I join the Acting Chairperson in extending my sympathies to our colleague, Senator Fitzpatrick, on the death of her father and our former colleague, Dr. Dermot Fitzpatrick. It is a sad time for her and all her family.

Last Sunday, I was in Ennis watching the re-emergence of the great Meath football team and I thought to myself, God, the last time I was in Ennis was two years ago when the then Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, made his address from Blair House. I reflected on how the world has changed in that period. As I sat in the stadium last Sunday, I thought about how great it is to be back in football stadiums enjoying moments like this and doing normal things again. However, the coverage on the radio this morning of the warnings from the HSE chief operations officer, Ms Anne O'Connor, brought us all back to reality if we were not there already. At 8 a.m. this morning, there were 1,425 Covid-19 patients in our hospitals. The most frightening thing was the advice from the HSE to hospitals in respect of cancelling elective procedures. We already saw the backlog that arose from the last two years. We cannot have this again. We need swift action from the Government in this respect.

I welcome that fact that statements have been made on the establishment of a new advisory council and the swift action in this regard. Having emerged from this period of prolonged lockdown, we cannot see regression and a reversal. We have already seen consumer sentiment damaged because of the war in Ukraine. We certainly do not need to see any more damage to our economy because of another regression towards lockdown. That leaves aside any of the impact in terms of mental health as well. I ask the Acting Leader to confirm that we will have swift action from the Government in this respect. We should take the warnings from Ms O'Connor this morning very gravely.

I wish to express my condolences to the Fitzpatrick family and especially to my colleague, Senator Fitzpatrick.

Yesterday in Belfast, some food delivery workers from Just Eat, Deliveroo and a number of similar services went on strike. They withdrew their services on the basis of their terms and conditions. They work in what is euphemistically, and supposedly excitingly, called the "gig economy". I have spoken about this on several previous occasions. Companies like Deliveroo decide they will set up a piece of technology and a platform in order that restaurants can access the public and, in theory, that is a really good idea. Back in 2014, we probably all welcomed it as a very good idea. There are consequences of this for people's employment rights, however. People are out working on their bicycles and in their cars, not even getting the minimum wage for the sheer extent of the hours they work. They take risks with their own lives in order to satisfy an accumulative number of deliveries. They have no holiday pay or public holiday pay. They do not get extra time for having worked on the bank holiday last weekend. They do not get any of those things because they are considered by the likes of Deliveroo as self-employed independent contractors. Because a company can put somebody else in instead of those workers on an evening, there is no mutuality of obligation. This undermines any of the protections that come with employment rights and being designated an employee. There is an increase in the pursuit of flexible working and in this gig economy model. The time has come when this House needs to debate the suitability of the employment models in our State. We have a race to the bottom insofar as people's employment status and all the protections that accrue with that, which were fought for very hard over a very long period, are concerned. I ask for a debate on that issue.

I, too, send my deepest condolences to the Fitzpatrick family and our colleague, Mary, on the death of our former colleague Dr. Dermot Fitzpatrick. It is a very difficult time for all of them.

I stand today to call for a debate on energy security and the cost of energy. I would like the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to come to the Chamber to talk about what the Government is doing and can do to support families. I know it is a really complex issue in one way but there is also a moral issue. We must have a discussion on the energy we waste. We waste millions of euro of energy in this country every single year. It is wrong that we dump so much energy off our grid. I recognise there are technical and electricity grid-based challenges that need to be addressed. We all know that with regulatory and political will, however, these things can be achieved. In the short term, I urge all Members to look into EnergyCloud, which is a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to create solutions to divert surplus renewable energy into Irish homes, with a primary focus on fuel poverty. This is something that can be done. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has a pilot project with Clúid Housing and EnergyCloud. It is about getting excess energy - that will otherwise be dumped, in fact - into lower socioeconomic homes. I would really like the Minister to come here and talk about these things to create the framework and listen to the ideas of Seanad Éireann on how we frame a positive sustainable way out of this energy nightmare.