I will raise three matters. Today, the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, announced a series of welcome reforms to the leaving certificate. I ask for a debate on those reforms in the very near future, which I am sure can be facilitated. I particularly welcome the introduction of two new subjects, one in the area of drama, film and theatre studies, and the second in the area of climate action and sustainable development. The latter subject is the critical global issue of our time and many students will be interested in it. The greater emphasis that will be placed on the arts in our school system is also welcome. The introduction of a new subject in the form of drama, film and theatre is very welcome.

Any passenger who has travelled through Dublin Airport recently, and I know several, will have complained of the long delays at security. These are not just long but completely unacceptable delays. When people ask if they turn up two hours in advance of their flights, and short-haul flights at that, whether they will be guaranteed to get through security and catch those flights, and Dublin Airport authorities cannot guarantee it, that is not acceptable. In a progressive country such as ours, to send out a message that Dublin Airport is incapable of ensuring there is a sufficient number of security staff to be able to process the large number of passengers that can be expected is just not acceptable. We know we are coming towards the Easter holidays when we will see an increase in the numbers and will be moving into the much busier summer season. I ask the Acting Leader to raise this with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, as a matter of urgency, and that he receives guarantees from the authorities at Dublin Airport that they can ensure passengers who are there do not have to wait an unreasonable length of time to go through security.

I will raise the matter of the census. I encourage everyone to fill it in this coming weekend. I ask that we consider, for the next census in 2026 and beyond, moving it onto blockchain, and that we look at having a dynamic blockchain-enabled census and new ways for the State to gather and utilise data.

In addition, I wish all the census enumerators the very best of luck as they knock on doors and try to gather census forms. I am aware of a small minority of muppets who are trying to cite some nonsense that the census does not apply to them. One of the things we need to remember in this State is that we have many rights as citizens, but we also have responsibilities. It is an individual's responsibility to fill in his or her census form. I ask that we stand in solidarity with those small number of census enumerators who have received abuse on the doorsteps and that the full rigours of the law will be faced by those who refuse to fill in their census forms.

I also rise to call for a debate on the reform of the leaving certificate. I was education spokesperson in the previous Seanad and have a keen interest in the area. I support Senator Malcolm Byrne's call.

The main reason I rise is to raise a matter relating to the Revenue Commissioners. I have been inundated with calls from people who cannot get through to Revenue. There is a helpline open. Revenue closed its offices to the public at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and its offices are still not open for in-person meetings. Every other public and private sector organisation is open. It is fine going online but it is not everybody's cup of tea to manage their affairs online. Some people find that if they have a technical issue, they are not able to resolve it through the online service.

I visited the office of the Revenue Commissioners in Dublin today. I visited the office in Limerick on Friday. Neither of the offices was open. Revenue is taking calls in the morning but trying to get an appointment online or a place in the queue is very difficult. It is a difficult situation. It is not easy for older people or for people in general. I am looking for the support of this House. We should write to Revenue and call on it to go back to in-person meetings. This has happened in every other private and public sector organisation. It is time for Revenue to reopen its doors.

I note that today marks the funeral of Pierre Zakrzewski, who was an Irish citizen and journalist murdered by Russian forces in Ukraine a few weeks ago. Today is the day of his funeral. He was educated at St. Conleth's College, approximately a mile from the House. He discharged his function has a journalist with great bravery until he was murdered by Russian soldiers as part of Vladimir Putin's murderous, illegal and criminal invasion of Ukraine. It is important this House notes the occasion. An Irish citizen was murdered by the Russians. We should never forget who was responsible for this and who took the decision to unleash that savagery on the people of Ukraine. To all of Mr. Zakrzewski's friends in Ireland, I express my deepest sympathy and condolence.

I raise the need for a debate in this House on the provision of private rented dwellings. A foolish decision was made last year when it was decided that all tenancies which last more than six months should become tenancy contracts of indefinite duration. This came from a Department that is blighted by making stupid decisions. The same Department wiped out bedsits with a four-year delayed proposal when then Minister, former Deputy John Gormley, was in charge. That was a so-called reform in the interests of improving the standards of tenancy accommodation. We now have shared accommodation, which reverses the entire thrust of that initiative.

The point I want to make is that if anyone wants to know why private landlords are now deserting the rental market in droves, it is because we have stupidly and at the behest of the same Department introduced a law to the effect that all tenancies which last more than six months cannot be terminated except on one of four statutory grounds. The consequence of that is that people who simply wanted to let a house for five years with no questions asked and no reasons given, one way or another, cannot do so anymore. They must have one of the statutory grounds for evicting their tenant in the long run, whether their relationship with the tenant is good or bad, or antagonistic, no matter whose fault the antagonism is. Those landlords are stuck with those tenants forever unless one of the four statutory grounds exists.

I am not a slave to market ideology, but we intervene in markets at our peril. We did this with bedsits and we saw the consequences when 10,000 to 15,000 dwellings for the most vulnerable of people were annihilated. Now, we are doing the same again. We are driving private landlords out on the presupposition that they are all in the same category as real estate investment trusts investing billions of euro in Ireland and that they can take tenancies of unlimited duration in their stride. They will not. As a consequence, a very serious mistake has been made. I ask the Deputy Leader to ask the Minister to come back to the House to explain why it is necessary to have contracts of indefinite duration and what the consequences of that have been for the supply of private rented dwellings owned by private landlords.