I wish to raise the issue of people's outrage at investment funds buying up whole housing estates and that of investor-led housing, which I have raised previously, and investor-led planning. I am concerned, as I hear this issue being discussed, that no consideration is being given to city and apartment living and the right of people to be able to buy or live in affordable rental apartments. I will give two examples in my area of the impact that has had. A few years ago NAMA had within its grasp the Player Wills building and surrounding site in Dublin 8. It could have been used to provide affordable and cost rental homes but it was allowed to go to the developer, Hines. There was a height strategy for that site negotiated and agreed with the local community. The agreed heights went from six to eight to ten storeys. Hines came in and the two applications submitted were for 16 stories and 19 storeys. It was clearly stated at community consultations that was what it needed to do to be able to satisfy its investors and while it was looking at it from a planning perspective, it needed to be able to satisfy its investors. Of the up to 400 units that will be built on that site, including some co-living units, not one will be available for people in the local area to buy. The estimated rent for a studio there will be €1,350 per month. According to the definition of an affordable rent, one would need to earn €4,050 net per month to be able to afford to live in a studio in Dublin 8. Furthermore, one would need to earn €8,400 a month to able to afford a rent of above €2,000 per month for a three-bedroom unit in Dublin 8. We need to put an end to the investor-led planning approach but we also need to be cognisant of our cities, climate change and the need to create sustainable, affordable apartments for people to live in the city centre.

I am glad Senator McDowell and others called for a debate on technology and cybersecurity. This is an issue I have raised a number of times in the House. Until we start to treat data like gold, we will not realise the scale of how important this is. Some 30% of the European Union’s data is stored in Ireland. That is how serious an issue this is. We must begin to take this issue more seriously.

The issue I wish to raise is that of the revelations concerning the charity Bóthar and, in particular, that those at the top of the organisation siphoned off €1.1 million, including in suitcases of cash, over a long period. I was one of those who donated to Bóthar down the years. The Leader will appreciate that those in rural communities in particular have a strong affinity for what Bóthar was trying to achieve. Children in schools organised fundraisers to help out this very innovative charity.

I know this issue is in the public domain but the Senator needs to be careful. It will eventually come before the courts.

I am being careful. The issue is in the public domain. I am talking about it on the basis of an affidavit. The reason I am asking what is happening in the context of Bóthar is that this is not the first time individuals at the top of siphoned off money from a charity for which they were responsible. This type of thing breaks the heart of those who go out and raise money for charity. It also makes people who donate question the motives of such charities and raises questions about others. Bóthar was a wonderful concept. Ours is an extraordinarily generous country. People will lose their trust in some of these charities if these instances continue to happen. This is happening again and again and although it involves a minority of cases it is damaging all the other charities. It is making people angry. I ask that we examine the role of the charity regulator but, equally, that we ensure those at the top are held to account for actions of this nature.

I, too, want to address the cyberattack and the consequences of it. We need a debate on the security of our State. It is devastating for those who are left wondering when their appointments will be held over the coming weeks. At the same time, I commend the work done in the past few days. Our data was clearly kept in silos. Our data is allegedly kept in silos in Clonshaugh and, as a result, the Department of Health was protected from the detonation of a further attack. It has yet to be revealed what else has been prevented.

This morning's reports that people's details and personal data may be published on the dark web must be worrying. I see this as a particular concern. Obligations arise out of that. In the first instance, the State needs to publish those categories of data and start putting in place the mitigating actions people need to take. On a daily basis, particularly in my area in which there are many elderly individuals, people receive phone calls requesting their PPS numbers and other information. These are scam phone calls and the Attorney General's office and the Department of Social Protection have issued warnings about them. If data is now out there, however, people will be worried when it comes to deciphering what is real and what is not.

We need to talk about the breaches, what is likely to happen and the consequences of that and explain the position. Small businesses that have moved to paperless transactions on foot of the general data protection regulation, GDPR, and that have been protective of people's privacy as a result now also have to worry about their security. I am calling for the State to announce a set of guidelines on how people can know when they have sufficient security in place. We need an education campaign and a debate on this matter.

I welcome the change to the Order of Business that will allow us to discuss the urgent issue of Palestine later this evening. That is welcome.

There were two extraordinary articles yesterday on what is happening to our property and housing markets. The Business Post revelations that more than €225 million of taxpayers' money has gone into supporting vulture funds buying up houses and apartments before they go on the open market is quite extraordinary. It puts the lie to the suggestion, which came from some Government circles, that what happened with the estate in Maynooth was a once-off. It clearly was not. There are three estates and €225 million of Government funding involved. Not only is Government tax and planning policy denying people affordable homes, it is using taxpayers' money to fund developments which will not be sold on the open market. This is extraordinary and outrageous and clearly has been Government policy for some time. The Government was warned in 2019 that cuckoo funds were not likely to develop additional supply in the marketplace. Two years after that, we see what is still going on. It is outrageous.

The second article is even more concerning, particularly from a Limerick perspective. A British property company, chaired by a sitting Deputy, which opposed council plans for social housing on the outskirts of Limerick City in 2018, is a venture partner and building 37 houses nearby - just across the road. That is extraordinary, is it not? The Formation Group seems to have extraordinary success in terms of building homes and winning contracts. I will not get an opportunity to speak on the housing issue, unfortunately, because I have to do work for the Council of Europe. It is crucial this Affordable Housing Bill addresses the outrageous gearing of the marketplace against ordinary people and in favour of major investors. This is a scandal which has gone on for far too long. We need urgent action in respect of this matter.

I ask the Leader for a debate on the independence of our media. I am talking about all media across the whole island of Ireland, not just in the Republic. The lack of reporting with regard to what is happening in Derry is extraordinary. I refer to the situation whereby politicians are being stood down by a political party.

The legacy of former deputy First Minister, the late Martin McGuinness, has been torn apart. What is the problem with the media in this country that they are afraid to report these things? There are all kinds of rumours in Derry of community moneys not being properly spent. There are also rumours of drugs being involved. It is in everybody's interests that the media report these things. It is extraordinary that, for the last six weeks, the media in this country would not touch the matter. What is wrong with our media? Have they been infiltrated? Are they afraid? Why will they not investigate these things?

Gerry Adams's brother was placed in a Donegal house for three years and had charges of paedophilia made against him. No media would ever touch that story. Everyone knew about it in Donegal but nobody would touch it. In addition, Sinn Féin is spending tens of thousands of euro week in, week out on newspapers, media and independent journalists across the country and they can attack anybody on social media with the drop of an email. Our democracy is under attack at the moment. We are talking about cyberattacks. This attack needs to be investigated and it is much wider than just the Abú website. Our democracy is under attack. It is time our media spoke up and woke up and we got independence for all parties in this State.

I welcome the decision to hold a debate on Palestine this evening.

I concur with the remarks made by Senator Malcolm Byrne about charities. When we debate this matter in the Seanad, maybe we should also consider the multilayered strands of charities operating in the same general area where resources overlap. There are so many good charities in the area of cancer and mental wellness. It is a shame there is such an incredibly large number of them. Is there a need for so many individual charities? Could they not come together and amalgamate for the sake of fundraising? That is something we should consider.

Since the Seanad last sat, a new leader of political unionism has been elected. I wish Edwin Poots well, though personally, looking at his track record I am not convinced. I do not really have massive hope but he deserves space and a fresh start and I wish him the very best. I am not a fan of his social or environmental agenda but hopefully the responsibility of leadership will weigh heavily on his shoulders and he will rise to the challenge. I was not a particular fan of Ian Paisley Snr. so Edwin Poots is not a lost cause. He is a fellow Irishman and I wish him well. I will judge him by his actions, not his words, but his words have been very uninspiring to date.

In respect of the cyberattack, the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, has a natural love of this area and expertise in it. He will be a positive for the Government. These people are the new mafiosa - make no mistake about it. They should be treated the same as people who kill on the way to rob banks and art galleries, or drug cartels. Their actions risk people losing their lives around the world. We should throw everything at this and the Defence Forces should have an increased budget as this is happening throughout the EU. It is the new scourge and we must rise to this challenge or it could debilitate our country.

I join in the calls for a debate on cybersecurity. I ask specifically that whichever Minister or Minister of State comes in is able to speak about the single customer view data set, to which we have started to add biometric data in the last few years. It includes the data of over 3 million of our citizens and photographs are now being added to it. This is very concerning and is something I have highlighted previously.

I understand the Data Protection Commissioner is due to publish a report on biometric data. The State has still not addressed the concerns the commissioner has raised about the customer view data set. That is a mistake and I ask that it be addressed when we have that debate.

The House will get to debate housing. We might join the dots on the fact that hundreds of millions of euro have been given to investors to purchase at a time when local authorities have been forbidden from purchasing. Instead, local authorities are being told they must lease and are sometimes leasing at the same cost because of the fiscal rules. Those rules have been suspended for a year by Europe and will be suspended for another two years, so this is the moment. To join a third dot, Ireland apparently has capital earmarked for expenditure which it cannot spend this year. Let that capital go to local authorities to purchase and own public housing stock.

I join Senators in thanking the Leader for arranging a debate on Palestine. It will be very important. Let us not simply talk about the human tragedy, as others have. I saw the little girl saying she would do anything she could but what can she do as she is only ten years old. We must remember we are a country that is powerful and has an impact, and that there are things we can do. Everything we can do should be done. The ten-year-old spoke of wanting to be a doctor. Last night, Dr. Ayman Abu Al-Ouf, the head of internal medicine and coronavirus response at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, was killed. That is somebody who was dedicated to their work.

Let us have the Minister in but we must hear the detail, specifically the Attorney General's advice. The Government does not have to publish it but it should be explained. Does the advice include, for example, the European Court of Justice ruling on Rosneft from last year, which said sanctions could be imposed on Russia for reasons of public policy? Does that decision form part of the advice? Is there a danger that Ireland is itself committing violations - as some legal experts would argue - by giving aid to settlement areas through the purchase of goods? That is a legal opinion I would like to have.

We should also bear in mind that Attorneys General are sometimes wrong. In 2017, in the debate on the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016, Senator Ruane and I were told by the then Attorney General that our proposals were illegal. Those proposals are in the new Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2021. Let the Government be ready to argue the case and show Ireland can give leadership on this issue.

I support the call made by Senator McDowell and others for a debate on cybersecurity and energy security. The security breaches of the last few days are not the first such breaches. A number of local authorities have been hacked in the past year and a half. I fully support the call for a debate.

The Passport Office provides a great service. Its online service is very efficient and has helped so many people. There have been problems with the Passport Office over the last week. There is a major build-up of passport applications. Children's passport applications continue to be more complicated as consent forms and first-time adult witness forms are not accepted by the system. This is causing a huge backlog. The system is not accepting submissions for photographs, which will further add to the backlog. I had an email from a worried person this morning who has made a passport application. While he does not have to travel at the moment, he may be required to travel at any time and needs a passport. When he tries to upload his photographs to the website, an error message appears on the system. That feature is obviously not working.

As of 11 a.m. today, the web chat and telephone lines are unavailable. There are, therefore, some issues with the Passport Office which will feed in to the serious backlogs. While staff in the office are doing a magnificent job, the Minister needs to take action. As Senators have pointed out previously, we have a big backlog and the summer is coming, so something will need to be done.

I am sure the Leader will join me in wishing our retailers, shopkeepers and small businesses well on their reopening after a long close-down. My family were in the business of the provision and retail of menswear for 150 years and I know exactly how big a day this is for small shopkeepers. It is a time when we must give them support. The Government, in fairness, gave those businesses and their staff very good supports during the lockdowns. However, they are going to be on their own from now on. I would appeal to the general public to support their local shops. Shops on high streets all over the world are up against the massive multinationals and megastores. The local shop is the heart of local towns and when the day comes that the shop closes down, small, lonesome and empty streets of the kind we have been looking at for the past six months will be left. I am sure the Leader will encourage people to shop local.

My Fianna Fáil colleagues, Senators Blaney and McGreehan, brought an important Private Members' motion about the Taoiseach's shared island initiative to the House last week. The motion received the unanimous support of the House, which is to be welcomed. Only today, the shared island unit, in conjunction with the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, has published its first papers, examining economic and social opportunities from increased co-operation on this island. The four papers cover areas of mutual concern, such as cross-Border trade, primary care, education and training systems, and foreign direct investment. This is another step in working towards a shared island and a good relationship between North and South. I urge all Members to study the papers and bring them back to their constituencies.

The shared island movement has been given a fair welcome by our unionist neighbours because they do not see it as a threat. The Taoiseach has made clear that the enterprise is predicated on maintaining peace and shared living as priorities. Unionists are no fools and they are not nearly as sanguine about a number of other organisations and groups, self-appointed and answerable to nobody, that are engaging furiously in dialogue about constitutional change and agitating for a border poll. Some of those groups present themselves as disinterested and neutral voices that are anxious merely to facilitate the discussion that we all support. What they are really doing is building up momentum for a border poll which they think should take place when, and only when, they think they will get the answer they want. An Irish Independent-Kantar opinion poll showed quite clearly that a majority in the North are in favour of retaining the union with Great Britain. There is a nuanced range of opinions in the South on the issue of unity. It is emphatic that more than 70% of the Irish population see this type of agitation and constitutional movement as representing a real danger to peace on this island.

Go raibh maith agat.

I will conclude shortly. I have not spoken in the Chamber for a while.

All right.

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Some of these people are well meaning. Some of them are academics, others are journalists and politicians. They may very well want to be helpful. However, former EU ambassador to the United States, Mr. David O'Sullivan, recently addressed the Pat & John Hume Foundation and stated that heightening tensions in regard to a border poll is the most unhelpful thing that could be done to the body politic in Ireland. He said it could, in fact, prove disastrous.

I ask the people who are agitating for a border poll to think about what they are doing and its consequences. Do they want a return to what we had to endure at the hands of the IRA and Provisional IRA paramilitary murder gangs, the loyalist murder gangs and, indeed, the British army?

Just before the Leader replies, I want to inform Members who put in questions this morning to be dealt with at the Commencement of the sitting that I am unable to facilitate matters relating to the Department of Health at this time due to the issues around the cyberattack that are in the public arena.

I thank my colleagues for the variety of topics that have been raised today. The only thing I can say in response to Senator Ned O'Sullivan's passionate monologue is that he is a wise man and it would be wise for all of us to heed his words and advice.

Several Senators have asked for a debate on cybersecurity. I will ask for one as soon as I can. If I am to be honest, I am not even sure who is the Minister in charge of cybersecurity. I will have to go and find out. Senator Malcolm Byrne is right when he said data is king. Senator McDowell is accurate that it is the new space, if not the sole one, next to the drugs world on which those with criminal intent will be focusing their minds for the next number of years. It is so difficult, yet so easy at the same time, to access states' and individuals' information and to exploit it. I heard a gentleman say on the news yesterday that there were 2,500 attempts to attack the HSE last year. Obviously, last week's attack was successful and we are not even sure how successful. I will try to arrange that debate as quickly as I can. It is an issue on which we will be talking about for many moons to come.

I welcome everybody's acceptance of the Order of Business and the change to tonight's debate. The debate on defence is important and we will try to arrange that as soon as we can. However, I really feel that not only does the world need to hear the outpouring of grief about what is being done to both the Palestinian people and to the innocent Israeli people who are not reflective of what their Government is doing on their behalf, but the world must also stand up and act in solidarity. There is a need for a human response to people who have absolutely no choice as to what is being done to them or on their behalf. I thank Members for their co-operation today.

A housing debate was requested by Senator Alice Mary Higgins. She will get an opportunity to make her interventions on that issue tonight.

Senator Vincent P. Martin talked about the multiple charities which pop up across the country. To be fair, they are a direct response to people's experiences and suffering. The charities regulator needs to be given more teeth. There certainly should be a more serious level of governance with regard to all of our charitable organisations.

Senator Blaney spoke about the independence of Irish media. A lot of the time, many of us are left scratching our heads wondering why mainstream media, as we call it, does not reflect on some of the topics raging on social media. Any journalists or editors one speaks to will say the root of the difficulties lies in our defamation laws. Maybe we should be having a debate on the defamation laws as opposed to maybe questioning why some of our Irish media do not do what we would so wish them to do.

Senator Gavan raised some questions about a particular Limerick organisation for which I do not have responses. I will make some inquiries today and come back to him.

Senator Mary Seery Kearney also spoke about cybersecurity, as did Senator Malcolm Byrne.

Senator Moynihan raised the case of the Player Wills site in her area, something which is going to be topical for the next number of weeks, if not months, until people start to see a resolution to the concerns they have been raising for many years. That debate will start here in the Chamber this evening.

Senator Conway brought up the aviation industry. We have been waiting for a long time for Ryanair's results to come out as they did this morning. An €850 million loss in Ireland alone is absolutely staggering. When we add that to the €550 million losses of Aer Lingus and the €220 million losses for our airport authorities, it is no wonder the 150,000 families whose livelihoods depend on the industry are at their wits' end with regard to the Government's response. I hope we can give them a positive response soon.

To that end, Senator Ardagh raised antigen testing and the clamouring on behalf of what I would think are reasonable people looking for it to form part of our national public health response. I have to be honest - it would be remiss of me not to say it - that the patriarchal medical narrative that we witnessed in the past number of weeks by some of our professionals harks back to an era when Irish people, and indeed women, were afraid to challenge the medics. That is not the Ireland we live in today. Anybody who thinks medics should not be challenged should not be in a position of authority to give advice. We should be using antigen testing as part of our public health response. Irish people are not stupid. They absolutely know a negative result does not mean they are negative. What they do know, however, is that if people get a positive antigen test, they should make their way to their doctor, get a PCR test and act appropriately. That is the part that antigen testing should play in our public health response. Less of the condescension would also be very welcome.

Senator Boyhan talked about the Finite Lives report. I would welcome a debate on that matter and I will try to organise it in the next couple of weeks.

I will try to organise it in the next couple of weeks. The body of work done by our colleague, Marie-Louise O'Donnell, is superb, as is the work of the Irish Hospice Foundation and all of the people who care for others during their end-of-life and who also support the bereaved when they have lost a family member. I will try to organise that debate.

Senator Dooley spoke about the forestry sector. I will seek a debate as quickly as I can because this issue has major ramifications for the housing debate that is currently going on. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and the Marine recently released a report on forestry. It needs to feed into the wider debate that we are having, and I very much welcome it.

Senator Black read out the most powerful poem I have heard in a long time. Poetry usually lifts us, but I regret to say that the poem she read this morning lifted us to the horrors that women, children and families are experiencing on a daily basis. I thank the Senator for sharing the poem and I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing the poem, in full, to be read into the record.

Senators Pauline O'Reilly and Chambers raised an issue they have been raising every time they stand to their feet. I heard this morning that 14 of our 19 maternity hospitals are now in compliance with the public health guidelines. It is amiss as to why not all 19 hospitals are in compliance but, as stated by Senator Chambers, not all of the 14 are in full compliance. I will contact Paul Reid of the HSE today, who, to be fair to him, along with the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, have said that the responses of the hospitals as to the reasons they cannot adhere do not stand up to scrutiny. I will make contact with him again today. I thank the Senators for raising the issue again today.

Senator Hoey spoke about eating disorders and the 66% increase in referrals. I will try to arrange a debate around the medical profession and women's health in the next few weeks.

On menopause, Joe Duffy is in danger of becoming my generation's Gay Byrne. I listened to "Liveline" on Friday. Many of us do not have an opportunity to listen to the radio at lunchtime every day, and if we do, we are listening to the news. The experiences being shared by the women brought tears to my eyes. They were very powerful. It is even more powerful that that debate was ongoing for about eight days. The sharing of the experiences, and the solidarity of women, was powerful. I would like to see a lot more of that in this country. The next space for that debate has to be in the Seanad and the next response has to be in the women's health task force on behalf of the Minister for Health. I will try to arrange that debate as quickly as I can.