The ball is certainly in but I do not think that is a matter for the Order of Business or the Leader.

We celebrated 60 years of UN peacekeeping at the weekend and acknowledged and remembered the 85 members of the armed forces and one Garda who lost their lives on UN peacekeeping service on behalf of Ireland. It was a lovely ceremony in Dublin Castle. Indeed, there were two very nice ceremonies in Dublin Castle on Sunday. The other ceremony related to the decriminalisation of homosexuality. There were lots of references to JFK and our current Taoiseach but a Fianna Fáil Government was in power between 1957 and 1959 when it all started in 1958 and I think it would be nice if when referring to it, the Government did acknowledge that a Fianna Fáil Government was in power at the time.

I want to raise another point relating to policing and justice generally. I wish the new Garda Commissioner well. I also acknowledge that 22 years ago today, Veronica Guerin lost her life in the fight against crime and reporting crime. If she was here today, she would say that there is a lot more work to be done. I wish the new Garda Commissioner well but I do want to acknowledge that time. I remember the day very well. It happened on Boot Road in Clondalkin. I would like to remember that.

I commend the Minister for Justice and Equality for the comments he made at the weekend about cycling. He responded to a tweet. I cycled in here today. I regularly cycle in here. I am lucky enough to live close enough that I can do so but it is not all that safe sometimes. I do support the Minister and others who are saying that it is important that the cycle lanes that are there are available for cyclists and that they are not full of cars parked, lorries delivering or buses pulling in and so on. The Minister has said he will meet with the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, who is far more interested in judges than he is in transport, to deal with this matter. The Minister for Justice and Equality seems to be the one who is most interested in cycling infrastructure, far more than the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. Perhaps he is the one we should bring in to talk about cycling, road infrastructure and the enforcement of road policing. I would appreciate it if the Leader could organise that debate.

I wish to raise an issue I have raised several times here in the House. It concerns the lack of guidelines relating to solar farms. At a time when we are facing such huge fines from Europe for our carbon emissions, clearly solar farms would be a huge addition to reducing that bill yet we do not have any national guidelines and local authorities are refusing planning permission for these farms on that basis.

People are having to go to extra expense to go to An Bord Pleanála. I would like the Minister, Deputy Naughten, with whom this lies more so than the Minister, Deputy Murphy, to come to the House and tell us where he is with his plans. The other interest I have in this regard is in all those hay sheds around the country that could be covered in photovoltaic units. An initiative could be put in place for that.

Another national issue is childhood obesity and the fact that almost one third of our children are either overweight or obese. The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, promoted an initiative in his own area, Wicklow, of a no-fry zone near schools, something which I fully support. Local authorities need guidelines on this from the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, through the Department of Health but it will be a local authority issue. The local authorities and developers need guidance. We currently have a situation where there is a brand new primary school in Skerries with 365 children and there are proposals to build a huge fast food outlet beside it. The initial proposal was for an all-night drive-through with all sorts of traffic issues but, more recently, that has been dropped. It is a disproportionate development in a small local shopping centre. Our children need to be protected from this. We are possibly going to be the first generation that buries the generation behind us as they develop diabetes and all the complications that go with it.

I echo what other Senators said about the Autism Spectrum Disorder Bill. I would also like to know where it is. I have been seeking a meeting about this issue with the Minister for the last three weeks. I hope to meet with him soon. This House passed that Bill in its entirety, unopposed, unanimously and there are children and parents with autism who are struggling on a day-to-day basis. The Bill is by no means a panacea or the end of the beginning. It is the beginning of the beginning for them, in having a process to put in place a national strategy which will give them the help that they need to reach the potential that they have to make their contribution to our society. Over the centuries, people with autism have made major breakthroughs and discoveries.

I wish the new Garda Commissioner well. He has, as others have put it euphemistically, a serious challenge ahead.

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business because I would like the Minister, Deputy Naughten, to come to the House. If he cannot come in himself, he can send in the report about community banking which involved, whether it argued for or against it, an argument for the Sparkassen German bank and Kiwibank. I am a great believer in community banking and not capitulating to the pillar banks. The latter have people earning €30,000 to €70,000 unable to save €50,000 to get a room to live in, let alone a house. They are on every campus in Ireland, costing postgraduates fortunes to study, and putting up their interest rates when they qualify. I could start on the banks and would probably have to have medication because of their behaviour. There is capitulation to the pillar banks. I am not afraid of them and do not think we should be afraid of them. We saw it rejuvenating itself with Mr. Drumm, who was not part of a high street bank but who was certainly part of the actions of the bank that led to many people looking at the USC on top of everything they earn. I would like to propose an amendment to the Order of Business, which I think will be seconded by Senator Wilson.

With regard to Committee Stage of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, Senator Bacik is correct and I would like to know what has happened to it. We were all speaking in generalities last week because we did not know what the Government's amendments were or what our own would be, although I know Senator Bacik had loads and I had plenty myself. I would like to find out about that.

With regard to cycling and cars on footpaths, the Minister needs to look at the fact that we cannot walk on our footpaths because cars are now taking precedence over pedestrians.

They are not only half parked, they are entirely parked up on paths. I would start with the walkers, people who may be disabled or in wheelchairs or the blind, who cannot walk in their own city because of the abuse of cars. That is my amendment to the Order of Business. Members should not think I will take "No" for an answer. I would like the Senators to stay with me on this. Where is this report? Why can I not see it? It was presented at Cabinet and I would like to have a look at it. If the Minister cannot come in and organise it, I will take a copy of it, read it and make up my mind, but it has to be done.

I support Senator O'Donnell in that regard.

I want to raise the issue of the spend on agency workers in the HSE. Last year almost €1 million per day was spent on agency workers such as locum doctors, consultants and, in particular, nurses. Of the €15 million that was put in to boost the mental health budget, from January to March of this year, €13 million of it was spent on agency staff. This means there is €2 million left and the first three months of the year are gone, and there is a projection for something like €80 million more for agency staff for the remainder of the year.

On top of that, the nursing unions have just put out a report on assaults on HSE staff. We know that fewer staff, chaotic working conditions and the use of agency staff, with the resultant lack of continuity of care, give rise to increasing assaults. Between 2008 and 2018 there were more than 10,000 serious assaults on staff, 70% of them on nursing staff. I know these nursing staff. They have had their eyes gouged out, they have lost testicles and they have lost their own physical, never mind emotional, well-being. They are languishing at home often in difficult circumstances, including marriage breakdowns, because of the impact chaotic working conditions have on them.

I do not know who would want to sign up to working like this. Recruitment and retention is abysmal. We need to address the staggering sums of money going to private agencies that are putting in locum staff who have less responsibility than permanent staff.

I would like to propose a vote of congratulations to Arlene Foster, the leader of the DUP, and also to the GAA family from Fermanagh and Donegal for the reception they gave her. It was a wonderful gesture to attend the Ulster final and it sets out an agenda that, hopefully, things are changing in Northern Ireland. That should not go unnoticed, especially given the Taoiseach's visit to east Belfast and the reception he got from the Orange Order and its supporters in east Belfast, and also the reception he got in west Belfast at the opening of Féile. In addition, in recent weeks Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, were in Cork, the so-called rebel county. This island is changing and that is very much to be welcomed. If somebody makes a gesture, I believe we should be strong enough and brave enough to stand up in this Seanad and welcome it. That is very important.

I would also like to welcome the appointment of PSNI deputy chief constable, Drew Harris, as the new Garda Commissioner. Again, this is setting a different tone for the Garda Síochána. My grandfather was among the first members of the Garda Síochána. In this House and in politics, we should challenge the Garda Síochána but we are not here to undermine its good name. I hope that, as politicians, we are balanced in how we talk about members of the Garda Síochána. They are the people who have held the line in very difficult times since the foundation of the State. I wish Drew Harris every success in the future.

One aspect I have raised in the House is the Commonwealth Games, which is due to be held in Northern Ireland in 2021, and which could be another achievement of cross-Border co-operation.

For example, there could have been cross-Border rowing on Lough Rynn in Leitrim. Given that the Northern Ireland Assembly has not sat since January 2017 and no financial package has been agreed, Northern Ireland has lost the Commonwealth Games. That is a major loss. I hope that all parties can work together to get Stormont up and running. The sooner that happens, the better it will be, not just for Northern Ireland, but the island of Ireland.

To reiterate, Ms Arlene Foster turning up at the Ulster final was a major change in mindset in our country.

I echo Senator Feighan's welcome for the gestures and movement, small though they may be, but we must get past gesture politics because we need the Northern Ireland Assembly up and running again. Brexit is coming down the tunnel like an express train. Politicians want to be taken seriously, but politics is about compromise, so we need the assembly to be up and running and people to take their seats in the House of Commons to ensure that there is a good deal for the island of Ireland. Not taking a seat is unacceptable. We are past the day of denying that mandate.

I wish to discuss the issue of a dedicated transport police force and the effects of assaults on public sector workers and public transport. We are past the day of using private security firms, which have no right to detain people at stations or make arrests. Train drivers, DART workers and other public sector workers are being assaulted week in, week out. If we want the general public to feel safe and secure on public transport, there needs to be a dedicated police force on that transport, be it a train going from Cork to Dublin or a DART going from Howth to the city centre. Many other areas have such forces, for example, London. Will the Leader invite the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, to the House to debate this issue at some stage? It would be useful.

The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, might be more useful.

I second Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell's amendment to the Order of Business. She was correct. If a report has been presented to the Cabinet, then there is no reason for it not to be published and made available to us, other than its contents not suiting the Government's agenda. The Minister should answer that request.

I join Senator Feighan in congratulating the former First Minister of Northern Ireland, Ms Arlene Foster. Her attendance at the Ulster final between her native Fermanagh and Donegal in Clones last Sunday was a significant gesture. We look forward to seeing her attending future GAA events.

I welcome today's announcement by the Government of the appointment of a new Garda Commissioner, a fellow Ulsterman, Mr. Drew Harris. He is a professional policeman. His father served as a member of the RUC until his tragic death. He came up through the Troubles and the RUC as it existed at the time and was there when it was reformed into the Police Service of Northern Ireland. He will do an excellent job during his five-year term as Commissioner of An Garda Síochána.

If we are done, then I will call on the Leader to-----

I could speak again on the amendment.

Unfortunately, the rules do not allow for that, as the Senator well knows. The Leader to respond.