan.

No, that is not true.

They do not want to see €116 billion being spent on improving the lives of our people.

Let the good news tell itself.

The other point which was raised, which I do have to ask about in a rhetorical sense, is what does the media cover? Whom do they want to see on the front page of newspapers? What do they want to see? What sells newspapers? Rather than just focusing on one part of communication, there is a two-way street here.

I agree.

I would not be afraid of having a debate about the role of the media and how they cover politics, and how they cover any topic for that matter, whether it is the courts, education or whatever. I would be happy to have that debate.

Please.

I think it is important.

I think a lot of people would make a lot of interesting contributions.

We are not having a debate now.

I know but there are 700 press officers across Departments.

Yes, which is a hell of a lot of public money to begin with-----

So-----

-----before we start counting the price of putting ads in newspapers.

It is not Fine Gael election candidates that are supposed to be getting public relations.

If the Senator was-----

I am not having a go at press officers. I am just saying-----

Please.

There you go. So, you see-----

Can we restore some order? If the debate is offered and agreed, we can have a two or three-hour debate some evening.

We will do that but it is important to have balance though in what we come into the House with. I am not saying Senator Mullen is imbalanced or anything. It is important to have balance in what is being spoken about. The problem is many of the people who criticise this unit are talking rubbish, to be honest. I am not saying the Senator is, but some of them are.

I did not criticise the unit.

Yes.

The spending is my beef.

Finally, I join Senator Feighan in calling on the British MP to withdraw his remarks regarding the Taoiseach. He is doing what every other Taoiseach has done, or should do, and that is to protect the Irish citizen and Ireland. Brexit will have a profound impact on us as a country. The Taoiseach and the Government have a duty to protect and advocate on behalf of Ireland. That is being done in the context of the European Union. If we look at the remarks of the negotiators, and the chairmen of the European Commission, it will be seen that it is about having a Europe that represents all of us - small countries as well as big countries. I would be very happy to have a continuing debate on Brexit but it is important though that there is balance in that debate. It is not about Ireland being protectionist. It is about Ireland looking after our own interests and protecting ourselves in the context of being good Europeans.