Today is Thalidomide Memorial Day. Up to 40 people in this country are victims of thalidomide who have lived lives in various states of disability as a result of the injuries they suffered in the womb. They have to date received no apology from the State. They have received no proper medical compensation. A compensation scheme is in place from the company in Germany but it is inadequate for what they have suffered. It is unfair that the Government has not moved to compensate and acknowledge those people and the mistake that this State made in not taking the drug off the market in a timely fashion.

As unfair as it is to the people, now in their 60s, who suffered from thalidomide, it is desperately unfair on their mothers, many of whom blame themselves for having taken the drug despite the fact that they did not know they were doing any harm. Many of those women have passed away but their families are there. The brothers and sisters of the people who lived with thalidomide injuries are there. The only fair thing to do would be for the Government to acknowledge that, to apologise and put in place a proper scheme for those people.

I will also raise the issue of China’s complicity in the war in Ukraine. Where western countries have pulled out of buying services and goods from Russia, Chinese companies are stepping into the breach. We need to make sure that the sanctions regime that Ireland has supported at the highest level in Europe and has pushed in terms of punishing Russia for its illegal action in Ukraine, must be extended to include companies in such places as China which facilitate the continued economic expansion of Russia despite the fact that its illegal aggression in Ukraine is putting thousands of people’s lives at risk today, tomorrow and as long as this conflict goes on. The Government needs to step up to make sure that the sanctions regime expands to cover all of those countries and companies seeking to circumvent the proper action of sanctions, sanctioned by the European Commission.

I thank Senator Ward for highlighting China’s complicity in supporting Russia by stepping in to buy the products from Russia that all the other European and international countries have sought not to continue to support. I will certainly raise his issues with the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

I will also touch on the fact that today is Thalidomide Memorial Day which both Senators Ward and Boyhan brought up at the beginning our session today. I join with both Senators, and I can safely speak for most of us here, that it is beyond time for the Government to apologise sincerely to the people who were born with disabilities arising from the drug that the State did not intervene in time to withdraw, even though we knew about it. It is also beyond time that we compensate those people properly. The apology could be immediately effective and would be very much appreciated by the survivors. I thank both Senators for bringing that up today.

Senators Murphy and Dolan both referred to Lough Funshinagh and the recent judgment around the protection of the SAC. I am sometimes mindful in this country that we protect one element of society without any consciousness of the impacts of the effects on other elements of society. While we all obviously need to make sure that we protect our environment, our natural heritage and all our resources, we cannot do that at the expense of people. They have to be equally important in the responses of the State. The meeting on 4 July will hopefully find a roadmap to a provision of a resolution because it is certainly not money that is wanting, it is legal intricacies that are causing it. I extend every good wish to all the members of the community in Roscommon and indeed Senators Murphy and Dolan in their support for their communities.

Senator Craughwell brought up the military service allowance that was negotiated, which is beyond belief, by the military not to be included in the pension allocations and permutations of people who retire in the future. I do not have a response as to how and why that happened but I will make inquiries and see if I can do anything to offer some assistance and information to the Senator. He is absolutely right in regard to the second point he made on pension abatement. We cannot have one set of rules for one part of our civil and public service and a different set of rules for another. I can say that standing here having learned my lesson as a former Minister when I was indeed taken to court and was myself rudely awakened, but correctly so.

Senator Buttimer, along with the opening comments of Senator O’Loughlin, talked about the disability capacity review that was conducted by the HSE and the Department of Health a number of years ago. It is a ten-year strategy that outlines on three levels exactly what is required to service the people in this country and the providers with the State supports that are needed. I only read this a couple of weeks ago because I had the privilege of meeting some senior officials in Prosper Fingal.

When we look at what is required, it is done in three columns. It is done so that in one column it shows that we absolutely need a certain amount to stand still, we need another certain amount if we are going to be ambitious, and if we include all the people who probably are not included in our statistics we need yet another amount.

To put that in context and to support both Senators looking for that capacity review and the plan to be published, 180 inpatient full-time respite beds were required in order to stand still for the year 2022. If we were to look after all the people that would actually need them this year we would have needed finance for 360 beds. In this year’s budget we got 60, so we got one third of what was needed to actually just stand still, and a fraction of what we need to cater for everybody’s real requirements. Therefore, I support the two Members in looking for that framework to be published immediately but also just to highlight the matter - not to be disrespectful to the disability services with the HSE because they can only do what they can with the money they are given.

Senator O'Loughlin is right in that the money that is needed must be put in the budget right now. It is not a case that we can continuously blame our community-based HSE providers or our section 38s or 39s because in fairness they provide a wonderful service to those people for whom they can provide it. However, they can only provide it on the basis of the money they are actually given and not some report that says they should be, when in actual fact they are not. I join with the Senators in looking for that published plan long before we get into the budget negotiations in September. We will all support the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, because she is absolutely committed to providing for this section of the community.

Senator Buttimer also looked for a debate on transport. I am baffled as to why the NTA is not subject to Commencement matters when it reports directly to the Minister.

Hear, hear.