I endorse the Order of Business. I offer my congratulations on behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party to Senators Horkan and Maria Byrne. I look forward to engaging and learning with and listening to both of them. I wish them well in the term ahead.

There are a number of issues I want to raise today, the first being maternity services. Every morning, as I come to Leinster House, I travel by the Coombe and I see all of the expectant dads sitting in their cars outside of the hospital. I believe that, at this stage of the vaccination programme, particularly as it relates to healthcare and hospital staff, the restrictions relating to maternity hospitals should be lifted and dads should be allowed in for the complete duration of labour and for all antenatal scans. Emma Carroll and Ciara McGuane have done a wonderful job in terms of petitioning on this and have obtained 54,000 signatures. They set up a Facebook page called In Our Shoes. They have told about harrowing situations in the 19 maternity units throughout the country. Only yesterday I received an email from a lady called Michelle about her situation. She had a miscarriage last June and she had to hear the news herself and then go out and tell her partner. She is now pregnant again. The stress and the worry she is going through are huge. Dr. Peter McKenna, the HSE clinical director of the women and infants health programme, has said the improving situation means maternity hospitals can begin easing restrictions. However, it is down to each individual hospital. A direction should be given that the restrictions relating to maternity units should be relaxed.

I also want to raise the issue of the opening of third level and further education. Thankfully, primary school, secondary school and special schools are all open but we have to plan for the return of our students in September to ensure they have the full educational and social experience to which they are entitled. Further education, which does not happen just from September to June, needs to be looked at for our adult learners.

I remind Members that all of those involved in tackling domestic violence have asked us to wear purple today and to text the word "Safe" to 50300, which results in a €4 pledge. We all know the shadow pandemic that has happened along with the pandemic in terms of the increase in domestic violence. My local refuge, Teach Tearmainn, is doing incredible work. All such refuges need our support.

I thank the Senator for raising that issue. I call the Leader of the Opposition, Senator Boyhan.

I thank the acting Leader for setting out the Order of Business. I want to welcome back Senator Maria Byrne and Senator Horkan. A week is a long time in politics. We had a very interesting election but democracy won out. That is the great thing about the elections we all compete in. Senators Byrne and Horkan are both very experienced and our group of Independent Senators on this side of the House looks forward to working with them. I suppose they have a another unique claim today in that they are sitting in Dáil Éireann rather than in the Seanad. I suppose that is something of which we are conscious. People ring me up and ask have I been elevated or demoted, and I do not know which, but it is a great honour to be in either Chamber. I wish the Senators well.

I take this opportunity to mention the other candidates. I thank Angela Feeney, a Kildare county councillor and an excellent candidate, and Ciarán Ahern from Labour. I particularly thank the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Hazel Chu, for putting her name forward in what was a difficult election for her. She had to make a difficult decision. It is always tough when running elections against a large group of people, particularly in this case, where there was clearly very a strong, united and determined campaign to get the party people across the line by the tripartite Government of Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and Fine Gael. Fair play to them. They ran their competition, they set out their stall, they set out their vision and they got elected. I also want to acknowledge the work of former Senator Billy Lawless.

I must be honest, I was somewhat disappointed with the result, that is a personal thing of mine. He is a man with a track record of working for the Irish diaspora, the forgotten Irish in America, London and other places. I thank Billy for his enormous work, for which we owe him. I hope there is a place, that we are big enough and wide enough in these Houses, and also the Government, to incorporate and reach out to Billy Lawless and his enormous talents.

Finally, I want to acknowledge, of course, Ian Marshall. He is a member of the academic staff of Queens University Belfast, involved in agriculture, food, innovation and technology, and has great skill sets that we need in this House. He is a man who has worked very closely with Phil Hogan, the former EU Commissioner; a man who has a great track record in Europe. He is a loss but I hope we and the Government, in turn, are big enough to reach out in the context of its all-Ireland vision. That is really important. What a place we could offer Ian Marshall in the shared island initiative. I hope people listening today might consider that.

I wrote to the Taoiseach yesterday because I know his enormous commitment to the shared island initiative. I believe he is committed, as is the Government and the Oireachtas. We know the difficult times that Northern Ireland is going through and the enormous challenges that this country faces in uniting the minds, spirits and hearts of our people on this island. Therefore, I ask that the Leader extend an invitation to the Taoiseach to come to the Seanad and set out the vision for the island of Ireland. I wrote to him asking him to make the necessary arrangements to come to the House. He is always welcome here. We need him here, we have not seen him since this Seanad was elected. There is a good story there and we all need to be part of the vision to support our people on the island of Ireland.

I extend my congratulations on behalf of the Labour Party group to Senators Maria Byrne and Horkan on their election. I also thank my party colleagues, Councillors Angela Feeney and Ciarán Ahern, who stood in the by-elections and represented the Labour Party so well.

I want to express solidarity with the Debenhams workers who were dragged out by gardaí in the middle of the night. I do not know if Senators saw the scenes but they were galling. I hope the Taoiseach and Tánaiste are horrified at what happened and I implore them to step in because dragging the workers out in the middle of the night is not how this situation should be resolved. I want those workers to know there is solidarity coming from this Chamber.

I note a motion against conversion therapy passed in the North. Senator Warfield's Bill on this issue which is co-sponsored by my colleague, Senator Bacik, is sitting ready to go. It is a very comprehensive Bill on conversion therapy and it is high time there was action. There has been talk with the Minister on banning conversion therapy but work has already been done and I see no reason to delay further.

I am concerned about the vaccine roll-out among those who are housebound. In my home area, there is a woman who is extremely distressed about her husband who is PEG fed and housebound. Absolutely no one - no GP or homecare nurse - can give her an answer about when he will get the vaccine. She is distressed out of her mind. This week, I was told at the health committee that in the next three weeks all those who are housebound will be covered. I raise this issue today as it is causing enormous concern among families who already face so many difficulties in their homes.

There is a family-friendly forum on how we make the Oireachtas family-friendly, and it is something we have discussed in both Houses. We found a work-around for a Minister who is pregnant but a work-around is not a solution. We need a long-term solution. There are people who work in both Houses who may have families or will have in the next few years, and others who have home care responsibilities. Their lives might have been turned upside down, something has come up and they need to be able to return home and take care of a family member. That family member could be elderly or sick, and currently there is no facility for those Members in either House to be supported to do so.

I know from conversations I have had with some people that it is causing an enormous amount of distress. The only way to tackle it is for a person to make his or her situation public. For a number of people it is unreasonable to do that due to concerns around their privacy or that of the family member concerned. I hope everybody will make submissions to the family friendly forum. It is not only about maternity leave, it is also about care, family, being able to have a balanced life, take a step back when it is needed and to be supported in this workplace.

On behalf of the Green Party, Comhaontas Glas, Seanad grouping, I congratulate the victorious Senators Horkan and Maria Byrne. I wish them well. They can be assured of our total co-operation for the betterment of Ireland, as is the tradition of this House. It must be deservingly complimentary to the new Senators when they hear feedback from Members who are not affiliated to their respective parties and who speak of the respect in which they hold the Senators. They have displayed their work ethic and dedication to this House in the past.

The House of Commons declared yesterday for the first time that genocide is taking place against Uighurs and other religious and ethnic minorities in north-west China. It has been reported that more than 1 million people are estimated to have been detained in labour indoctrination-type camps in the region of Xinjiang. It has also been reported that women in the Uighur region are being fitted with birth control devices. In response to the House of Commons declaration, the Chinese Embassy in the UK dismissed the allegations and accusations against its country as "the most preposterous lie of the century, an outrageous insult and affront to the Chinese people". The problem China faces is that a growing number of countries simply do not believe China and are deeply concerned at the events unfolding there. Some Irish citizens have first-hand experience of the Chinese Government's way of doing things. I refer to Yvonne Murray, the RTÉ journalist, who reportedly felt compelled, with her husband, to leave China. Richard O'Halloran cannot get home.

Earlier this year, Canada, the EU, the UK and the US imposed sanctions on Chinese officials in protest at rights abuses in the country. The response from the Irish Government has, unfortunately, been remarkably quiet of late. Ireland should never endeavour to win friends as a result of not calling out human rights abuses. This issue is not tradeable. It is not about trade; it is far more serious than that. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, has a good track record in foreign affairs but there is a feeling among the public that whatever he is doing, people need to be assured that Ireland is using its influence on the UN Security Council. Ireland is a respected nation to which people look up, although it is relatively small in its population. We must use that influence in a more tangible, vocal and effective way to say "No" to these human rights abuses.

I welcome Senators Maria Byrne and Horkan to the Chamber again. We worked well together in the past and I look forward to working with them in the future. However, I cannot let the occasion pass without reminding Senators that this should be the last election in which so few people vote for seats that are representative of many people. We have a Seanad reform Bill on the Order Paper and should work collectively to ensure its passing.

As Senator Hoey mentioned, the Northern Ireland Assembly passed a motion to support the ban on conversion therapy. It was proposed by the Ulster Unionist Party, UUP, and supported by all parties, bar Jim Allister's Traditional Unionist Voice, TUV, and the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP.

It is a welcome step in the debate, which has seen the launch of a broad party campaign to ensure an effective ban in both jurisdictions of this island. The Minister for Communities in the North, Ms Deirdre Hargey, has committed to research and a ban, as has our Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy Roderic O’Gorman. I appreciate the assistance of the Leader of this House in setting up a meeting between me and the Department of Justice. There has been some movement in the areas and portfolios. I appreciate the support from the Leader. I remind new Senators that the last Seanad passed the Bill to prohibit conversion therapy. I look forward to bringing it back. No one wants to see this legislation languish any longer, and we should work together to ensure its swift and effective passage.

On behalf of the Civil Engagement Group, I welcome the new Senators, Senators Maria Byrne and Horkan, to the House. In the past, they had a great relationship with the Civil Engagement Group so I look forward to working with both of them.

Following on from the comments of my colleague, Senator Fiona O’Loughlin, on maternity services, it has been all over the media all week that pregnant women still do not have the support of their partner, or a partner, while availing of maternity services. There should not be one set of rules for one hospital and another set for another. Every woman should have her partner with her on her maternity journey. Dr. Peter McKenna of the HSE said the restrictions on maternity services should be eased. From the cancellation of antenatal classes and being told bad news going through labour to having to stay in hospital due to minor complications, women have been failed, even since before the pandemic, in respect of maternity services. We really need look at this.

We are under the illusion that maternity care is all free. If a woman suffers from extreme morning sickness, unfortunately she is not covered for the payment for her medication. The same applies to gestational diabetes in that women still have to pay for care during their pregnancy. I really want to bring that to the table today.

Being pregnant myself, with my baby due in September, I am worried about not having the supports. I know of women who have, over the past year, been begging the Department of Health to allow them to have a partner present for the birth of their child. It is a worry and a roller coaster of a journey for any pregnant person. Why is a partner allowed in one hospital for maternity services and not in another? This needs to change for women. Since we talk about gender equality, the man, just as much as the woman, should have equal access to see his child and be part of the journey. It is a long time since we had a conversation in this House or in the Dáil on maternity services and maternity care for women. Maternity care is not free if a woman has an illness due to pregnancy.

Congratulations, Senator Flynn. We look forward to seeing your new baby in Leinster House at some stage in the autumn.