I wish to put on the record of the House my feelings at the passing of Vicky Phelan. Over the past number of years we have seen a woman of courage and determination. Her strength and dignity through her illness and her fight for the rest of the women of this country has been something to behold. Through her tireless efforts she has ensured that the women of Ireland who were involved in the 221 scandal but indeed every woman going forward will be protected. I wish to extend our deepest sympathies to her husband, her children and her family.

The Order of Business is Nos. 1, 2 and 3 on the Order Paper. No. 1, motion regarding the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulation 2022 referral to committee, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business without debate; No. 2, statements on forestry, to be taken at 4.45 p.m. and to conclude at 6.15 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes, all other Senators not to exceed five minutes and their time can be shared, and the Minister to be given no less than eight minutes to reply to the debate; and No. 3, Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022 - Committee Stage, resumed, to be taken at 6.30 p.m. and to adjourn at 8.30 p.m. if not previously been concluded.

On behalf of the Fianna Fáil group I also wish to be associated with the acknowledgement of the great life of Vicky Phelan. I am cognisant of the fact that it was Vicky's wish that on her death she would not receive tributes from politicians but that we would instead take actions. I hope that we can continue to take the necessary actions to right the wrongs that caused Vicky to come to notoriety initially. Other than her own campaign for and with the cervical cancer issue she was an inspiration to people in general, irrespective of what their personal problems may have been at any time. We saw somebody who was terminally ill dealing with a cause in such a manner always with a smile on her face and always so respectful. She could have had so much grievance with the system yet tried to reach solutions amicably. Her rejection of the confidentiality clause in her court case was a statement that she could come out and advocate for what she felt so strongly about. I wish to take this opportunity on behalf of the Fianna Fáil group to extend our sincerest and deepest sympathies to her husband, Jim, and her children Amelia and Darragh.

I would also like to include sympathies to the family of Dr. Éamon Phoenix, the historian who has passed away.

He was a very valued member of the Government's expert advisory group on the centenary commemorations and played a major role in that. We are also sorry to hear today of his passing. I again extend our sympathies to his wife, Alice, and daughter, Mary-Alice.

I am a member of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which recently produced what I call, and I know self-praise is no praise, a very good report on the issues impacting on dog welfare in Ireland. This report has been previously mentioned in the House by Senator Boylan, who is also a member of that committee. Indeed, I am the first to admit that Senator Boylan championed much of the work we did for that report. I plead with the Leader to try, if she can, to get that report onto the agenda for discussion in this House as soon as possible.

I congratulate Senators Daly and Boylan on the committee's report.

I, too, echo the words of our Leader and Senator Daly on the passing of Vicky Phelan. As Fine Gael spokesperson on health, and having the privilege to be a member of the Joint Committee on Health, I am even more cognisant of the impact that Vicky's campaigning, and the terrible tragedy that happened to her, had in terms of positive change. That positive change certainly has a long way to go. The best way we can pay tribute to Vicky Phelan's legacy is to get the disclosures legislation over the line. I welcome the fact that the Taoiseach has announced that this will happen before the Christmas recess. That is very welcome, even though it is late. It should have happened before now but the fact it will now happen is the best way we can pay tribute to Vicky Phelan.

We could also pay tribute to her through the setting up of an Oireachtas committee on dying with dignity, an issue that she campaigned for and had a great interest in. We have looked at setting up citizens' assemblies on matters such as biodiversity. While these matters are important, health and dying with dignity are far more important. I cannot for the life of me understand why we would delay setting up a committee to engage in this issue, hear all sides and come back with recommendations on what should happen. These are the tangible ways that the Oireachtas, the Seanad and society can pay tribute to Vicky's legacy and the tremendous work she did. I take great solace from the fact that she spent much of her quiet time in County Clare, on Doughmore beach in Doonbeg, and that she got great peace from Doughmore and west Clare. West Clare will always have a connection with Vicky Phelan because she spent so much quality time there.

I propose that we observe a minute's silence for Vicky Phelan, perhaps tomorrow, and that we notify all Members of it in order that as many people as possible who would like to be here for it would be in a position to attend. Perhaps a good time to do it would be at the conclusion of the Order of Business tomorrow.

Déanaim comhbhrón le muintir Vicky Phelan freisin agus le muintir an Dr. Éamon Phoenix – go ndéana Dia trócaire orthu. Rinne an Dr. Phoenix sár-obair mar a luaite.

In response to what my friend, Senator Conway, had to say, I will point out that everybody dies with dignity. The question always is whether people's dignity is respected. Nothing disrespects people's dignity like making them feel as if they are a burden in life. That is one of the single biggest fears people have about euthanasia, assisted suicide, assisted dying or whatever people care to call it. We should move very carefully in that area and not just rush to have another citizens' assembly discussion that seems, whenever these happen, to be designed to bring about a preordained or pre-desired change.

The matter I want to raise today is a similar human dignity issue. It was reported last Saturday that the Government plans to make telemedicine abortion, so-called, or telephone-based appointments for abortion, a permanent feature of Ireland's abortion policy. I think this is misguided and that it will have negative consequences. The HSE confirmed in October last year that no report or analysis into the operation of so-called telemedicine or remote consultations had been carried out in Ireland since the policy was introduced in early 2020 in the context of Covid. We were told by the Secretary General of the Department of Health in March 2021 that telemedicine would lapse when the pandemic was over. In 2018, the then Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, said in the context of the abortion legislation that there would absolutely not be abortions by telemedicine in this country. Yet here we are, despite the fact we know from England that over 10,000 women there had to receive hospital treatment following the use of at-home medical abortion pills between April 2020 and September 2021. England has also seen a dramatic spike in the number of ambulance call-outs dealing with the adverse effects of the self-administration of abortion pills.

We also have the safeguarding issues associated with the removal of the need for in-person consultations. When we substitute that for a telephone call, we remove the privacy afforded by a GP’s surgery. There is no way for a doctor to verify that a woman requesting an abortion is actually alone and that she is not being pressured by a partner or third party. We had an alarming report in October describing how an underage girl in this country was locked in a room and forced to ingest abortion pills. This is highly disturbing. It would be terrible to think that the Minister and the Department of Health would be enablers of such abuse by their overly lax attitude to telephone appointments for abortion.

There needs to be a serious discussion about this. I call on the Minister for Health not to recklessly make telemedicine abortion permanent but to immediately instigate a comprehensive investigation into the operation and impact of such abortion appointments in Ireland to date. The very least we could do in this House is to have a serious discussion about something so potentially far-reaching.

I too extend the sympathies of my Green Party colleagues to the friends and family of Vicky Phelan. She was a once-in-a-generation advocate for change. May she rest in peace.

Here in Ireland, the vast majority of homes and buildings are made from concrete and steel. We have yet to embrace timber construction in the way many of our near neighbours and European partners have. This is a huge opportunity for us. Last week at COP27, Climate TRACE, a global not-for-profit organisation, released a huge bank of data listing the top known sources of greenhouse gas emitters across the globe. The data for Ireland made for some eye-watering headlines and reinforce the urgent need for us to rethink every aspect of our lives in order to reduce emissions. On the top-ten list of known emitters in Ireland, there was one road network, one oil refinery, one gas field, three airports and - something a lot of people may not be aware of - four cement plants. Many of us do not normally think of cement when we think of greenhouse gas emissions. We tend to think more of cars and planes, energy production and agriculture, but there is an entire industry in the built environment that we do not tend to think about in the same way as other industries in the climate change battle.

If we are serious about climate action, we need to look at our built environment and remove whatever barriers exist to using timber in construction where and when we can. Timber may never be a total replacement for cement but, in many cases, it can be the sustainable alternative. Some simple statistics speak for themselves. Producing 1 tonne of cement releases 0.6 of a tonne of CO2 and producing 1 tonne of steel releases 1.85 tonnes of CO2, whereas producing 1 tonne of wood actually absorbs about 0.75 tonnes of CO2.

Using timber in construction is not unproven territory. There are many countries leading the change across Europe, not only in building homes and commercial buildings with timber, but in using it to construct ground-breaking tall buildings, once thought impossible to build with anything but steel and cement. In Scotland, for example, home building is now dominated by timber construction, with about 80% of homes being timber frame.

In Ireland, the figure is closer to 20%. As the House knows, we are big producers of timber and at present export over 70% of it. We have seen some innovative use of timber in Ireland, most notably in Avondale in County Wicklow, where Coillte has used Irish timber almost exclusively in the construction of its pavilion and treetop walk.

We now need to move beyond innovation and into the mainstream. It can and must be done, and we must now all work together to rapidly increase the use of timber across the construction sector. Through the education of our architects, engineers and planners, the skills of our construction workers, planning laws and our own attitude in government, we must encourage and assist those who want to build with timber to do so by offering assistance across all levels of the building process. We have to do more work with the general public. We must convince them that timber homes are as warm, if not more so, and as solid and safe as those constructed with cement. We have to do all we can in the coming months and years to reduce the emissions profile of our built environment. Timber can help us do just that.

Like others, I want to begin by expressing sympathy on behalf of our party on the passing of Vicky. Even though we knew she was very ill, it was still shocking to hear that she had passed away. Vicky Phelan was a graduate of UL and had particularly close links to Limerick. She was a past staff member of the university and of course was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2018 in recognition of her courage and incredible leadership on all the issues she faced. I agree with Senator Paul Daly. Rather than words, the best tribute we can pay is the actions she wanted to see regarding all of the issues she raised. May she rest in peace.

I met a group of security workers at a SIPTU meeting at the weekend. We have 16,000 security workers throughout the State. I could not begin to describe the level of anger expressed by workers who continue to wait for a pay rise. An employment regulation order, ERO, due to come into being at the end of August was challenged by just three employers. An injunction was raised. These workers are now on €11.65 per hour. They are front-line workers who kept many of our factories and hospitals open during the darkest days of Covid, yet they are only earning €11.65 an hour. A new ERO would have lifted their pay to €12.50 initially and then up to €12.90 in February. Quite frankly, that is not enough, but it would have been of some significance.

The difficulties I have, which the workers asked me to express here today, is that while we understand an injunction was raised we also know the Minister has it within his remit to challenge the injunction. It is a matter of more than regret that three months later no such challenge has taken place. It looks as if the Minister is content to let the challenge meander. It is Groundhog Day for the workers because they have been in this situation before. It may well go on for the best part of another year.

Frankly, it is simply not good enough for the Minister to allow the workers to twist in the wind. They are low-paid workers and work in an industry that has seen significant cutbacks over the past number of years, often with consequences for themselves. The ERO would also ensure the right to sick pay, payment while injured on the job and some improvements to the basic rate pay, yet once again the workers have been left behind. They were very clear to me that they will go on strike if some action is not undertaken. The consequences of that for our hospitals, key factories and other sectors across the State will be massive.

I cannot understand the lack of action by the Minister of State, Deputy English, in regard to this issue. He can and should challenge the injunction. He should work collectively to defend the ERO system. We have seen a new, and very welcome, ERO for childcare workers. Where is the Government when it comes to defending this ERO and standing up for our security workers? I am at a loss as to why this has not happened. I ask for an urgent debate and the support of the Leader on this matter.

I thank the Leader for outlining the Order of Business, which we will support today. As others in the House have done, I want to start by paying tribute to Vicky Phelan.

My former party leader, Deputy Alan Kelly, worked very closely with Vicky on the CervicalCheck tribunal. Because of her refusal to sign a non-disclosure agreement, she took a stand and shone a light on behalf of other women. It was not enough for her to be vindicated herself; she wanted other women to have that vindication and to be informed where their slides had been misread or they had been misdiagnosed. The women of Ireland and, in particular, screening programmes in Ireland will owe her a debt of gratitude for decades to come because of her simple refusal to stay silent or to sign that non-disclosure agreement.

This morning I attended the launch of the Raise the Roof campaign, which is calling for a national rally on housing on 26 November in Dublin. Among the issues highlighted at the press conference today were access to social housing and people in the insecure private rented sector. I have raised this many times on the floor of the House. There are two key things the Government could be doing that it has not done. Since 2011 we have not reviewed the income thresholds for social housing, with the exception of five counties that secured special dispensations in September. Since 2017 we have not reviewed HAP, even though we have allowed the discretionary limits for the scheme to change. That means that low-paid private renters in private high-rent housing such as Tathony House, in my constituency, where we are looking at 35 people being evicted from those apartments, are not able to access basic social housing or, more crucially, HAP for assistance in the private rented sector. I am calling today for a debate on the income limits for social housing. There is a report that has been sitting on the Minister's desk for over a year at this stage. We keep being told that something is being brought forward, but then we saw that tinkering around the edges with the five counties in September. We need a full and frank debate because people's wages have grown, yet the rate at which they can go on the social housing list and then access other supports has not grown or changed since 2011, during which time rents in the private rented sector have at least doubled.

I also wish to be associated with the expressions of sympathy to the late Vicky Phelan and I thank her for her advocacy and campaigning zeal. I think we all agree that we should not lament her passing without ensuring that the action she fought for is fully implemented. May she rest in peace, and to her family we express our deepest sympathies. Senator Conway's suggestion of a motion of sympathy tomorrow is a good one and I hope the Leader will acquiesce to it.

I ask that the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Fleming, come to the House to discuss the issue of insurance and, in particular, insurance costs. While I welcome the fact that motor insurance premiums fell by 17% between 2017 and 2021, there are still issues for consumers that need to be addressed, notwithstanding the reforms initiated by the former Minister of State, Michael D'Arcy, which are now being continued, thankfully, by the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming. It is clear that reform in the insurance industry is working and it is very important we continue that work. That is to the benefit of the insurance customer, the consumer. I would like that debate to be expanded to include home insurance premiums, in respect of which there are all sorts of clauses whereby customers of longevity get penalised. All those issues should be addressed in the debate on the issue of insurance, both motor insurance and home insurance. It is important we have a real debate, to include also business and the cost of insurance for businesses in a very challenging environment for our small and medium-sized enterprises. Again, I welcome the reform happening in the insurance industry. I ask that we have a debate in the House on it. It is a matter of huge concern to consumers, and I hope that debate can be held prior to Christmas, if possible.

I, too, join in the expressions of sympathy to the late Vicky Phelan.

I raise today the issue of fire services and retained fire services.

As the Leader is aware, outside the main cities we rely very much on fire services operated by local authorities. As a result of the model that is currently in place, fire services across the country are experiencing many difficulties in recruitment and retention. The fire staff are paid a retainer, but, for that, they are expected to remain close to the fire station and could be called on at any time. That presents a difficulty if they are trying to keep down other employment at the same time as operating on a retainer. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the fire services. The model worked well when it was originally designed in the 1930s and 1940s but in modern society, where we travel significant distances, it is not a model that works. As the Leader is aware, there is a major Government programme of capital investment in fire stations across the country but it is not good enough that we have state-of-the-art fire stations without necessarily having the crews to staff them. Although negotiations have been going on between the unions, the Local Government Management Agency and the Department, a more comprehensive overview of how fire services operate in the modern age is needed. It is critical that we have well staffed and trained fire officers. Those who currently provide that service across the country do a wonderful service in all our communities but they are they are finding it difficult to get new staff to come on board, and then to retain them. This is happening not just in my home county of Wexford but across the country. They love what they do and are very committed to it. Part of it relates to pay and conditions but another part relates to flexibility and having enough numbers in all fire stations to be able to do the work. I ask for statements on the future of the fire service and an update from the Minister.

A selfless and inspiring campaigner, Vicky Phelan truly was the very best of us. Her tireless work in speaking truth to power has improved lives and saved lives. We will be forever grateful for her contribution to Irish society. As we honour Vicky Phelan today, I am reminded of her words two years ago after the death of her fellow cervical cancer sufferer, Ruth Morrissey. She said:

I don't want your accolades or your broken promises. I want action. I want change. I want accountability.

This morning I attended the launch of the findings of a survey by BeLonG To. The survey is the largest ever of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people in this State. It is stark and somewhat upsetting. It highlights the significant difficulties that face LGBTQ young people in schools. It also highlights the incredible support that many teachers are to those young people. However, we know life in school can be difficult, even without the external factors of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. A shocking 76% of LGBT youth feel unsafe in school. A majority of LGBT youth have heard homophobic remarks, both from students and from school staff, which is troubling in its own right. I ask that when the Minister of Education is invited to the Seanad for statements on education, she be informed the Seanad will be raising this issue with her.

In the short time I have left, I call on the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to get moving on the programme for Government commitment in respect of the roadmap for digital creative industries. Obviously, that concerns games, augmented reality and graphic design domestic companies. SMEs and micro SMEs are just as important, particularly with the whole tech situation in the news. When will we see action on that roadmap?