Under-11 basketball matches
Senator Byrne objects to Basketball Ireland stopping 11-year-olds from playing matches because they are unvaccinated, though they may still train. The Chair then briefly congratulates the local club Denn.
I rise today to speak about an issue that was brought to my attention yesterday. It is do with an eleven-year-olds and basketball. I have been led to believe that the decision was made by Basketball Ireland that children can go to their basketball training, but they cannot play a match because they are not vaccinated. We have not started vaccinating that age group. This 11-year-old and friends have been training.
They were getting ready for their match only to be told they can no longer have matches. Children have been through so much with Covid. They were so excited about upcoming matches and now they cannot have them. If Basketball Ireland has made this decision, I believe it is wrong. We have not given 11-year-olds the opportunity to be vaccinated yet.
I saw today in the news that it is envisaged people aged under 60 years who have underlying health conditions will be offered the vaccine next. This is very welcome along with the healthcare workers. As healthcare workers especially are working with people daily, it is important to welcome the news they are being vaccinated and that people with underlying health conditions are to be provided for too.
Comment on this
I seek a debate on the Government's approach to tackling homelessness in the capital. A recent article in The Sunday Times reported on the number of voluntary groups involved in the provision of food services in Dublin, which was approximately 27. This has even led to argument among the organisations over prime locations. Were these all self-funded ventures, the duplication of service would not be any of our business. However, it is the remit of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, DRHE, to co-ordinate the efforts of the four Dublin councils to combat homelessness. The DRHE spent roughly €159 million last year and the Government has spent close to €1 billion on homeless services from 2013 to 2020. Homelessness is clearly not an issue that will be resolved by throwing money at it. The largest of these charities took in over €56 million last year with €30 million of that coming directly from the State. The State has a duty to ensure such money is being spent in rehousing homeless persons in a sustainable manner rather than enabling individuals to remain on the street.
Is there something to be said for the centralisation of homeless services either in the DRHE or another statutory body established with the goal of eliminating homelessness? The sheer volume of volunteers we have who are willing to work in this area is testament to their hearts being in the right place but the system in which they work may not be right. Yesterday, Mr. Justice O’Moore gave an order to wind up Inner City Helping Homeless and appointed Mr. Kieran Wallace as permanent liquidator. While the circumstances which led to this outcome do not reflect on other charities working in the area of homelessness, perhaps it should give us cause to think about the structure through which the Government seeks to operate. Perhaps it is not a lack of funding which has lengthened Dublin's homelessness crisis but a refusal to go back to the drawing board in regard to how we set about tackling the issue as a whole.
On a separate issue, I spoke a couple of weeks ago about my home parish of Denn. This weekend, they actually won the junior championship in County Cavan. It was lovely to see the brother of one of the people who committed suicide taking the cup on behalf of the team. It was a lovely, joyous occasion for the parish.
