Like Senator Chambers, I was listening to the radio on the way up this morning and I heard Mr. Andrew Geary speaking. I am not acquainted with this man at all. He is from Cork and he was speaking about his son, Calum, who is deaf. and he made a statement that as a country he felt that Ireland does not cherish his child and that he had been a failure as a father. I want to say one thing to Andrew, which is coming from a father of a child with additional needs as well, that he is by no means a failure but that I honestly believe he has been an inspiration to all parents of children with additional needs in the way he spoke this morning on the national radio.

As I was coming in the front door, which I am so proud to do every morning that I come here, I looked over to my left to see the copy of the 1916 Proclamation underneath the portrait of Michael Collins. I went over and read it and the reference to cherishing all of the children of the nation. It made me think. I asked myself whether we as a country cherish children. I honestly believe the answer is “No”. We are in the Decade of Centenaries celebrations, and we will celebrate 100 years since the signing of the Treaty next year. Can we honestly say as a country that we have followed up what was put up in the 1916 Proclamation that we cherish all of the children of the nation? The answer is “No” when we are still fighting for services. I have always advocated here for services, especially for autism services as I have a young lad with special needs. I felt that this was a poignant moment on our national radio and I want to say to that gentleman that he has opened up a conversation that we need to expand on to ensure that as legislators, as a country and as a State, we can say that we cherish all of the children of the nation equally.

On the issue of outdoor dining and the recently announced scheme, this needs to be expanded and I have sent correspondence to the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, in that all pubs and restaurants need to be part of this. I do not want there to be any distinction, as there has been in the past, between them as to eligibility to apply for this. Can the Minister, Deputy Martin, extend that scheme so that all are allowed to apply for inclusion in it? I also welcome the minimum price of alcohol Bill, which was mentioned in the national media yesterday. This is an issue that I have always pushed in the House as well. Moves are now afoot to introduce that, which will be very important for the health and well-being of our younger generations in the years to come.

I thank the Senator and join with him in his kind words about Andrew Geary.

I know Andrew Geary quite well because he championed the Irish Sign Language recognition Bill on behalf of his son - and I mean championed it. It is not acceptable that, 100 years and more after the Proclamation referred to "cherishing all the children of the nation equally", the Senator, Andrew Geary and many others have to fight for their children to have equal access to education and services. I thank the Senator for his kind words about Andrew.

After speaking about the vaccine and my concerns on Friday, I went and took the vaccine yesterday and I am still alive. Most of the people I spoke to in my age group felt hard done by insofar as they were offered AstraZeneca and nothing else. One person said it was as if they bought a load of this stuff and needed to give it to someone, so they are giving it to us. I compliment the people in Citywest. My beloved Defence Forces were out there making sure everything was running smoothly, as were the volunteers. The nurse who administered the vaccine to me was absolutely wonderful. I expressed my concerns and fears and she took loads of time to explain things to me. However, she told me, at the end of the day, I had the right to say "No" but if I did I would join a waiting list and she had no idea how long that might take. It is great it is there. I have had it and I am still kicking this morning. We will see how the next couple of weeks go.

Senator Ó Donnghaile spoke about front-line people in crisis and I want to remember the 53 crewmen of the Indonesian submarine, KRI Nanggala, which sank over the last couple of days. I cannot begin to imagine the death those 53 men had. It brings me on to our own front-line services and the fires in Killarney at the moment. The Air Corps once again was there, ready to do what was asked of it by the State. The Air Corps, Army and navy have been there time and time again but this morning I read something on Twitter - I cannot use a name because the Cathaoirleach will not allow me to do that. A former director of the Irish Coast Guard on secondment in Mogadishu put up on Twitter this morning that the Air Corps was responsible for the loss of Rescue 116. I have written to the Minister and to this man's boss in the European Commission and I have spoken about the way he has constantly tweeted this type of nonsense. I have not had a response from the Minister but this is an outrageous attack on our most loyal people.

The rules of the House are clear and the Senator is aware of them. It is not the naming of a person; it is making him or her identifiable. The way the Senator approached that topic is making the person identifiable.

He is on Twitter.

I know that.