I wish to raise a serious matter that occurred at the weekend. There were probably similar issues at other popular beaches around the country. First, I thank Ben Bennett, Mike Paige, Aaron McGettigan, Ollie O'Flaherty and Richard Brangwyn. They put their lives at risk to save over 40 people yesterday at a beach in Lahinch. There were zero lifeguards on duty. We knew last weekend was going to be sunny and that thousands would flock to the beaches. This is our second summer in lockdown so we should have figured this out by now. People deserve to be outside. They have been told to go outside and the country has been told to take a staycation, and I have been promoting that. We should not be shocked at the number of people outside on the streets or at the beaches. We knew this was coming.

I am wondering what the solution is. The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, and several Departments have given millions to local authorities for bins, outdoor seating, extra amenities and creating spaces, but I do not see that happening on the ground. I do not know what the problem is. There were no lifeguards on duty yesterday in Lahinch, although it was packed with thousands of people. There were two-year-olds missing and one guy nearly had a heart attack. The five men I mentioned are all surfers and they did this voluntarily. They could not leave the beach because they were afraid people would die. They were putting people on their surf boards and bringing them in from the water. I know we cannot predict our weather, but we can predict if it is going to be sunny. I booked a trip to the Aran Islands a week ago because we were told last weekend was due to be sunny. We will have to be more creative and quicker off the mark. The climate has changed and our weather patterns are more unpredictable, but this is our second outdoor summer and we have not nailed it. We have failed.

I wonder if it is necessary to have a meeting with all the chief executive officers, CEOs, of the local authorities to find out what the problem is. It is not fair to ordinary civilians and surfers that they would be afraid to leave the beach in case somebody drowns if they are not there to keep an eye on them. It is a serious issue and it is ongoing. We cannot wait until somebody dies to realise it is serious.

I was delighted to hear Senator Burke mention Swinford because, as he knows, that is the birthplace of my grandfather. I believe that every Horkan in the country originally came from there. I am delighted that the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, is there today.

I would be more than happy to speak about what happened at the weekend, which has been covered so often. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had a protecting upland and rural environments, PURE, policy relating to upland dumping in the mountains. It is all about leaving no trace. It is all very well that we need more bins and we have more traffic wardens, dog wardens and litter wardens, but it is down to people's personal responsibility. People have to behave properly. Of course, when alcohol is involved people occasionally lose the run of themselves but, by and large, if one goes to a beach, a park or elsewhere, one should bring what one has. Ideally, there should be more rubbish bins. Hopefully, however, this will all change. We will have outdoor dining in the next week. I asked the Leader a few weeks ago if this could be reopened earlier. Between 700 and 800 pubs in Dublin will be open next week for outdoor activity, and they all have toilets which will be available to people to use as they are public houses. The sooner we have the pubs open, both outdoor and indoor, the more we will spread the burden and there will not be a focus on illegal drinking, as that is what it is under the law, taking place.

The point I wish to raise relates to a report that was commissioned by the Association of Irish Local Government about the intimidation of councillors, both online and in person. It was published last week and is a comprehensive document. The association surveyed its 949 local authority members, who elected many of the Members of this House, and there were 223 responses. Almost a quarter of the members gave a response, which is a phenomenal response rate. They pointed out that people have been subject to violence, threats of violence, threats of sexual violence, death threats in some cases and threats to their family members. I call on the Deputy Leader to have a debate on that report as soon as we can and certainly before the summer recess. It is a comprehensive report.

Councillors do a great deal of work. Almost every Member of the House has been a member of a local authority. My apologies to any Member who was not, but almost every Member in the Chamber at present was. Social media has accentuated this problem and we must tackle it properly, both with the social media companies and also by engaging with the public and saying it is not okay to intimidate public representatives, either anonymously or to people's faces.

I have been listening to some of the comments made by previous speakers. We need to give young people a break. They have endured enormous sacrifices over the past 14 months. I got quite annoyed listening to some of the finger wagging going on over the weekend, particularly from people who have been vaccinated while young people continue to have to wait. Similar to Senator Garvey, I saw it in Courtown. We had traffic chaos over the weekend at our beaches. We have had a year to prepare for all of this. Resources have been provided to local authorities. We should have known this would happen. I have been very fortunate, like many others, because I live in the great town of Gorey and I have access to the sea and country areas. If people are cooped up in an apartment for a long period once we get a bit of sun of course they want to come out. It is only natural. This does not excuse irresponsible behaviour, for which the minority were responsible. If people bring a bag of cans into a public area, they are well capable of loading those empty cans back into the bag and taking them home with them. If we are going to have an outdoor summer, and the resources have been provided, then in these circumstances we should make sure our local authorities prepare for it. I listened to Mike Cubbard, the mayor of Galway, earlier on "Morning Ireland" and I thought he was right. We need to give young people at break. They have endured an horrendous year.

I ask that at some stage we have a debate in the House on the question of grief and sacrifice. We have lost almost 5,000 people. Many of their families have not had the opportunity to mourn. There will be issues when we emerge from this. We know about the potential mental health impact. There will be a need for counselling services and support. As we finally come out of this pandemic, the House should consider ways we can remember those who lost their lives and allow those who have lost loved ones to grieve appropriately.