I want to, again, raise the issue of Shannon Airport. Earlier this week, ten Afghan children from one extended family were killed - murdered by a US air strike in Kunduz in Afghanistan. There is no doubt that this country is complicit in that killing and the range of killings by US forces in Syria, Iraq and the aforementioned Afghanistan. I have asked for a debate on this issue countless times. It has been denied each time. I can understand why it is being denied. It is because the Government has no defence for our complicity in handing over our airport. I raise it this morning because on St. Patrick's Day, two US veterans made a peaceful protest at Shannon Airport - Ken Mayers, who is aged 82 and Tarak Kauff, who is aged 77. They were arrested, put in prison and denied bail the next day and they remain in prison. These are two elderly men making a peaceful protest who are no threat to anybody. They were making a peaceful, legitimate protest about the appalling use of our airport in Shannon and this is how our State has treated them. They have a High Court appeal regarding bail this morning. I am calling for their release and hope that everyone here would join me in calling for their release so that they would be allowed to return home. The idea that our State would victimise these peaceful protesters in this way should be abhorrent to all of us. It just goes to show the lengths to which this State will go to threaten anyone who stands up to speak out about the atrocities that are being supported through Shannon Airport. I am calling once again for a debate. I wonder whether Fine Gael will hide as a party throughout the full length of this term rather than confront the shameful use of Shannon Airport.

Like my colleagues, I join in wishing Mr. Donal Hickey well and thank him for his contribution and work in the Houses of the Oireachtas over a long number of years. I wish him well in his retirement.

I refer to the issue of housing. One of the issues that is being missed in this debate is the reason we have a significant demand for housing is because there has been a significant increase in the numbers of jobs delivered. A total of 2.28 million people are now working, which is the highest level of employment in this country. I remind Senator Mark Daly that when Fianna Fáil left office, there was net outflow from this country of over 50,000 per annum. There is now a net inflow because the jobs are here. It is interesting to see the economic analysis. I was at a presentation at the economics society in UCC on Monday night. Seamus Coffey, chair of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, was there. He presented some very interesting figures. One statistic was that earnings per capita in real terms in this country are ahead of other European countries because there has been growth in jobs and areas that are very specialised and that generate higher income. Therefore, there is a demand for housing.

A total of 25,000 new units will be delivered this year. In addition, a significant amount of new student accommodation will be completed, which is extremely welcome because it will take students out of dwelling houses and into proper accommodation. This needs to continue. Yes, there are challenges that must be met. Likewise, I agree to an extent with Senator Craughwell about where office space is built. It just shows how Cork is developing. The 1 Albert Quay complex was built in the past two years and 1,700 people now work there. A further three commercial units are being built that will accommodate an additional 8,000 to 8,500 people. Yes, there will be a challenge regarding providing housing for the people who work there but these offices are within five minutes walking distance of the train station, therefore, people could live in Mallow, Cobh or Midleton and get to work by train without having to drive. A lot of good work is being done.

We must deal with the challenges posed by housing but we must deal with them in a progressive and constructive way. It is interesting how some people speak about housing yet people in those same parties have objected to housing projects and local authorities proceeding with housing projects in their own local authority areas. We do not hear them talking about that. Let us look at it. We all have to work together to resolve the problem. A lot of work is being done.

Many new dwelling houses are being delivered and that process will continue.

I would like to be associated with the tributes to Mr. Donal Hickey, who we would all agree has been a friendly and helpful presence in this House over the years. I hope he will enjoy good health and be able to spend both time and money ad multos annos in his years of retirement. I also wish to be associated with the expressions of sorrow for the former Member, Mr. John Browne. My sympathies also go to his son, Fergal, and the family.

I was listening to Ms Arlene Foster on the radio this morning. Given her position and the goals she wishes to protect and obtain, I was quite struck by the reasonableness of her tone and perspective. The history books may be kinder to the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, than many of us have been tempted to be. Many people calculated some time ago that a no-deal Brexit would not take place, and if the party made that calculation, it would have the best of both worlds in staying with Brexiteers while being quite comfortable in the knowledge that way end up with a much softer Brexit than even Prime Minister May's plan entails. I am hopeful of that but time will tell.

One of the Brexiteers, Mr. Jacob Rees-Mogg, used the term "terminological inexactitude" recently, although he was not the first to use it. This was when the word "lie" was considered to be unparliamentary. It struck me while listening to my friend and colleague, Senator Warfield, that perhaps terminological or even "opinionological" inexactitude might serve his purposes in describing the Taoiseach's characterisation of Sinn Féin policy. I listened to Senator Warfield yesterday speaking about conversion therapy, an area into which many people fear to wade. With issues such as that, the highest value comes from what people want, provided it does not do harm. I do not know enough about it at this stage but if it can be demonstrated that this is harmful to people, there is a very good case to make it unlawful. If it cannot be shown to be harmful to people, we are back into the realm of individual choice. I say this because in these Houses we do not speak enough about the importance of an evidence base for proposals. I hope that if it is in the area raised by Senator Warfield or the very fraught and difficult area of transgender persons' rights and needs, we look honestly at the current evidence.

Many parents who I know are quite concerned about what is taught in schools in the name of equality with respect to transgender issues and they question whether children's best interests are being served by what is now often proposed. I do not know the answers to those questions but we have a better chance of getting those answers if we insist that anything we call for has a sound evidence base. As legislators, we have a particular responsibility in this respect. Perhaps we could make progress in this House on such matters by using the Seanad as a forum to establish a precise evidence base. I am not sure that our committees are serving us sufficiently in considering issues from an actual evidence base. The Seanad could have a solid and significant input in that space.

We are all very aware of the fragility in the negotiations regarding the United Kingdom and Brexit. I remind Senator Feighan that his party and Fianna Fáil are picking the leftovers of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, SDLP. It has been that party's continuous position that there should be a poll after Britain withdraws from the European Union, which could happen two weeks from now. There must be a nuance in being careful about these matters but we must hold our side as well. This debate has been popularised on the entire island of Ireland like never before in the two or three years in which we have heard the Brexit discussion. It is important for our confidence as a nation that we can have such a debate in a meaningful manner among ourselves and decide what we want. We should not shy away from it. It is not about keeping quiet so the debate in Britain can continue as we must look after our country and citizens as well.

I attended the launch of the justice and equality committee's report on community and rural policing. I am delighted because two of the recommendations are associated with health, particularly mental health and vulnerability. They relate to the Garda Síochána being used as front-line or first responders, which is inappropriate in cases where vulnerable people are having episodes and the community or mental health services cannot cope. The only recourse for the professionals now is to call in the Garda. Mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder, ASD, have been told to call the Garda. I have been dealing with a case like this where the child is as young as four. I know that is exceptional but children grow up with symptoms of ASD and they can have difficulty finding treatment. The difficulty is we are criminalising people with a vulnerability, with many ending up in the prison system or Garda stations. A Seanad team visited a hub last Monday in Derry that is dedicated to a multidisciplinary approach to the matter. I will put down a Commencement matter on the subject at some stage in order that we can learn more about it.