In March 2000, the then Minister for Health and now Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, launched the commission on assisted human reproduction, which reported. In 2009, we had a decision in the Supreme Court regarding assisted human reproduction with regard to surrogacy. In 2012, the then Minister, Alan Shatter, produced guidelines for international surrogacy. In 2015, we had the publication of the Child and Family Relationships Act and all the hoo-ha that led up to it, which resulted in surrogacy having to be severed from the Bill to be brought forward later. In 2017, the assisted human reproduction Bill went through the heads of Bill and pre-legislative scrutiny. The report on it came forward in July 2019.

That resulted in the commissioning of a report from the special rapporteur, Conor O'Mahony, regarding the rights of the child in cases of surrogacy, in particular international surrogacy. That report was published in March of this year. It has resulted in three Departments coming together and Ministers meeting on several occasions. Ministers from all three Government parties have shown a will to ensure that children have equality in the relationship with their mothers in this State.

I was very disappointed to hear that there might be a delay in the publication of this memo. Somewhere in all of this there is reluctance to move forward. There are children in the State who are exceeding 18 years of age and who will never have the right to a legal relationship with their mothers. Right now, there are children who do not have a legal relationship with their mothers. Right now, there are children whose parents have not resolved the matter of guardianship and who are relying on a will giving testamentary guardianship to the mother of that child.

There can be no more delays and we need political will. It has been 21 years since the then Minister, and now Taoiseach, commissioned a report into assisted human reproduction. It is time this was published and it is outrageous that there would be any further delays. We have three parties and three Ministers on board. We have political will and it needs to happen. I ask the Leader to write to the Taoiseach asking for this as a matter of urgency.

I support Senator Seery Kearney in her demand for the issue to be dealt with as a matter of urgency.

I have repeatedly asked about this matter and I am tempted to table an amendment to the Order of Business that we would have a debate in this House on Covid. It is of such importance that we cannot just have commentary by media and sound bites. As Members of the Upper House, we need a substantive debate on what is happening in our country now. For example, in the hospitality sector, the employment wage subsidy scheme should be retained. If that is to happen, how will it be continued?

This morning, 14 counties, including those containing the capital and the second city, have no testing facilities available. The HSE is giving mixed messages. It is important for us to have a debate on how we can continue to beat Covid-19 because our vaccination programme has worked. I would like the Ministers for Health and for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to come to the House to debate the impact and import of Government decisions on Covid. I hope this can happen next week. I will table a motion calling for an amendment to the Order of Business. We are legislators of the Upper House and we should have an input into the debate on what is happening with Covid.

I welcome the comments of the Taoiseach yesterday in reply to a question from Deputy Richmond on the roll-out of antigen testing for use in early childhood settings, Montessori schools and crèches. In his response he said there should be some fine tuning. I ask that we get the detail of the fine-tuning for that sector as a matter of urgency. All they are asking is that they be treated the same as those in school education. In recent days we have heard of the challenges in getting substitute teachers. The same challenges apply to crèches missing staff through Covid. They face the same challenges with children as schools do. I welcome that they are being treated the same as primary and secondary schools, but they need that detail as quickly as possible.

The challenge for those managing crèches and early childhood providers is that the decisions they make need to be supported by the HSE. A week ago, I welcomed that it is going to be done. When they make the decision to close pods or crèches, it is important that they have the backing of the HSE and have the backing of antigen testing for their employees. It gives more reassurance to the parents and to the providers that they are making the right decision.

I support the comments of Senator Ahearn on childcare. It is important for it to be treated the same and given the same backup as our school sector.

I welcome the Tánaiste's comments yesterday clarifying the position of the country and refuting all the social media lies and mistruths out there. Yesterday, I spoke about businesses not knowing whether to purchase goods ahead of the Christmas rush and whether they would be closed or open. I am glad it was cleared up that that is not on the agenda. The incidence of positive cases is levelling off and hopefully no major further restrictions will need to be imposed.

I raise the issue of transport. I left home slightly later this morning to avoid getting caught up in a traffic jam. Senators coming into the city will have seen the disruption that was caused, understandably so, because the transport sector is on its knees. My family is involved in a bus company. I know the significant extra cost they have with petrol and diesel. They cannot claim back the VAT which Northern Ireland-registered bus companies can. They are in a difficult situation even competing for work.

While there is a rebate scheme, it only applies up to a maximum point. That needs to be extended because the price has gone way beyond what it was. I know the owner of a transport company whose fuel bill has increased by €20,000 a month. The industry is suffering. I have a small station at home and I see the prices first-hand. The average price is now €1.726 for petrol and €1.633 for diesel, which equates to a 27% increase in petrol and a 28% increase in diesel. Those are the highest prices since the AA start recording figures in 1991. We need to look at introducing some support measures.