It is lovely to see the parents of Senators coming in. I am little envious that I do not have my mother anymore. Senator Hoey does not have her father anymore and Senator Carrigy does not have his mother anymore but it is so lovely to see that Senator Dolan is able to share these moments with her parents.

On Monday the Children’s Rights Alliance published its annual report card, which provides an analysis of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party’s Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, and how it performed for children in 2021. The report examines the promises made to the children in the programme for Government and grades the Government on its performance in bringing about those promised changes. The report states:

2021 was far from a normal year and, to its credit, the Government made good progress in some areas. To reflect this, a ‘B’ grade was awarded on the commitment to create new pathways for long-term undocumented people and their children. There were three ‘B-’ grades for work to end the Direct Provision system, for reform of the childcare system and for the long-awaited guidelines on reduced timetables.

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Things were less stellar at the other end of the spectrum with two ‘E’ grades awarded – the lowest in Report Card 2022. The first of these is given for the increase in the number of children and their families experiencing homelessness. The fact that there were nearly 300 more children and young people in emergency accommodation at the end of the 2021 compared to the beginning of that year, is deeply disappointing particularly given the positive actions taken in 2020 resulting in a fall in homeless families.

It is worth spending some time with the report but a few figures give a sobering snapshot of the work to be done.

Just under 2,500 children are homeless, as are 929 young adults. Some 1,795 children and young people are in direct provision. Some 84% of those aged eight to ten years are on social media platforms despite being below the age restriction. There are 2,384 children on the waiting list for a child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, appointment of whom 170 have waited for more than a year. It is all there in the report. How best to help the children of Ireland? It might be a good time to have a debate on this.

I also welcome Senator Dolan's family here. It is lovely to see the great pride she has in them and I am sure that it is reciprocated because they can be very proud of Senator Dolan and the wonderful work that she is doing here in the Seanad.

I welcome the announcement by the Cabinet that the long-awaited task force on the Shannon Estuary is about to commence and that advertisements will go out seeking indications of interest in becoming a member of its board. If this Government goes full term, as I believe it will, in 2025 I will have been a public representative for 40 years. In all that time I have had great joys and great disappointments. The Shannon Estuary has been the greatest struggle and disappointment of my political life. We have been promised so many false dawns. We were going to have a car assembly factory there, a zinc refinery and a major transhipment hub. I gave 16 years as a director of the local port company in Foynes, which was very profitable and go-ahead. We wasted so many wonderful opportunities from a lack of Government commitment and I am talking about my own party as well as everybody else.

Next week we will get the definitive result from An Bord Pleanála on the Shannon liquefied natural gas, LNG, project, which I devoutly hope will get the go-ahead. The Government has indicated that it will accept An Bord Pleanála's decision. When it comes to the objectors, 99% do not reside in my community. There is 99% support for that project in the community in north Kerry. I hope that if and when permission is given, these objectors will accept that and let us get on with creating jobs and creating new infrastructure and giving a whole new lease of life to the estuary.

I also welcome the report published yesterday by Alcohol Action Ireland in conjunction with the UCC school of public health on alcohol. We have had many debates here on alcohol but I would like to point out some alarming statistics in the report. It states that up to four people daily die in Ireland of alcohol-related disease. Alcohol is a factor in 5% of all deaths in the country. More than 25% of suicides, male and female, are alcohol-related. These statistics may be underestimates. I am not a killjoy. I drank when I was able; I cannot drink any more. It is wonderful to see people enjoying a drink in moderation. That said, we need to step up a gear. I am calling for a State-sponsored alcohol office to be opened by the Government, the introduction of a broadcast watershed for alcohol advertising on radio and television and clearer labelling of the danger of alcohol products, akin to what we get when we open our cigarette packets.