I thank the 13 Members of the House for their contributions to the Order of Business.

I join the Cathaoirleach and Senator Ardagh in welcoming the students from the Mercy secondary school, Inchicore, and the people from the Warrenmount residents association to the House today.

Senators Ardagh and Humphreys raised the issue of housing. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, will come to the House in the coming weeks. It is important to recognise that 5,000 new homes were completed by the end of the third quarter of this year, with 3,000 student bed spaces completed as well. Senator Ardagh, in her wonderful introduction of the students, neglected to mention that the Government has committed to the rejuvenation and regeneration of the Kilmainham and Inchicore areas. She should highlight to the students the importance of the St. Michael's-----

How many plans have there been? How many have been implemented?

Senator Ardagh should highlight to the students the fact that the Government is committed to St. Michael's estate with a variety of models of delivery of housing. I wish the students well in their project.

The Cathaoirleach and Senator Ardagh rightly mentioned the good news that camogie and hurling have been recognised by UNESCO. I commend the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Humphreys, on her work. As the Cathaoirleach said, praise is also due to former Senator and now Minister of State, Deputy John Paul Phelan, who was the person who threw the ball in, as it were.

Senators Boyhan and Bacik raised the issue of the briefing presented today by Deputy Michael Harty, the chair of the Committee on Health. Senator Bacik is correct about vaccination and the necessity for a very strong public health campaign. I thank Senators Bacik and Boyhan for raising the matter today.

Senator Boyhan raised the issue of the programme for Government and I think he mentioned page 54. He should recognise that the Government has opened a number of primary care centres. The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, was the Minister who established Sláintecare. He has put in place the building blocks to ensure further primary care centres are opened and that the model of healthcare is delivered in community for people. That is a commitment under the programme for Government and in the Sláintecare report.

We have requested the Taoiseach to come to the House. It may not be possible before Christmas.

That is interesting.

Is that interesting?

It is welcome.

The Taoiseach is very aware of what happens in the House and the progress of different items of legislation. I am mindful of the fact that the Seanad reform committee is due to complete its work on 11 December or thereabouts; therefore, it might be premature to have him come to the House before then, but that is my personal opinion. It might be more appropriate to invite him to come here after the report has been published, but he is very much aware of the request made. I have spoken to him on a number of occasions and he is keen to return. Senator Boyhan is well aware that we have a pressing number of items of legislation to be completed before the Christmas break, but we will see if the Taoiseach's diary allows him to come before then. If he does not come before Christmas, we will certainly have the debate with him in the new year.

I do not have information to hand on the progress of the report on local government. Although we have had a number of debates on local government, I am happy to invite the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Phelan, to come to the House for a further debate on the matter. As Senators are aware, councillors retire all of the time, not just in this cycle. There have always been renewals, replacements and retirements. We wish all of those who will announce their retirement well and those who will contest the next elections every success.

I commend Senator Humphreys on his work as part of the all-party Oireachtas group on Alzheimer's disease and dementia. We need to invest more and conduct further research into ways to combat such extraordinary illnesses. I very much welcome the establishment of the all-party group, members of which tabled a Commencement matter on 21 November to highlight the issue of dementia. I am happy to invite the Minister for Health to come to the House to discuss it. The Senator is right that we need to have an ongoing debate and investment.

Senator Colm Burke made reference to a Supreme Court decision and called on us to reflect on it. The judgment and the decision are interesting and the Senator rightly made reference to the victim. We need to debate the matter. I am happy to invite the Minister for Justice and Equality to come to the House to debate it.

Senator Leyden referred to Irish Rail. I am happy to invite the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to come to the House to discuss the matter. The Senator articulated his excellent idea about publicising and advertising local towns in train stations.

Senator Warfield mentioned World AIDS Day, which is not a celebratory but a commemorative event, as well as the need to increase the visibility of the issue of HIV-AIDS. He made that point that an increase of 8.7% in the rate of transmission of HIV was far too high. We did make some progress in combating the problem, but we are moving in the wrong direction again. As the Senator knows, I am very supportive of the idea of having an Irish AIDS memorial which we will achieve through collaboration and working together. He is right - it is important to remember and commemorate those who have died. Yesterday, I think, was the anniversary of the death of Vincent Hanley. We all know of people who are living with HIV-AIDS and who died from it. We have come a long way as a society. The Senator made the point that we needed to improve sex education and the sexual health strategy. We do need to be more proactive in that regard. We have made some changes in how sex education is taught in schools, but a lot of work remains to be done. I will be happy to work with the Senator on the matter.

Senator Davitt referred to the Restaurants Association of Ireland and the investigation carried out by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. He made valid points about restaurants that took bookings. Some do not charge a booking fee but some do. What happens if people do not arrive? The restaurant loses revenue as a result of a table not available to other customers. The Committee of Public Accounts or the line committee would be the best choice to debate the issue. If the Senator was to table a Commencement matter, he might receive a full response on it from the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

Senator Richmond mentioned that the European Commission had announced the rolling out of the second phase of the DiscoverEU inter-rail ticket project. I am happy to invite the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to come to the House to outline the number of Irish students who have been awarded tickets.

Senator Butler referred to the decision made by An Bord Pleanála on the application of the Church of Scientology for planning permission for a centre at Ballivor, County Meath. His points were well made.

I have answered the point made by Senator Bacik.

Yes.

Senator Feighan referred to Moylurg Rockingham DAC. He also mentioned that a castle in Castleisland, County Roscommon, had been offered for sale at a modest guide price of €90,000. I agree with him that it would be eminently sensible for the Office of Public Works to buy the property.

Senator Gallagher raised an issue related to An Garda Síochána. Notwithstanding the fact that it is late in the day in the deployment to different places of 200 new Garda recruits, I suggest the Senator has selective memory, given that his own party did something similar when in government. He made the point that young gardaí would be discommoded and I believe the issue needs to be addressed. However, it is an operational matter, for which Assistant Commissioner Twomey has responsibility. The Garda Commissioner and his management team have to balance it with the need for higher visibility of members the force at this time of year in policing traffic on roads. Such policing is welcome. It is important that, as legislators, we stand against drink driving and with the people in ensuring the roads are safe. Last Monday I attended a meeting of the joint policing committee of Cork County Council, at which the Garda chief superintendent was very concerned about the increase in the incidence of traffic accidents and drink driving. Gardaí will be on leave between 5 and 17 January for working at this time of year. The new recruits will then go to the stations to which they have been allocated. While I accept that the Garda was very late in announcing its decision, I welcome what the Garda Commissioner is doing.

Senator Byrne mentioned the European Globalisation Fund and highlighted its importance. Senator Colm Burke was very involved with the Dell workers when he was a Member of the European Parliament. The fund should be utilised.