Before coming to the matter I intended to raise today, I note the Leas-Chathaoirleach acknowledged, and rightly so, Finland's national day. In a light-hearted way, we referred to Santa as being from Finland. Senator Chambers then raised the issue of Afghanistan. I fully agree with the point she made. Let us come closer to home, to the European Union, of which we are members. We could do more, and we need to have a bigger conversation on the issue. What will Santa be bringing to the children of Afghanistan? Let us think about that question over the next few days. Perhaps we will have a conversation on it at another time.

I raise an issue relating to young farmers. Yesterday, at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, we were joined by the president of Macra na Feirme, Mr. John Keane. I am not sure if Senators know him but, by golly, they should watch him. He is a guy who is going places. He is highly articulate and an expert on agriculture and food. At the meeting, he talked about farmers, young farmers in particular. He stated that only 5% of our national farmers are young farmers under the age of 35. That is an extraordinary situation. He talked about the transition and supports. However, what really impressed me about Mr. Keane was his eloquence and his knowledge of eco-schemes.

We recently talked about peat. We must be careful not to lose the message that farmers are the custodians of our environment. They want to play their role. It is too easy to demonise them. Many people have demonised farmers in terms of their role. They want the supports to carry out their role. There are seven EU eco-schemes that farmers can avail of, but as Mr. Keane pointed out at yesterday's meeting, these must be expanded. The EU needs to provide education and training and certificates to young farmers who want to upskill. The education and training should be delivered on a modular basis across agriculture, because young farmers also have to work. The young farmers are very impressive.

Mr. Keane stated that the issues he would like to see addressed include climate change mitigation, adaptation, improvements in water quality, biodiversity, soil management and animal welfare. He dealt with the issues in a most comprehensive way in this contribution. If Members have a moment, they should listen back to the meeting. He is a very impressive president of a most impressive organisation, which represents the next generation of farmers and custodians of our environment.

I know we have a busy schedule at the moment. I ask the Leader that perhaps in the new year, we have a specific conversation, debate and engagement in this House with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the eco-schemes that are available to farmers and to shine a light on the enormous, positive and good work that our farmers are doing for our environment in Ireland.

I commend the Leader on wearing a red ribbon today. Yesterday was World AIDS Day. It is 40 years since the discovery of AIDS and the start of the epidemic. I would like to place on record the memory of all those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses and reiterate the message of U=U, or undetectable equals untransmittable. This is the scientific fact that if you are on effective treatment for HIV, you cannot pass it on to your partner. I also encourage people to get tested not just for HIV, but to know their sexual health status. Cases of sexually transmitted infections, STIs, are very much on the rise, since many our sexual health services were closed during the pandemic. Pre-exposure prophylaxsis, PrEP, which many campaigned for over a number of years, is also available through those services. It is antiretroviral medication that is taken daily or on an event basis, and has been effective across all populations. I encourage everyone to educate themselves and each other so that we can end and eradicate stigma.

Prior to Covid, Ireland had the highest rate of new HIV diagnoses in Europe, showing the need for testing and investment in sexual health services, education and outreach. As a whole, the world is off track in delivering the shared commitment to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. I will read some figures. In 2020, there were 37 million people living with HIV, 1.5 million new HIV infections and 680,000 AIDS-related deaths. According to UNAIDS, around 65% of HIV infections globally were among sex workers and their clients, gay men and other men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, transgender people and their sexual partners. Even before the Covid pandemic hit, many of the populations most at risk were not being reached with HIV testing, prevention and care services. There are obvious and very disturbing parallels between access to HIV treatment and access to Covid-19 vaccines. It is estimated that between 1997 and 2006, 12 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses in low and middle income countries because the price of medicines was too high and out of reach for most countries affected by HIV.

The third sustainable development goal aims to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Unrelenting political commitment is needed from Ireland and the world in order to achieve that goal.

I agree with the sentiments of Senator Chambers on Afghanistan. It is important that we have a discussion of the issue. I, too, read the distressing article mentioned by the Senator, which reported that over 1 million children are at risk of starvation. It is an issue we need to discuss and do more on, as colleagues have said.

I want to raise two other issues. The first concerns sport. I know many Senators have a wide and varying interest in sport. I wish to highlight a growing issue I have come across and which was discussed by the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media yesterday, namely, the abuse of referees. Having spent well over 30 years playing and coaching in the GAA in County Kildare, I can say that it is a problem. As was outlined at the committee meeting yesterday, it is a problem to varying degrees in the three sports that were represented at the meeting. It is an issue that we, in the Oireachtas, must take seriously. I have discussed the matter with my colleague, Councillor Paul O'Brien, among other friends and colleagues in a number of different sports. Councillor O'Brien is an ex-president of the Irish Soccer Referees Society and is currently chairman of the Wicklow branch of the organisation. It was very worrying to hear its representative at the meeting, Mr. Sean Slattery, confirm that 66% of those who took the organisation's referee beginner course are no longer refereeing.

We all know that without a referee, we have no game. I would appreciate if the Leader could arrange a debate with the Minister of State with responsibility for sport on the matter. I have seen the silent-sideline model work successfully. We need to introduce this in all sports and treat referees with respect in the first instance. We are not asking for encouragement from the sideline to stop, but if we want the fun to continue, we need to start protecting our referees and ensuring that the abuse many of them are getting ends.

Those at yesterday's meeting sought help with professional guidance for referees who suffer online abuse and we also need to discuss that. We need to keep this conversation going and most importantly we need to do what we in the Oireachtas can to ensure that we continue to enjoy the various sports we have in this country. As we discovered recently, that enjoyment is totally dependent on having the woman or man there with the whistle; they must be protected.

There has been much discussion about the reduction of the EWSS payment. Senator Kyne mentioned how it is affecting those in our hospitality and entertainment sector. Like many other Senators, I have received many calls and emails from those involved in the industry with a very simple message: they need help now. Many have informed me that without the assistance of this payment they would simply have to shut and that many staff in the sector would lose their jobs. I will quote the operator of a bar in my home town of Athy in an email to me and other public representatives yesterday in which he stated:

My business has been destroyed. It wasn’t too bad before everything reopened to the regular 2:30 but after 4 weeks of trading late, our customers have disappeared with the new closing times...

Is there anything that can be done, we were better off closed with the supports and now with the wage subsidy cut our future is not looking good at all with thoughts of complete closure as we cannot sustain this.

I NEED HELP

That was one of the many emails I received yesterday. I hope that the Taoiseach and his colleagues in government have listened to the many calls to reverse this cut and support this industry at this most difficult time for them all.