I call the Acting Leader to respond.

The Acting Leader can just respond to me.

Before the Acting Leader responds, I welcome Deputy Michael Murphy to the Distinguished Visitors' Gallery. He is accompanied by Áine, Niamh and Georgina Crean. I hope they enjoy their visit.

I thank the Senators who made contributions. Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about the national lottery and the loss in the revenue it is making because of betting on the national lottery through other betting avenues. She has asked for a debate with the Minister, Deputy Chambers. I will contact his office to see if that is possible. It is important to recognise that the national lottery contributes 30 cent of every euro spent back to communities. Right across the country, communities have had work or something beneficial done to their village or area because of support from the national lottery. That is important to recognise. If people are spending money on betting on the national lottery through other outlets, that money does not go back to local communities. Something should be done. When 25 of 27 countries across the EU have banned such activity, we should be having a debate to discuss it.

Senator Nelson Murray spoke about the safe routes to school programme, as she has done regularly. She made a very good suggestion. Every parent who has children going to school is always worried about their safety. I see it in my own school in Grange, County Tipperary. Cars travel at high speeds and all you need is one incident for something to happen. The safe routes to school programme costs a lot of money and cannot be applied to every school across the country. However, what can be done is that a smaller level of funding could be provided, as the Senator suggested, for highlighting to drivers that they are coming towards a school and need to be careful.

Senator Joe Conway spoke about Family Carers Ireland, representatives of which were in Buswells Hotel yesterday to share a report on work done by the Government since it took office in the context of the programme for Government. Family Carers Ireland does a lot of good work. Ms Clare Duffy and others in the organisation do great work. There are 34 objects that the Government wants to deliver. That is to happen in the lifetime of this Government. Although 50% are progressing well, others are not. We are only 18 months into this Government and that programme for Government is a commitment for the lifetime of the Government. The Senator is right, however, about the need to have a debate with the Minister for Social Protection to outline where we are with the other 50% of issues that need to be dealt with and consider when they will be dealt with.

Senator Tully spoke about the very sad case of a 12-year-old boy who went for what was seemingly a simple operation to his appendix in Cavan hospital. It turned into a case of sepsis and a life-threatening situation. She outlined exactly what happened in the hospital to the child and parents, and the fact that no doctor came. She told us that the child then developed sepsis. I have personal experience of sepsis.

I was in hospital three years ago for an infection and I was in for two weeks. I was told I would be out in 24 hours but an hour after the consultant told me that I was in a terrible way. Only for an amazing nurse from the Philippines, who noticed and diagnosed very quickly that I had sepsis, it could have been an awful lot worse. I ended up in the ICU for two weeks after that. These things can come on very quickly and the case Senator Tully spoke about is a prime example of not having people there. To say a doctor was not available to see the child would suggest there is some mismanagement in Cavan hospital, if that is the case. I hope she has highlighted the case to the Minister and that the Minister can get some answers for her. To see anyone go through sepsis is awful but in this case there were parents witnessing it in their 12-year-old child. We do not have to be clinical experts to realise it. The only way sepsis can be dealt with is to have people spot it very quickly. If doctors are unwilling to see 12-year-old kids, there is a very serious problem. I will contact the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, about the case and I hope Senator Tully has done the same.

Senator Stephenson spoke about an Irish citizen who has been detained in Germany and has not had the access to his legal team that he should have, and his treatment over there. It sounds appalling. I had heard of the case but I do not have the full details of it. I know he has been there for five months and is being treated very poorly. As Senator Stephenson said, this is an EU country that really should not be doing this. I will contact the Minister for foreign affairs about the case but I hope the Department and the embassy in Germany are doing all they can to support Daniel. He has to go through a court case but it should be fair. It is our job to make sure it is fair. In terms of being arrested and following the guidelines imposed on him, he has done everything right in that respect. We will make sure the Department of foreign affairs is aware of the case. I am sure it is but we will make contact with it. Senator Stephenson also spoke about the flotilla and the Irish citizens on it. I will answer on that when I reach Senator Andrews.

Senator Ní Chuilinn spoke about the lack of sports facilities and gave the example of St. Audoen's school. This is a very good example of people who are going against the odds. She congratulated the school on winning its league. To do it with no pitch makes us think about how good the team could be if it did have a pitch. We have a sports capital grant that, hopefully, will be announced fairly soon. There will be two rounds of sports capital grants in the lifetime of the Government. I know Senator Ní Chuilinn has spoken numerous times about the large number of locations across Dublin that do not have the same sort of sports facilities as there are in other countries.

Senator Keogan spoke about the AILG conference in Clonmel. I was at it as well. I hope Senator Keogan was looked after in Clonmel. I hope she spent some money in Tipperary and helped our local economy. It was a very good conference and I acknowledge Councillor Mary Hanna Hourigan, who is president of the AILG this year, hosting a really good conference. There was a wide range of discussions, particularly a debate on rural Ireland and the changing population, which is very important. There was a really good discussion on that. There are things that need to be done in that regard but a lot has been done already. There has been huge investment in rural Ireland. Less than ten years ago, we set up a Department for rural affairs, which is all about investing in rural Ireland and giving people options to be able to stay, live, raise a family and have a life in rural Ireland. There is certainly more we can do. Regardless of what side of the House we are on, we constantly put pressure on IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to make sure, when they are creating jobs around the country, that they are not just in Dublin, Cork and Galway but also in rural communities so people can live and raise their families in rural areas. I acknowledge it was a very good debate but there is a lot that has been done and we certainly need to do more.

Senator Andrews spoke about the flotilla that has been taken over by the Israelis. He spoke about it two weeks ago and predicted this. Obviously, he has experience of it. It was not an amazing prediction because it was fairly obvious Israel was going to do it. It is another example of the kind of heavy-handed approach that Israel takes against law-abiding citizens who are not in Israeli waters. At the time, a number of weeks ago, Senator Andrews asked that the Department of foreign affairs be there to support Irish citizens. It will be. It has been before, as Senator Andrews knows. Obviously, the advice at the time was not to go but I can understand why people feel the need to go and help. The Department of foreign affairs will be there to support them. The Senator said that Ireland is looking the other way in terms of dealing with Israel. I disagree on that. I think we have done a lot more than other countries.

In terms of the football - the Senator and I are both big football people - it is not a matter for the Irish Government. It is for the FAI, UEFA and FIFA to deal with. I have spoken to the FAI about the game. A number of people also did so about two months ago regarding concerns about it. No one wanted Israel's name to come out of the hat when the draw was made for the Nations League but we have to deal with it. It is not for the Irish Government to decide what the FAI does in terms of playing.

So the FAI has complete-----

It is UEFA really that makes the decision on it. It has happened already. I cannot remember who Israel played against but it has happened already. I know it is in discussions with other countries in terms of how to deal with it from a security perspective. If you talk to Israel, the country it is most frustrated with is Ireland in terms of what we have done against Israel and in support of Palestine. I support Deputy Andrews on the flotilla and I will make sure the Department of foreign affairs is aware of his concerns and worries for the Irish citizens. We have done a lot and we will do more. I am with him on the occupied territories Bill as well.

Senator Martin Conway called for a debate on disability in sport. He has always been very vocal on this. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan. The sports capital grants are due to be announced quite soon. With regard to the terms of reference of the sports capital grant, it is important that we make sure funding is available for people with disabilities in sport. There are so many examples right across the country of inspiring people who have disabilities and who can achieve great things in sport. The more funding they get, the better opportunities they have. Senator Conway and I know Peter Ryan in Tipperary who became visually impaired and had a great career in cycling afterwards. He is a real inspiration for a lot of people around the country. He is one example of many people.

Senator Harmon spoke about cancer care in Ireland and had very worrying information that 80% of the radiation machines in the country are due to be out of date in the next two years. She has called for a national plan to fund this. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, on this. Obviously we cannot have radiation machines that are not working or fit for purpose. We put so much money into the Department of Health, with funding more than doubling in the past ten or 15 years. At the very least, we need machines that actually work. As the Senator said, 50% of cancer patients have to use these radiation machines.

Senator Brady spoke about the Irish sheepdog team and the very strange situation whereby they are not allowed to fly the Irish flag. Listening to what the Senator said, and it is important that he has highlighted the issue in the Chamber, this is stopping someone from expressing their identity. At whatever level it is, people should be able to be proud of where they are from and have the flag they feel is for where they are from. Surely there has to be some sort of compromise in this. We do not really have this situation in rugby, which is a prime example of a sport where some players on the team identify differently from the majority of the team.

However, there is a compromise in that. Every game they play, the Irish flag is flying the whole time so I cannot see why the Irish national sheepdog team cannot find some sort of compromise.

Senator Ronan Mullen spoke about the 9,000 additional doctors that are going to be needed over the next 20 years. This is an obvious example of the need to invest in education to get more doctors to come through the system to meet that requirement. This is one of many issues that the Government and future governments will have to deal with when dealing with an ageing population. It is great that the average lifespan of a person in Ireland is 82 years. It is higher than most EU countries. However, that comes with other challenges for the Government to deal with. It is important that it does that. I suggest to Senator Mullen that he table a Commencement matter on the issue and I am sure the Minister would be happy to respond.

The final contribution was from Senator McCormack who spoke about domestic violence. It is shocking that 65,000 calls are made to the Garda. The Senator said there was just over 1,600 in her county of Laois. A lot of this stems from the Covid period four or five years ago. It has really come to the surface. In fairness to the previous Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, she did a lot of work on domestic violence and abuse towards women in hidden environments and trying to support them. In County Tipperary we have a really good women's refuge called Cuan Saor. The numbers of people they are dealing with has gone to record levels in the past number of years. They have received good investment from Government, which is welcome, but it does not match what is needed to deal with this. In the long term there is an educational perspective on this in terms of how men need to treat women. We think this exists in other countries and cultures but it is right on our doorstep, given there are 65,000 calls made. Some of those could be repeat calls but either way, it is a hell of a lot of calls against predominantly men committing this. It is not always but it is predominantly men committing this. To think that number of people across the country are affected means it needs to be highlighted more, funded more and supported more. As the Senator said, gardaí need to be more training to deal with this. That concludes the Order of Business.