As it is our last day I hope the Leas-Chathaoirleach might indulge me a little. I will indulge him later when he launches his committee's report.

I am pleased to hear that.

Of course, any time. We had another disappointing day yesterday regarding Brexit. The vote narrowly passed but given the amendments by the hard Brexiters, it is becoming less likely that we will have a soft Brexit and more likely that we will have a no-deal Brexit. It is up to all of us to try to make sure that whatever happens we get the best deal for Ireland, in particular our own State but obviously the whole island of Ireland, including the North. I am not going to make any great points about the narrowness of the victories on the Brexiters' side but it may require Sinn Féin to examine its policy. On occasion it might want to go into Westminster because if the party's seven MPs had been present yesterday, the vote could have been overturned. I accept that they have a point and they make their abstentionist policy clear in advance of any election but perhaps in special circumstances such as this it might be worth considering a particular point when they may want to opt in. That is not directed at either of my colleagues to my right.

The Senator may want to opt-in to elections in the North.

We may do. A second point relates to water restrictions. We know they are necessary but Irish Water must liaise in particular with the businesses that operate in the evening time - licensed premises, restaurants, takeaways and so on. We have a thriving tourism industry and it is important that people can use facilities to wash their hands, flush toilets or get a glass of water. I call on Irish Water to contemplate easing the restrictions slightly, in particular on Friday and Saturday nights and every evening in the city centre core, for those businesses which not only contribute to the tourism economy but which provide much employment. The facilities are not just for tourists but for the entire population. They provide a lot of employment and pay a lot of taxes, including VAT, PAYE, PRSI, USC and rates and they must be catered for and considered in the restrictions.

I draw the attention of the House to the fact that more than 7,000 individuals over the age of 75 were forced to wait more than 24 hours in emergency departments. It is another target that has been missed by the HSE. The service plan for 2018 requires that no patient over 75 should be waiting more than 24 hours in an emergency department.

What is a fairly low bar has been missed. I call on the Leader to bring the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to the House - I appreciate that will not be done today - to outline what is being done in that regard.

I welcome that those involved in an insurance fraud in which €60,000 in damages was sought by several people for whiplash injuries in a collision involving a Hertz rental car have been directed to pay €23,000 for expenses incurred in the investigation of the claim. We should bring forward legislation to allow for those people to be prosecuted for fraud and be subject to fines and jail time, which would discourage false claims. All Members want people to be able to pursue legitimate claims but false claims must be discouraged.

A public consultation on BusConnects was launched yesterday and will continue until 28 September. It is unfortunate that it is taking place during the summer period, when many people will be on holiday or not focused on the impact of bus timetables on work or school schedules and so on. However, I ask that people examine the plans that are in place. Many of the measures are to be welcomed but problems will be caused in certain areas and some people will have genuine concerns. I ask those with concerns or observations of a positive nature to contribute to the consultation process.

I wish all those with whom I have worked in the Seanad over the past couple of years, and particularly those on my panel, a very happy summer. I hope they will take plenty of rest, not work too hard and come back refreshed. We will see everybody in September, if not before.

I heartily concur.

If not before, is it?

If not before.

The past week was very significant for Northern Ireland and, in particular, the United Kingdom. That was not due to the visit of Donald Trump, by which we were hugely honoured, but, rather, the week of parades in Northern Ireland. I thank and pay tribute to the Minister of State for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Brendan Griffin, who attended a parade in Belfast, at which he was warmly welcomed and received. For him to represent Ireland at the event was a significant gesture on his behalf and that of the State. The great significance of the presence of the Tánaiste in Derry after the violence and trouble that erupted there must also be noted, as must the presence of Deputy Mary Lou McDonald in the city to try to deal with some of the issues and calm the situation. The most striking and important event of last week was the presence of the former captain of the Irish rugby team and the British and Irish Lions at a parade in Loughgall. A video featuring him playing a Lambeg drum later went viral on social media. That was a clear indication that such gestures, which many may consider tokenistic, make a difference. We must break down the barriers and get more people from the South to go North for parades week. It is a week of holidays and relaxation for both the nationalist and unionist communities. I left Leinster House last Thursday, 12 July, to drive through Belfast to Antrim for a radio interview. When I left Dublin that morning, the newspapers were filled with images of very violent scenes in Belfast and Londonderry, which was disappointing. However, all was peaceful as I drove through Northern Ireland. The roads were very quiet because it was a bank holiday. The temperature was good and the sun was shining. The reality North of the Border was completely different from the images of it portrayed globally. As a Northern Irish citizen, I find such coverage hugely disappointing.

I echo the sentiments expressed by Senator Horkan on Brexit. I am deeply concerned by where the Brexit talks are going. The clock is ticking and the sands of time are running out but there are more questions than answers. I am very concerned that our fears are increasing rather than decreasing. It is important that a deal be struck. No deal for the North of Ireland is not an option. A deal must be struck and a resolution found for the many problems in that regard. It is a good time to reflect and consider that Brexit involves more problems than answers. Perhaps the decision to leave the European Union should be revisited.

In response to the points made by Senator Horkan, I wish to make clear that Sinn Féin is an abstentionist party. Its voters choose to elect abstentionist MPs and people in the North voted to reject Brexit. Both those mandates must be respected. I note the newfound concern of several Members of this House in regard to Westminster elections in the North. If they feel that strongly about it, they should put themselves before the people of the North and seek a mandate. The British Government must keep its political promise to give legal effect to the backstop in the North. That arrangement is absolutely necessary in the talks going ahead. It is a very concerning time for all involved. Senators should rest assured that Sinn Féin will continue to do everything it can to ensure that the rights of Irish citizens in the North are protected and that jobs and enterprises in this State are also protected.

I raise the issue of the failure of the Government to protect subcontractors, in particular in light of the Carillion collapse. It is obvious that the Government could have dealt with this matter under Article 71.3 of EU directive 2014/24/EU, which provides for subcontractors to be paid directly by the contracting authority. The Government was utterly negligent in failing to include that provision when the directive was transposed into Irish law. That failure, along with the lack of proper due diligence in the selection of the main contractor during the procurement process, means the Government cannot now ignore the plight of subcontractors left without payment for work carried out and equipment supplied to schools. More than 60 such businesses have been robbed of approximately €14 million in total. These businesses and hundreds of jobs across the country are at risk because those protections were not provided. Why did the Government not include the provision for subcontractors to be paid directly by the contracting authority when the directive was transposed? Was it not concerned about the risk to those businesses, which form the backbone of our economy, and the hundreds of job losses that may arise? Furthermore, the Government must formally hold KPMG, the auditor of Carillion, to account for assessing the company as financially suitable. The Carillion accounts were signed off and endorsed by KPMG, which has questions to answer. The Government must ensure those questions are answered.

We should not expect students and teachers to return to schools in September when payment has not been made for the school buildings or equipment. The Department of Education and Skills, the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA, and the Government must ensure that payment is made for outstanding equipment and buildings and that the certification of works to meet building regulations involves those who carried out the work. There are many aspects to this issue. We should not put students, parents or teachers in the predicament of having to take advantage of businesses which were undermined by the lack of protection afforded by the Government.

I thank the Leader for setting out the schedule for today. Senators will have noted that it is particularly overloaded, with eight Bills to be dealt with today. I acknowledge that is not the fault of the Leader or the Seanad but it is bad legislative practice that a large amount of legislation must be dealt with in one day at the end of every summer term, while at other times of the year there is very little legislation with which to deal. We support the Leader in any representations he may wish to make to his party Whip or the Dáil Business Committee with regard to the timing of legislation coming before the Seanad.

I ask the Leader to facilitate a debate on Brexit. I echo the concerns expressed by Senators about the effect of the votes in the House of Commons yesterday on the relatively positive step forward represented by the White Paper of the Prime Minister, Theresa May, which at least indicated a shift in British Tory policy from a hard to soft Brexit.

The votes yesterday, and the question they raised over whether a backstop remains in place in respect of the British Government's position, have resulted in British policy being as much of a fiasco as President Trump's performance at the Helsinki press conference yesterday. We see such a lack of clarity about what the British Government is seeking or will be mandated by Westminster to seek. I listened to Senator Conway-Walsh's comments but it is somewhat rich of Sinn Féin to say that it will do everything it possibly can to ensure the rights of citizens in Northern Ireland are protected when it will not take up its seats at Westminster. It would have a much better opportunity there to protect the rights of citizens in Northern Ireland and to have an input into the shape of Brexit, which is of such concern to us all. I ask the Leader for a debate on that early in the next term.

I wish all my colleagues well for the summer break but ask them to take the opportunity to call into the Seanad anteroom if they cannot come to the launch of the Vótáil 100 exhibition. It is opening on Thursday this week at 2 p.m. in the anteroom. It is entitled, Votes for Women: Suffrage and Citizenship, and it will be a great exhibition. We are going to have exhibits including the original banner used by the Irish Women's Franchise League, a lectern used by suffrage speakers bearing the words "Votes for Women" and medals awarded to Ms Hanna Sheehy Skeffington. The exhibition is being run in conjunction with the National Museum and the Sheehy Skeffington family. As Chair of the Vótáil 100 committee, I thank my colleagues on the committee for all their work. We are travelling to Westminster tomorrow as well to present a portrait of Ms Constance Markievicz to the Speaker of the House there, if the Parliament is still functioning tomorrow. That is an historic occasion.

It is on holidays.

We will see what happens this week with Westminster. It is historic. It is the first time that Ms Markievicz will have been formally recognised by the Houses of Parliament in Westminster as the first woman elected as a Member of Parliament in Britain. That is hugely significant and I welcome and look forward to that and the launch of the exhibition on Thursday.

I second and agree with the sentiments expressed by Senator Ian Marshall with respect to all the events over the past few days in Northern Ireland. I refer to the positive events as well as those of a sadder nature, which, as Senator Marshall correctly said, do not reflect the full picture but are in themselves a difficulty that needs to be dealt with. I endorse his words in respect of Northern Ireland. He made the point succinctly and there is no merit in repetition.

I ask the Leader to ensure a debate early in the new term on an issue which I ask him to convey to the Minister for Health as a matter of urgency in the interim. We have a stated policy, correctly, across the health system that we treat people, in so far as is possible, in their own home. That is how it should be, that is where people in general want to be and it is where they should be. Not only is it efficacious in respect of their life and well-being but it is also an economically sound proposition. It is a much cheaper option than people being in nursing homes, etc.

There is a difficulty of which I want the Leader to be cognisant. There is a shortage of home helps to fill allotted home help hours throughout the country. We need to train more home helps. The HSE in many instances is using agency personnel to fill these gaps and the difficulty is that those personnel are passing through- they are not always available. We are going to have to make home help a career within the HSE so that people will work for a certain number of hours per week and are registered within the HSE. This has happened in the past with great effect but it is ceasing to happen.

We also need to encourage more people into the training system because there is a dearth of home helps to fill the necessary hours and in some instances a lack of hours allocated, which is also wrong. There is no point in platitudinously saying we believe in care within the home and we believe in a community health system unless we back it up with availability of home helps, an education course for them and a career structure that makes it attractive, particularly in this age of nearly full employment. It is a crucial question and I appeal to the Leader to ensure that it is dealt with immediately while we await a debate in September.

I would like to raise two or three issues, the first of which is healthcare. If we look back at this term, we have discussed healthcare more than anything else. I refer also to housing. Those are two critical issues. I have said repeatedly that this Government has achieved much. It will be judged, however, on the provision of healthcare and affordable housing - social, private purchase or whatever - for our people.

We need to build a better health service, one valued by all of our people, which provides safe and high quality healthcare and personal social services for the population of Ireland. Something we have to be mindful of is that no one particular group has a monopoly over the policy but we have to focus on and drill down into policy more. I know we have had the Minister in here on a number of occasions and I hope the Leader might address this when we come back after the summer.

I could not let this opportunity go on the our final day without mentioning the National Rehabilitation Hospital, NRH. I plead with all the Members to use whatever political contacts they have, in government or outside, and with their respective health spokespersons and parties to put pressure on the Government to reopen the remaining six beds. Staff at the hospital are in regular contact with my office about that. They are asking what is happening. I have contacted the Minister for Health on a number of occasions and I have contacted the Taoiseach's office directly twice in the past few weeks. Nothing seems to be happening. This is the NRH service. These patients are in hospitals right across the country holding up beds. There were 12 beds and we got six open in a slow process. I appeal to everyone to try to get these remaining six beds open.

I turn now to affordable housing. Today in The Irish Times, Mr. Fiach Kelly has an article on the front page which talks about the establishment by the Government - I think tomorrow - of a national regeneration and development agency, NRDA. One of the targets mentioned in the article is that this agency will be given the task, along with the requisite equipment and funding, of acquiring private lands. I am making an appeal to all people involved in politics. We know vast tracts of land are in State ownership in the docks areas, along the railway network and in all 31 local authority areas. There are thousands of acres and many of them are zoned for housing but perhaps not serviced, which is the issue. It would be wholly inappropriate and wrong to start using more taxpayers' money to acquire more private land for housing.

I ask the Leader if we could have a debate about the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, annual report which we all received about two weeks ago in the post. In the report NAMA tells us that it offered 6,984 residential units to the State and the local authorities. Only 2,717 attracted positive expressions of interest. We have to ask NAMA and the Government, in respect of its policy, why we have 7,000 residential units empty and supposedly available to address housing. Why have we, as the primary owners of NAMA, not brought those into play?

Finally, I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach, the staff who serve the Seanad, the Leader and the Leader's office - and particularly Ms Orla Murray - for their support for all of us during this term. I wish everyone an enjoyable, restful summer recess.

I have raised this issue on several occasions in the past few weeks and probably months. It is about the unfortunate weather we have experienced in the past seven or eight weeks.

Unfortunate?

It is unfortunate if we look at the weather in respect of the farming community. It suffered greatly four and a half months ago when we had snow and a terrible winter before that. We are now looking at six and half weeks of drought. In my part of the world there is an issue with fodder and how the agriculture industry will survive the winter. A major debate is required on how farmers will finance the unfortunate major expenses they have. I also believe we have to look at the numbers of animals we have on farms.

Perhaps it is time we looked at reducing the dairy herd by 1% or 2% so we can keep enough fodder for winter.

There is a real issue regarding the mental health of farmers. Farmers are very much feeling the pain at the moment. I was at a show last Saturday and I was shocked by the view farmers had running into the winter. It is still only July. They were wishing their lives away. They were planning six months ahead and they did not know how they would survive. The pressure on the agricultural sector is a huge issue. We cannot wait until September to provide the care the farming community requires. The conversation on the mental health issue needs to start now. We need to move it forward.

I will mention another issue. I condemn the attack during the week on the former leader of Sinn Féin, Deputy Adams, in Northern Ireland. It has to be condemned by all sides of the House. Such actions are totally inappropriate. We need to note that when Senator Mulherin's office was firebombed by a member of the same party, Deputy Adams did not condemn it and did not want to go to meet the person who did it or the person who was firebombed. Deputy Adams cannot be crying out at this stage when one looks at what happened to my colleague who is sitting behind me.