The Order of Business is No. 1, Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022 – Second Stage, to be taken at 12.45 p.m. and adjourn at 2.45 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated for the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes and all other Senators not to exceed five minutes, and the Minister to be given no less than ten minutes to reply; No. 2, Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022 – Committee Stage (Resumed), to be taken at 3 p.m. and to adjourn at 6.30 p.m. if not previously concluded; and No. 3, National Minimum Wage (Payment of Interns) Bill 2022 – Second Stage, to be taken at 6.45 p.m., with the time allocated for this debate not to exceed two hours.

I agree with the Order of Business as set out by the Acting Leader. This morning, she and I have both come from the gates of Leinster House on Kildare Street, where we joined fellow Senators, Deputies, activists and the National Women's Council of Ireland to celebrate the anniversary of the referendum to repeal the eighth amendment, which took place this day four years ago. Many of us were involved in that campaign. I feel I got involved at the 11th hour because the campaign began 35 years before that date and many of the women involved then are still involved today.

We envisaged that there would be some difficulties in implementing the will of the people and ensuring equality of access for women across the county to these legally available services. Some of those problems persist today and they are part of what we will be looking at in the review of the legislation to ensure we get it right for the women and girls of Ireland. We stand with fellow Members, activists and women across the country in once again pledging our support to ensure the legislation is properly and fully implemented, there is equality of access and we address any additional and outstanding concerns. We will work with colleagues across parties on those issues in the coming weeks and months.

I also want to speak about the horrific mass shooting that happened yesterday in a primary school in the United States. It is the 27th such shooting this year. My heart goes out the families of the victims, to the other students who witnessed it, to the two teachers lost and to that community. I have no doubt that people across the United State are heartbroken at what has happened.

It is with utter disbelief that we listen to the commentary from some public representatives, both Congressmen and Senators, suggesting that the issue is not gun control. They have moved on from wanting to arm teachers and some are now suggesting they should have armed police on school grounds. I listened to Larry Murphy on the radio this morning. His views were very strong and I concur with his remarks. It is abhorrent to suggest putting an armed police force in schools rather than changing the gun laws in the United States. There is a majority view among the public that there should be tighter gun controls, as well as from many public representatives, yet the National Rifle Association seems to have a vice grip on a majority in American politics. I concur with the remarks of President Biden on this. We hope these representatives will act and that this will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but there is pessimism across the United States that anything will actually happen. There will be an outpouring of grief and solidarity and then people will just move on and it will be forgotten about and consigned to the history books. It is shocking.

President Biden was correct in pointing out that lots of countries have mental health issues and other challenges, such as civil unrest and different issues that pop up from time to time, but no other country in the world is dealing with mass shootings in schools like the United States is. The issue is gun control, not those other issues. I extend our support, solidarity and deep sympathies to the families and communities of those who have lost loved ones this morning, those very young second, third and fourth graders. It does not bear thinking about but it is important that we speak about this issue, highlight it and advocate for change.

I join the Senator in expressing our sympathies to the families who have, over the last number of hours, gone through the most unimaginable horror to befall any parent, which is the loss of a child. As the Senator has pointed out, it is an unnecessary loss. This is a failure of politics at its worst. The US is a world superpower. If it cannot protect its own children, then the solution is not more police; it is more politics and people working together to make sure they protect their children.

I thank the Cathaoirleach and his office, the Clerk and his team and all involved in the very successful visit yesterday by Congressman Richard Neal. By all accounts, it was an amazing and historic day. It was a great privilege to be here and to share in the exchange. Based on the media coverage last night, it resonated with a lot of people. I know it was a personal choice of the Cathaoirleach's and something he wanted to see happen. I also thank the administration here in Leinster House that dealt with all the security issues and other matters that come with such a visit to this House. We were greatly privileged and I again thank everyone involved.

I raise the issue of An Bord Pleanála. I am conscious that there is litigation going on that would not be appropriate for me to talk about. That said, An Bord Pleanála plays a very important - indeed, critical - role in our planning process and the public must therefore have every confidence in the governance procedures of the board and how it and its members conduct themselves. We in these Houses are all aware that the former Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government commissioned a report called the Mulcahy report, which I will address in a minute. We are also very aware that our current Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage appointed Remy Farrell SC to provide his opinion on a number of planning decisions and a report is awaited. As I said, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on his work or any ongoing issues around An Bord Pleanála.

A report by Rory Mulcahy SC into alleged corruption in County Donegal remains unpublished almost five years after it was sitting on the desk of the then Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy. He said the report was on his desk and that it needed some consideration. There were many issues of alleged serious misconduct in a planning authority, which gave rise to questions. We are going to talk about confidence in the planning authority, in local government planning procedures and in our appeals board, An Bord Pleanála. Let us not waste money and time commissioning reports unless we are also committed to putting them in the public domain. I have already issued a statement today calling on the Minister to publish the Mulcahy report and lay it before the Houses of the Oireachtas, so we can at least tease out the issues and learn from the recommendations. Having reports that spell out wrongdoing, but not learning from them, is simply and quite frankly not good enough. I ask the Acting Leader for a debate at some point on planning, planning governance, confidence in planning and how we can instil greater confidence in the planning process. I will leave it at that because these reports will hopefully be forthcoming. Today, my call is on the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to publish Rory Mulcahy SC's report. Let us look at it, see about it and let us debate those issues in these Houses.