I join with the Leader's comments in regard to Creeslough, Donegal. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil group I extend our deepest sympathies to the families, those who have lost loved ones and to the entire community. I strongly commend the fantastic work done by the emergency services who were on the scene dealing with what was an unthinkable tragedy. The scale of it is phenomenal. I also commend those working in the hospital. They had to step up their emergency response. The scale of what they had to deal with in a short space of time was such that if it had to be planned for it would be difficult even to plan. They did everything they could.

I commend those working on the ground now providing meals because the community has lost its only shop. I commend the Government for using the existing humanitarian scheme that would normally be put in place for flood disasters to try and assist families out of direct financial assistance in the weeks and months ahead. It is an unthinkable tragedy.

It is important while we will be discussing the tragedy, and it will be top of the news agenda for the next number of weeks, that we do not forget those families and those communities beyond that point and that we continuously keep an eye on it because the loss and the impact of that tragedy will be felt far into the future. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha. It was lovely to see at the commemorative service the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Leader of the Opposition on the ground with the communities so soon after what had happened. It shows the immense solidarity and support that we have for those communities and that the entire country has been impacted and affected by what happened there.

I will raise another matter which is the energy costs around retrofitting. The deep retrofit scheme was announced earlier this year. It would be timely to have a debate in this House with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on how that is working because one of the things we could do to assist people with their energy costs is to try to help people to cut energy waste and to make their homes more efficient.

I have concerns around the way the retrofit scheme has been set up. In order to access the deep retrofit grant it is only necessary to pay the balance because a point of contact will do all the works and only charges the balance as the grant is claimed by that company. However, to access the grant on a piecemeal basis, perhaps having the windows done first and then insulation separately to reduce expenditure, all the cost must be paid upfront and the grant is claimed back afterwards. This seems to make it far easier for those who can afford to spend the big money on a full deep retrofit and not as easy for people trying to do it bit by bit until they get their list of works done. We need to look at that because it has become more expensive now that the cost of materials and labour has gone through the roof.

On behalf of the Fine Gael group, I express our sympathies regarding the ten people who lost their lives in County Donegal. Their families, communities, neighbours and friends and the people of Donegal have suffered considerably. This loss will be felt for generations. We stand in solidarity with them. We commend the bravery of the local people, the emergency services, the first responders, GPs, those working in the hospitals and the wider health services, and everyone else who was on the ground saving many lives following the tragedy that happened last Friday. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha.

There is a lady in the Public Gallery, Ms Iryna Tekuchova, who is from Ukraine. She is doing a PhD in Maynooth on disability and the impact of disability services in EU accession states. She is also on the expert panel of the Organisation for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which is part of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE. I am on the expert panel as well and it met for the first time in Poland last week. What struck me from my engagement was the serious challenges that people with disabilities are facing in Ukraine. We saw the bombing of Kyiv in the past 48 hours. Let us imagine being a wheelchair user or someone who is blind and the air raid sirens go off. In terms of reaching a shelter or somewhere else that was safe, they would be compromised even before anyone else was.

What concerns me most is the fact that, of the 16 key aid agencies that are rightly getting billions of euro in funding from all over the world, only two have targeted programmes for people with disabilities in Ukraine. That is not good enough. As a country, we need to ensure that all of the key agencies, including the Red Cross, have dedicated programmes for providing financial support on the ground to Ukrainian organisations for persons with disabilities, which are struggling to support people. The horrendous difficulties that persons with disabilities face in a war have regularly been discussed in the Houses.

Some of the work that the panel I am a member of is doing involves examining the impact of emergency responses, particularly as they affect people with disabilities. Perhaps when next we debate Ukraine, we might focus on supports for people with disabilities on the ground and the organisations that support them. This issue is an even greater scandal than the scandal we are dealing with.

I thank Senator Conway for acknowledging Ms Tekuchova. I welcome her to the Seanad and thank her for her important and valuable work on behalf of those who are most vulnerable in a war zone.

I join the Leader in her words of support for the people of Creeslough, County Donegal. This afternoon in Seanad Éireann, we joined together to observe a moment of silence for Senators who wanted contemplation, prayer and reflection over those who lost their lives so tragically in Creeslough. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost loved ones - their families and friends - as well as the emergency services, both North and South, the community of Creeslough, the people of Donegal more widely and the county's diaspora.

The colours green and gold are synonymous with Donegal in good times and in sad times. They are, after all, the county colours. Thinking of Creeslough in recent days, I have thought of a beautiful landscape of mountains, bogs, forests, lakes, rivers, seas and shores and, above all, of its people. Yesterday, I was reminded of the words of the great American poet, Robert Frost, in his poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay".

The poem is about the seasons, which always change, and highlights the march of time that none of us can escape. I will read its short few lines because it resonates for me. It is about the seasons, change and how nothing can ever stay the same.

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

I thank the Senator for his comments.

Ar dtús, mar atá ráite ag comhghleacaithe cheana, ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón agus mo dhlúthpháirtíocht a sheoladh chuig muintir an Chraoslaigh i dTír Chonaill thar ceann ghrúpa Shinn Féin sa Seanad. Táimid croíbhriste ar fud na hÉireann mar atá ráite ag pobal Tír Chonaill agus pobail Éireannacha ar fud an domhain i ndiaidh na tragóide tubaistí a tharla i nDún na nGall ag an deireadh seachtaine.

I thank the Leader and the Cathaoirleach for organising today's minute of silence to allow us the opportunity to join in what has been a real expression nationally of sympathy, solidarity and support for the people of Creeslough. I think we were all deeply impacted by the tragic events at the weekend but also very proud of the response by the local community to what must have been a devastating and unimaginable scene to come upon. Like Senator Boyhan, I thank, in particular, the first responders whether that was of the blue-light variety or, indeed, those in the Civil Defence in the local areas who stepped into an bhearna bhaoil so into a very dangerous and volatile situation to help in the effort in Creeslough. It says a lot about the community that people were prepared to help in such a fashion.

Support is being shown around the world, as the Leader knows, whether that is monetary support or, indeed, expressions of sympathy and that is important at a time like this. It is so raw in the immediate aftermath for the community. Equally, I hope, and I am confident, that through that pain and suffering these expressions of sympathy will penetrate and reach the families and the community, and give them some degree of succour. I agree with the Deputy Leader and thought that it was important for political symbolism to have the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Leader of the Opposition on the ground so quickly. That shows just how deeply this tragedy has impacted people right across Ireland.

I do not think that I can build on the very eloquent contribution made by Senator Boyhan other than to say that County Donegal is a beautiful place. It is beautiful because of its epic scenery and landscape. Creeslough is a part of County Donegal that, like many, I know very well. Its greatest asset, strength and beauty manifests in its people. It is manifest in the people of County Donegal. These are a people who have suffered tremendously over generations but a people who have always been resolute, united, confident, creative and talented. That was represented in the loss of the ten people who died. There was no better a representation of the best of County Donegal than those people themselves.

Again, I extend our sympathies to the people there at this devastating time. All of our thoughts and hearts are with them over these raw days and, crucially, in the time to come.

I join with colleagues in remembering those who lost their lives in Creeslough last Friday. While we discussed the future of this island in this House last Friday a terrible tragedy was unfolding in that beautiful village.

Over the weekend, like many colleagues have said, and having spoken to family and friends, we were taken by the community spirit and togetherness of the village. I thank all those people who gave of their time and showed their community spirit. I thank the emergency responders from both the North and South, as has been said.

On behalf of the Labour Party group in this House, I send our condolences to the families who have lost loved ones and those whose loved ones are still receiving treatment.

There are two other matters I wish to raise with the Leader. I wish our women's international soccer team the very best in Hampden Park tonight. I have watched every match the women have played in their campaign this year and attended their match against Sweden here in Dublin. They are a credit to this country. These young women are bringing the women's game to the fore and showing young girls what it means to put on that international jersey. They must be credited and thanked for everything they do and we send them our best wishes.

However, there is another side to this story I want to raise. Many of these young women, unfortunately, must go to England to pursue their dream of a professional career. Some in the squad are amateurs and are still playing here in the national leagues. As my colleague Deputy Ó Ríordáin said this morning, it is time we looked at creating a contract through Government intervention and with the FAI so we can grow the game at local level and increase that representation at national level. I congratulate the IRFU on recently awarding 43 international contracts to its professionals and creating a professional atmosphere for women's rugby in this country. It is time we grew such an atmosphere in soccer through whatever initiatives we can. It is essential we support the women's international game. Tonight we hope to have a good news story where a women's international team qualify for the World Cup for the very first time.

Tomorrow during Private Members' business in the Dáil my party colleagues will bring forward a motion to provide a mechanism for community workers to get a pay increase they have not received in 14 years. We are all aware of the great work done by section 39 workers, community employment, CE, supervisors and all such workers in our communities. It is true to say that without many of them, many of our community facilities simply would not function and many families would not have the supports they and their loved ones so badly need. I have spoken to many people in the sector over recent days. They consider themselves the forgotten workers of this country despite the work they do being essential. I hope the Government will accept this motion tomorrow and that in the future we can discuss once again the great work done by all those people in all those organisations.