My colleague, Senator Chambers, and I spoke yesterday about "Women of Honour" and the need to take the group's stories seriously and act. This morning I wanted to mention the nine Army rangers who went to Afghanistan to help to bring our citizens home. I congratulate them on the work they did. Two officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs were present. We need to recognise the work that the rangers and other members of our Defence Forces do and that the difficulties over pay and conditions still exist. We need, once and for all, to deal with these issues.

I also want to raise the issue of drinking water. There was a problem earlier this summer. There are ongoing issues in Gorey and Ballymore Eustace. Silver eels were found in a water treatment plant serving approximately 10,000 people in the Castledermot area. The EPA condemned that. People are experiencing ongoing problems over the security and safety of their water supply. It is not acceptable and we need to do far more in this regard.

The last issue I would like to raise concerns a conversation I had yesterday morning with the Kildare branch of Down Syndrome Ireland. It relates somewhat to what Senator Seery Kearney was speaking about. Some training courses for young people with an intellectual disability and for young people who have left formal education are offered during mainstream school hours. In Kildare, the courses have covered literacy and horticulture. I visited the premises myself and tremendous work was being done. A grant was given through the Department of Health to fund the courses. That has now been stopped but no alternative has been put in place. The response to the organisation in question was that it should become a section 39 organisation. That is ridiculous. Groups of volunteers working hard to put in place positive experiences, including learning experiences, for young people with intellectual disabilities do not want to become formal organisations. They are giving of their time and energy. We need to have a debate on how best to support young people with intellectual disabilities in acquiring the skills they need for life, education and, hopefully, employment.

I thank Senator O'Loughlin for bringing up the issue of the rangers. Her strong support for the Defence Forces is noted always. It is a little sad that we are talking about the Army rangers and the work they did in Afghanistan when the unit is falling apart for want of new recruits. We have a new Chief of Staff coming on board now and a new Secretary General in the Department. We also have a Minister who says he is committed to the Defence Forces and, therefore, it is my hope that we will see a tremendous improvement in the overall structures in the Defence Forces in the very near future.

The Deputy Leader, Senator Chambers, spoke yesterday about "Women of Honour", as did Senator O'Loughlin. We want a thorough investigation of the matter. We want it independently chaired by an individual from outside the Defence Forces. Every officer, non-commissioned officer and enlisted person I know is devastated because there are people within their ranks who have brought them into disrepute and because it is not known who the perpetrators are. The quicker we get the commission up and running, the better. That is a job for Major General Sean Clancy, the new Chief of Staff, as he comes in. I wish him well with that.

At the end of the summer session, I spoke about the search and rescue contract. I said it would be placed before the Cabinet as an any-other-business item at the last moment. Indeed, it has gone before the Cabinet and has been approved to go for tender. I wrote to the Minister following the approval and said we cannot go to tender while we are awaiting the outcome of the report on Rescue 116. There are three companies big enough to serve as a search and rescue operator for Ireland, one of which is CHC, the incumbent. There are serious questions that will be asked of CHC in the report on Rescue 116, which I understand is imminent. The adviser on the business case, Frazer-Nash Consultancy, is associated with another of the three companies that will tender. Really and truly, the system raises more questions than it answers. This is something this House will have to watch as it progresses. There is a maxim that once something is approved to go to tender, we should all step back from it and allow the process to go ahead but I have serious concerns about the process that has brought us to this point. I need to have that firmly on the record.

With regard to search and rescue operations, there should be no tender until we have the full outcome regarding Rescue 116. The company in question was provided with night-vision solutions for the cockpits of its helicopters almost ten years ago but those solutions have never been implemented. I am not a pilot but I believe it is reckless not to be in a position to use technology that will allow flight at night. These questions have to be answered before the tender is agreed at any stage in the near future. I will leave that with the Deputy Leader. We may need to have a debate on this.