The Order of Business is No.1, motion re Planning and Development Act 2000 (Exempted Development) (No. 3) Regulations 2021 (Restaurants operating as takeaways), to be taken on the conclusion of the Order of Business without debate; No. 2, motion re Planning and Development (Street Furniture Fees) Regulations 2021 – back from committee, to be taken on the conclusion of No. 2, without debate; No. 3, motion re the Orders of Reference of the Joint Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community, extension of reporting deadline, be taken on the conclusion of No. 3, without debate; No. 4, Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2020 – Report and Final Stages, to be taken at 3.15 p.m.

I support the Order of Business as outlined. A week is a long time in politics and since the House last met, Arlene Foster has signalled that she will be standing down as First Minister and as leader of the DUP. I pay tribute to Arlene Foster. Politics is a difficult game for all of us and nowhere is it more difficult than in Northern Ireland. I wish her well and acknowledge her work on behalf of the unionist community and of all of those she has represented during the past five years as leader of her party.

I want to raise with the Leader an issue in respect of the announcement during the week by the Catholic bishops regarding their relationships and sexuality education, RSE, programme, Flourish, for schools. We all want our children to flourish. I am talking about children of all religions and families. We want to ensure that all children are respected and nourished, whether they come from single-parent homes, care homes, traditional homes or if they are children of same-sex couples. That is of very great importance. I acknowledge my Catholic upbringing in a Catholic school. Those times were very different and those within the LGBTQI+ community were stigmatised, shunned and ashamed. I often think about what they had to go through. Thankfully, we live in a different country now.

In 2015, we had an equality referendum in which we, as a country, acknowledged that love is love and respect is respect. That is of very great importance. While schools can have their ethos, and families have their own particular ethos, it is very important that RSE is taught on a health-based premise within all of our schools. I call for a debate on the introduction of an updated RSE programme based upon respect for all.

I also want to raise an article by Carl O'Brien in The Irish Times this morning, in which he brings our attention to the fact that 4,500 children have not returned to school following closures during the pandemic. For more than half of them, this is because of health issues but that is not the case for the others. They will be our forgotten children. I have a major concern, which I have no doubt is shared by many in the Chamber, that these children will be absolutely left behind. We need to put together an urgent task force to ensure this does not happen. Children leaving school without literacy and numeracy can lead to a life of deprivation and sometimes criminality. This is an urgent situation for all of us.

On behalf of the members of the Independent Group, and I think I speak for everyone in the House in this regard, I wish to express sympathy to Senator Mullen on the death of his father. I want to mark what may not be generally known, which is how many years of devoted home care Senator Mullen and his family provided for the late Thomas Mullen. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

The exit from Irish politics of Arlene Foster is something which raises very considerable issues for politics on this island, no matter where we come on the green-orange spectrum. She broke the glass ceiling by becoming the First Minister of Northern Ireland. She came from the Church of Ireland official unionist camp into the DUP camp. She attempted, and it was a difficult task, to nudge that party towards a more inclusive and liberal view on many social issues. It has been recorded that in the end the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of support for her was her abstention on the gay conversion therapy policy of that party. She is and was a tough exponent of her views. In a popularity contest south of the Border she might not rank towards the top but it is sad to see somebody of her ability and bravery go. We have to bear in mind that her father was the subject of an attempted assassination. We are seeing somebody such as this effectively bounced out of politics for taking not a very daring stance but a compassionate stance to support young people who were in the same position as those mentioned so notably by Senator Warfield in the House the other day. We speak about reconciliation on this island. I believe we made an error in not having Ian Marshall not reappointed or re-elected to this House. It would be remiss of us to let Arlene Foster's departure go without comment and without some expression of gratitude for what she attempted to do in her own way.

I join Senator McDowell in offering words of sympathy to Senator Mullen. The Cathaoirleach asked me to do so on his behalf also. I could not agree more with Senator McDowell's words on the devoted care and love Senator Mullen displayed for his father over many years while he was in ill-health. As they say, and to be biblical, by their fruit you shall know them, and he lives according to his word.