I thank all the Senators who have made contributions this morning.

Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about her recent visit with the drugs committee to Iceland. A lot of the stuff learned in Iceland was learned in the 1990s. They had the highest rate of drugs use in the 1990s and implemented what was called an Icelandic prevention model that has now led to the lowest rate. It is obviously a model that we should be looking at and seeing if we can implement here. In particular, she spoke about the youth, mental health and the red flags that we can see in our country at the moment. It is right across the country. Young adults are vulnerable to this, and we need to do more to support them. It is not in one particular area in the country, but rather we can see it in every single area. We can see it in sports clubs nowadays, which was never the case 15 or 20 years ago. There is almost a normalisation of it. We have children who are in vulnerable or potentially vulnerable situations who need to be protected. Anything we can do as legislators, we need to do. It is a good opportunity to bring the Minister of State with responsibility for drugs and young people in here to have a debate about that and what we can do to make decisions, not reacting to the situation but actually being proactive in what possibly could be a very serious situation for our young people.

Senator Rónán Mullen spoke about the vote last night in the Lower House on the Social Democrats Bill regarding the three-day wait. There was more to that Bill. That Bill was not passed. My understanding is that another type of Bill like that might be coming next week from Sinn Féin. Everyone in that House has a free vote or a free decision to make themselves. That is right and proper. Everyone has different reasons for voting different ways. Just as Senator Mullen said in a very constructive way, it is about prevention, encouraging and looking to do what we can to support people who are in situations like that. There are different ways we can support them. People have different views on how we can support them. In relation to the vote itself on the three-day wait, the Senator was talking about having the three-day period. There are different views on it, but from my own perspective, we have to acknowledge that a lot of people supported the referendum at the time, myself included, knowing that these provisions would be put in place.

Members and supporters of my own party who were very nervous about it at the time felt more comfortable because that provision was in place. That needs to be considered when decisions are made with regard to changing it. As I said from the start, it is a moral issue for everyone. Everyone has different views. I do not think we should tell people they are right or wrong. People should be able to go into that Chamber and vote whichever way they feel is right. As always, democracy will make the decision, whatever that decision is.

Senator Chris Andrews spoke about housing developments being built without car parking spaces. He used the Glass Bottle site in his constituency as an example. There are numerous such developments around the county. I know of a building being built in Cork city where the pub the Sextant used to be. They will be the biggest apartment blocks in the city. One will be twice the height of any other building in Cork. There are no car parking spaces at all for the people who will be living there. As the Senator has said, we need public transport if people are to manage this. However, a lot of people who live in Dublin and Cork are actually from Tipperary, Galway or somewhere else and still have cars to get home. It is not credible for every single person living in a large apartment block or large housing development not to have a car. From a planning point of view, I can understand why we are trying to reduce the number of cars, particularly in city centres, but we need to be more realistic. I think we are going to see the problems Senator Andrews is seeing in his area in Cork as well once this big apartment development is completed. This is obviously also a matter for members of Dublin City Council as well.

Senator Costello spoke very passionately about the drug givinostat. She said that the body that makes the recommendations to the HSE needs to make a decision and not pull back and let someone else make that decision. As the Senator said, there are children who are struggling and who cannot have any quality of life unless this drug is approved and can get to children. It can be incredibly frustrating for parents who are very worried about their children to know a drug is available that would make them better but that they cannot get it although it has been approved and can be got in Belfast. Decisions need to be made as quickly as possible. I suggest that tabling a Commencement matter with the Minister would be the best approach. I hope that can be achieved. I know the Senator is very passionate about the issue.

Senator Keogan spoke about IPAS accommodation and the lack of communication in that regard. We always seem to have a problem with communication in respect of houses, hotels or other buildings across the country being used as temporary accommodation for international protection applicants. As the Senator herself said, the area she spoke about has played its part with provision of accommodation at Mosney and other locations. Right across the country, we see communities and counties that have really played their part. In an ideal world, the load would be shared right across the country but, at a time when we have a challenge in terms of housing and accommodation, it is about finding places that are available. It is almost impossible to get the right numbers in the right areas. In fairness to the Senator, she has condemned any attacks on these facilities. That is welcome because it is not right, it is not proper and it is not who we are as a country. The Senator also mentioned the Minister, Deputy McEntee. Deputy McEntee has not been Minister for justice for 18 months. I presume the Senator mentioned her because she is local. I know the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has made a lot of changes and has been very productive in the last 18 months as Minister for justice. I am sure he would be open to discussing this issue with the Senator.

Senator Scahill spoke about energy projects. Again, there is a lack of communication. Regardless of the Department involved, there often seems to be a lack of communication when big projects are being developed. It creates fear very quickly. It is amazing that, when you hear about a project being done in Roscommon or some other area in the country, within a week people are talking about it as something that is five times bigger than it is and that creates way more damage. That creates a level of fear and resentment about the project coming to the area and locals not being told about it. A lot of the time, it is private businesses but communication is key here. We cannot have a situation where that does not happen. Communities rally together and hold public meetings and protests to try to block something being developed by a private company or another body, but they may not have had the opportunity to see whether it could benefit their area or the wider area. As a country, we need to do more on renewable energy. We can only do that if communities come on board and the only way to get communities on board is to be upfront and open, tell people what is being done and ask them what they think, whether they are on board and what can be done. A debate with the Minister on the matter would be timely. We will do that.

The Senator also spoke about solar panels, as did Senator Nelson Murray yesterday. I am very hopeful. The Minister for Finance has spoken a number of times in the last month about decisions that will be made in the budget. They have not been made yet but, in debates in the Lower House, he has spoken about giving more support to people who want to retrofit their houses. He has also spoken about solar panels and making it more financially viable for people to put solar panels on their houses. That is very important considering we are unfortunately going to see energy costs increase even more after the summer months.

Senator Murphy O'Mahony spoke about medical records. It is amazing that, in a country that is so progressive, we still have not automated our medical records. It is very important for those working in the health sector. It is also important for patients' confidence for them to be able to see their own records and know exactly what is in them. If they are going from one place to another, to a different GP or to a hospital that is not their usual one for an emergency, their medical records should be easily found. GPs and nurses should be able to know their blood type straight away. Everything that needs to be known should be known. We have been talking about this for quite some time but we have not had a debate in this House on it. An opportunity to have such a debate with the Minister for Health would be helpful.

Senator Boyhan spoke about the Fórsa conference that is happening at the moment. It is on its second day of three. Fórsa represents thousands and thousands of public sector workers right across the country. It is a valuable and, as the Senator has said, very credible organisation that has served for years to make sure that public sector workers are protected. It has done a very good job through good times and bad times to make sure that jobs, salaries and pay and conditions are protected as well as possible. There is obviously going to be a new public pay deal very soon. I know Fórsa will play its part to make sure its members are protected. We all have family members who work in the public sector and who are members of Fórsa so we all have a keen interest in the work it does. We wish it well with its conference.

Senator McCarthy spoke about women in addiction, an issue that is not spoken about much. As a result of his involvement in Tiglin, he has a keen knowledge of the area. There is a stigma with women in addiction. Everyone can understand the fear. There is nothing scarier than losing your kids. If you are expected to voluntarily tell someone that you have a problem with drinking, drugs or gambling and you fear that you are going to lose your young children, it is very hard to do that. We need to change that stigma. We need to do an awful lot more. There is a wonderful women's refuge facility in Clonmel called Cuan Saor. It was opened by Michael D. Higgins in 2000. It does phenomenal work but this goes beyond addiction. Domestic violence is another issue. There is more to it. When people create stigma about people who are looking for help, they do not fully understand why that person is in that situation. It behoves all of us to try to change that stigma, to try to help and to support people to recover. In his own line of work, the Senator sees the amazing achievement of people recovering from addictions like that and the benefits this has for their young children.

I acknowledge that Deputy Gary Gannon and Mums Hub were in the Gallery while Senator Ahearn was addressing the House.