I commend my colleague, Senator Ruane, on the work she has done in the area and on the report that was launched today. She was also talking from personal experience. I know, even in my own family, what addiction can be like.

I also want to speak today about a place I visited that is inspiring young people to engage with science, technology, engineering and mathematics called Explorium, which is in Sandyford. I visited it recently and was impressed not only by the scale but the vision and the innovation behind it.

For over 20 years the Government has discussed creating a national children's science campus. Reports have been written, proposals developed and great plans made but yet today, that ambition remains unrealised. What struck me on my visit to Sandyford was that we may already have what we are looking for. I never came across it before. I saw an email on LinkedIn and said I would visit this place. It is a discovery centre with hundreds of interactive exhibits, where children learn by doing. They are not simply reading about science. They are experimenting, discovering and developing curiosity in a way that brings the learning to life.

We pride ourselves on being global leaders in technology, engineering and innovation but the next generation of scientists, engineers and innovators are sitting in the classrooms today. If we want to remain competitive then we need to nurture them at a young age. From what I was shown I believe it is a value for money question that deserves consideration. We hear discussions about investing tens of millions of euro in a national centre, but perhaps we already have one within 10 km of Dublin. As legislators, we have a responsibility to ask whether it makes more sense to build something new or actually to develop an existing national asset.

I commend the team at Explorium on what has been achieved. It demonstrates what is possible when you put your mind to it. If we are serious about preparing an Ireland for the future, we must not only invest in buildings but in curiosity, opportunity and young minds.

Explorium is exactly that.

First, I thank Senator Ruane for her contribution here today regarding her own experience and that of her friends, colleagues and associates in relation to addiction. One of the great things about Seanad Éireann is the intimacy of this place as a Chamber and how each and every Member on all sides of this House brings their personal experience to their parliamentary work. There is nothing to beat personal experience, the lived experience. I acknowledge and thank Senator Ruane for sharing. It is never easy to talk about your own personal sets of circumstances. Politicians are great at talking about everybody else and the problem here, there and yonder, but when it comes right to the core of the person, it exposes a vulnerability about him or her. When we are vulnerable, I think we are at our strongest. I really believe that in connection with anything important. That authenticity makes us real and makes us connect emotionally. That is really important. Few people have that gift and Senator Ruane is one of them and I thank her for that. I thank her for that openness that she brings and that empathy about her own life experience in her parliamentary business. It makes her a very special person. I am so glad, and I think we all are, that Senator Ruane is a Member of this diverse House. That is the other great thing; we are diverse.

I have only one question to ask the Leader. Tonight there will be a very interesting Private Members' motion before us, which I do not intend to go into now, in the name of Fianna Fáil. I welcome that healthy debate about it, but it occurred to me that it all goes back to that issue of core funding for local government. We have in this country, at best, local administration. We do not have a comprehensive local government model such as there is across Europe. Today I looked at the chamber of commerce's submission to the local democracy task force consultation, dated August 2025. Will the Leader facilitate a letter to or communication with the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, and the principal Minister, Deputy James Browne, on when the Government intends to publish the local government task force final report and recommendations? I ask that that would happen before the summer recess. It is important. The councillors of all parties and none now expect its publication. It is timely, essential and important. Will the Leader facilitate the request? That is all I am asking.