The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the Committee on Climate Action, to be taken on the conclusion of the Order of Business, without debate, and No. 2, statements on the National Training Fund, to be taken at 12.45 p.m., with the contributions of group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes and those of all other Senators not to exceed five minutes.

Today I wish to raise the issue of housing and the most recent homelessness figures for this city. I have raised this topic almost every week since becoming a Member of Seanad Éireann. I am particularly keen to raise the European Commission's report on the assessment of member states' progress on economic and social priorities, which is highly critical of the Irish Government's policy on housing. The Commission's report points out that there has been a 23.4% increase in private rents since 2015, the highest in the EU. It also notes that there are 72,000 people on the social housing waiting list but that there are only planned developments of 10,000 houses in 2019. This report comes from the European Commission and it will be very hard for the Government to refute its findings. The report also notes that 17,000 people are supported by HAP and that this is exacerbating problems in the private rental market. The report emphasises the enormity of the gap between supply and demand and comes in the wake of a report published yesterday which showed that there are currently 9,987 homeless people in this State. The Government's policy has been to blame Fianna Fáil but Fine Gael has been in government since 2011 and has done nothing to resolve this problem. We have seen a very small increase in housing supply but nothing like what is needed to address the issue of homelessness and a lack of housing in this country.

The second issue I wish to raise relates to the roll-out of broadband. In 2012 the Government announced its broadband policy, which formed part of the Fine Gael election manifesto in 2011 and again in 2016. I was flabbergasted yesterday to hear the Taoiseach say that he was surprised that the roll-out of rural broadband was going to cost multiples of the original estimate. We all know that the roll-out of broadband, especially over the last mile, is very costly because it involves, among other things, digging up roads. The Taoiseach and the Department must have known that this was going to cost an enormous amount of money. Many people voted for Fine Gael because of its commitment to the roll-out of rural broadband in 2011 and in 2016 but they have been let down. Small businesses and families throughout the country have been let down badly. They were promised that broadband would be rolled out nationwide but that has not happened. There is only one firm left in the market for the national broadband contract, a finance firm based in the US. This is not a telecommunications engineering company but a speculative financial firm. It is a disgrace that it has come to this and the Government must admit that it got it wrong and does not know what it is doing. It must put a proper broadband policy in place because it is a disgrace that houses and businesses throughout the country still do not have the broadband service they were promised back in 2011.

The final issue I wish to raise relates to the cost of electricity and gas which is due to increase by 4%. Electric Ireland has said that this is due to increases in wholesale costs. We must consider those who are vulnerable in this State, especially the elderly who have not seen an equivalent increase in their pensions. We must ensure that they are not left behind. We will be out campaigning for the forthcoming local and European elections soon and will meet elderly people who go to bed early in order to save on heating. They are living in a way that others do not live. They are not benefitting from the economic upturn but we must not forget them. Special provision must be made to ensure that those who are most vulnerable are not negatively affected by the recently announced increases in the price of gas and electricity.

I acknowledge the presence in the Public Gallery of a student called Nathan Hilton Regan. He is on work experience and has helped me to complete a survey on gaming among children. This is a follow-on from Senator Craughwell's very lively discussion yesterday evening on gambling. I want the House to realise that gambling starts in childhood and it starts with gaming. We all know about Playstation and Xbox consoles and Nathan carried out a survey among 48 students in the last few days on same. We were both surprised that the students responded so readily. In the survey, 73% agreed that they play inappropriate video games such as Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption. We all know that inappropriate games can have a very negative impact on children, especially when the games involve aggression and violence and get children's adrenaline pumping. When the game is over, where does that adrenaline and aggression go? Furthermore, 50% of those surveyed agreed that gaming affects their sleep. Some children are gaming first thing in the morning while others are gaming through the night. We can all imagine the impact that has on children's performance at school and on their moods. It was very worrying to find that 79% of the students surveyed agreed that their parents knew of the violent nature of the games they were playing. To be honest, I found that strange. Some 91% of the children surveyed have an Xbox or Playstation but I discovered for the first time that they can access social media through these gaming devices. These innocent-looking boxes are given to children for Christmas by their parents, who think they are being kind and are giving them something that will entertain them. Many do not realise that they are giving them direct access to social media and to all the difficult and evil things involved in that.

Around 25% of the children said that they had spent ten hours gaming in the last seven days, while 19% said that they were not aware of physical needs such as needing food, water or to use the bathroom because they were so consumed by what they were doing. The other worrying fact is that 63% of the students either agreed or strongly agreed that their work and grades were suffering due to gaming. When children are exposed to Playstation and Xbox games that are violent, they become addicted. In fact, Nathan discovered that the Rutland Centre acknowledges that a gaming addiction is as serious as problem gambling. According to that centre, a gaming addiction is very similar to a gambling addiction. Indeed, many video games are actually designed to be addictive. These games are targeted at our young people.

To be honest, I do not know what we can do with this. Parents obviously need to be informed, as do schools. I thank Nathan for all the help he gave me this week. We are going to add another survey and complete a report, and we can maybe then come up with some ideas on how this problem can be tackled.

I want to reiterate what Senator Freeman has said. They target children of any age from three years and I have seen young children aged three playing Gummy Bears games. There is a sweet, cuddly image but there are also "Buy More" tokens at the end of each game, and it builds up and up. This happens to children from three years of age. When my son was one of those Xbox or Playstation guys, sitting in his bedroom playing it non-stop, he borrowed a game from a friend. When I went to watch it, I found it awful. It was one of those games where people were shooting each other and, in one instance, they pushed a woman over - a caricature, obviously - and started kicking her between the legs. I sat aghast and I immediately stopped it, but I could not get over the fact that had got through censorship and everything else. It was for 16 year olds and he was only 14, so he did not get it at that stage. However, that sort of imagery stayed in my mind.

I want to propose an amendment to the Order of Business that we take an amendment to the Health Act 1970 with regard to involuntary psychiatric patients and the charges paid to the HSE. I have become aware that up to 2,500 patients are admitted involuntarily throughout the country for treatment in approved centres and, following their stay, people are subjected to charges of anything from €80 to €800 per day for a 12-month period. While not all of these charges are collected, it is still not in the Health Act that they would be exempted, although there are exemptions for maternity care to women and where people have medical cards. I would like the House to support this amendment and to go further with regard to the legislation.

On a technical point, the Senator is suggesting we take No. 14 before No. 1.

That is correct.