The Association of Lactation Consultants in Ireland receives, I gather, €100,000 a year from the HSE. It recently advertised a conference in Galway that would be addressed by an American gentleman, Jacob Engelsman, on the subject of lactation support for gender diverse families. I thought at first it might be about women who, in an attempt to transform into maleness, had compromised their ability to breastfeed any children they had. That would be problematic enough because Mr. Engelsman has been involved in advising mentally unwell women who want to bind their breasts for hours at a time on how they can do that and breastfeed. We are a long way from a child's best interests there. It is actually worse. This gentleman has spoken at conferences on the subject of inducing lactation. In other words, biological males, through some kind of hormonal treatment, would try to produce something akin to breastmilk. The reason for that attempt is to assert their feelings of parenthood. He referenced gender euphoria or the unique experience of it. He cited curiosity, fun or sexual gratification. Brenda Power, in the Daily Mail, asked the obvious question which is whether any parent who prioritises their own feelings and desire for euphoria over a baby's needs is potentially guilty of child abuse.

What worries me is the response of the HSE when asked about this. It said it was in line with equality legislation and inclusion strategies. That is a disgraceful response from the organisation responsible for delivering healthcare in this country. It is an astounding lack of good stewardship. To make matters worse, the Minister for Health did not spot how unacceptable this should be and did not call it out. She is very quick, and often right, to call out problems that arise in the healthcare service. By failing to condemn that and publicly disapprove of a publicly funded organisation having a guest like that speak on a topic like that, the Minister acted as an enabler for highly ideological people in the HSE and the people they support. This is not about children's best interests. It is enabling a form of child abuse. We need to debate on this. The Minister should be called to account for this. I will write to the health committee to ask it to bring in the HSE over this. The response from the HSE and Minister is far from not being not good enough. It is a disgraceful and irresponsible response.

I thank the Cathaoirleach and the 22 Senators who made contributions. Senator O'Loughlin referred to Chambers Ireland. A Senator raised yesterday the report launched by the Minister, Deputy Burke, during the summer on the cost of business. I understand the report had 63 recommendations. I said yesterday, and will repeat today, that I am willing to have a debate on it with the Minister. The Senator also asked for a debate on older people, including vaccination programmes for older people. We are very good about vaccinating kids across the country, but not older people. She spoke about her experience during the summer. I am more than happy to have that debate with the Minister of State with responsibility for older people.

Senator Mark Duffy spoke about supports for third level students and raised a really good idea for students, particularly in rural Ireland, who have to travel quite a distance to college simply because they cannot get accommodation. The Senator's view is that there should be a free travel pass for those who have long journeys and can prove it. That should be considered and the Minister should be open to it because we should be doing as much as we can to support affected students in third level education.

Senators Duffy and Boyle spoke about the local improvement scheme. I know from talking to councillors right across the country, but particularly in Tipperary because there are so many rural roads and so much infrastructure, that the scheme is vital. We can never allocate enough money for it to meet the demand, but certainly an increase would be very much welcomed by most councillors.

Senator Aubrey McCarthy spoke about the ESRI report that states 200,000 children, or one in five, are living below the poverty line. He has asked for a debate. I am happy to ask the Minister, Deputy Dara Calleary, for that, but he is actually coming in next Wednesday to speak about hot school meals. I am sure the Senator will be able to navigate from the subject of hot school meals to that of child benefit in that debate, and to the possibility of having a second-tier child benefit for kids whose families are finding it difficult in this cost-of-living crisis.

Senator Conor Murphy spoke about the double taxation issue for cross-Border workers. As he said, there are an awful lot of issues arising in terms of cross-Border working, including those associated with tax, social protection, education certificates and what people qualify for. An awful lot needs to be done. He is right and it is a very good idea to have the Seanad Public Consultation Committee do some work on that. I am aware the committee is meeting every week for the next number of weeks, presenting it with a good opportunity to do some work on the matter. When we talk about a united Ireland, it is important to talk about all of these challenging issues.

Senator Patricia Stephenson spoke about the mental health unit at St. Vincent's, which has been quite a long time coming. It is a very important care service for women going through pregnancy, or after pregnancy. I am not sure why there is a delay or why a decision has not been made. I have no doubt that it is very important to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. I am happy to have a debate on health. Perhaps a Commencement matter on the issue might be more beneficial to the Senator. In fairness to the Minister of State, she has done an awful lot of work, as Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, delivering legislation and prioritising awareness of mental health. I have no doubt that she has that same passion for the area of mental health in question and for the establishment of the unit.

Senator Teresa Costello spoke about the illegal dumping in Tallaght. This seems to be a scourge around the country. She had a very good idea about skip bags because it is hard for councils to find out whose fault it is. They have to go through the dumped material and determine whether there is any personal information in it to establish who is actually responsible. Sometimes none can be found, but having something like registered skip bags or a barcode on them would be much more helpful. We will never end illegal dumping by a certain number of people. I do not know why they do it. It is hard to understand. There is so much work done by people in communities like Tallaght and towns and villages across the country to try to keep our communities nice and clean. It can be incredibly frustrating for those decent people when they see this sort of carry-on.

Senator Manus Boyle spoke about Irish Water. I am happy to have a debate with the relevant Minister, Deputy Browne, on it, possibly after the budget, I suspect. It is incredibly frustrating. The messages he was giving today are no different from what we receive from people right across the country in each constituency. We have given Irish Water more money, asked it to deliver better and to improve its communication skills, but there is still constant frustration in this regard. I am happy to have a debate on this.

Senator Victor Boyhan spoke about the Taoiseach's visit to New York and wished him well. He also spoke about the visit of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy McEntee, to the site of the Twin Towers, where she laid a wreath. It is a really good opportunity to talk once again about the undocumented Irish in America. There is not a person in this country who does not have either a family member, neighbour or friend in America at the moment who cannot come home if a family member dies or there is something significant happening at home because of the fear of not being able to get back into America. I am sure that the Taoiseach, while he is in America, will, as he always does, try to highlight that issue for so many thousands of Irish people in America.

Senator Paul Daly asked for a debate with the Minister for agriculture. I am more than happy to request one. It is a good time for it. We have the European Presidency at the moment. The biggest issues within the European Presidency are in agriculture. The Senator and I know the Minister is very passionate about delivering on the multi-annual financial framework and CAP during his time holding the Presidency. Now that we are almost halfway through the Presidency, it is a good opportunity in this House to have a debate on those priorities the Senator outlined, whether they relate to fodder, fertiliser or the transport of live animals, which was a real issue during the summer. I am more than happy to facilitate the debate as soon as we can, possibly next week. We will try to see what we can do within the Minister's timeframe.

Senator Gareth Scahill spoke about women's health and having a debate on it. A number of other Senators spoke about this as well, in particular BreastCheck and breast density. The Senator is right. It is important that we, as men, are comfortable talking about women's health as well as women. During the previous term, I did an awful lot of work with colleagues in this House on hyperemesis, which is a very severe condition for women going through pregnancy, and on getting the drug Cariban approved. It is very helpful to women right across the country who suffer from severe illness while pregnant. We will make sure to have a debate on that with the relevant Minister.

Senator Pauline Tully spoke about Sepsis Awareness Week, something I have spoken about in the Seanad previously. I am very well aware of the condition because I contracted sepsis while in hospital. I was very lucky. As the Senator said, medical staff need to be more aware and need to be provided with more education. Often, a nurse is the first person who has to make a decision on what a condition is. I was extremely lucky that a nurse in Clonmel hospital spotted straight away that I had sepsis. Within two or three minutes, there were about ten people at the bed beside me making decisions. Awareness and education can save lives. As the Senator said, organisations in our area have saved lives. The Minister has launched the five-year strategy on sepsis. We have an opportunity to have a debate in this House on it.

Senator Maria Byrne spoke about pubs and their closure, particularly in rural areas. Over 2,000 pubs have closed and many of these were the backbone or fabric of communities and towns right across the country. We have done a lot to support rural Ireland and the industry, particularly pubs that serve food, but there is more that we can do. I totally support her call to introduce measures. The relevant Minister, Deputy Peter Burke, understands as much as the Senator and I do the importance of a pub as the nucleus of a village or town and what it means to a community. I am more than happy to support the Senator's call for supporting pubs in the budget in two weeks.

Senator Laura Harmon spoke about leave for teachers and SNAs who have been injured while working. She introduced legislation. I am not sure where it stands at the moment, but I can speak to the Minister about it and see whether she is willing to work with the Senator on it. There is always the opportunity for a Commencement matter, but we will talk to the Minister to see where we can go with that. It is not fair that people who are injured at work, particularly teachers and even more so SNAs, do not receive any supports.

Senator Gerard Craughwell spoke about enduring power of attorney and his own experience over the summer. It is incredible that only 8% of people in the country have enduring power of attorney. It is something people really do not address until they have to, so there is an opportunity to highlight the importance of acquiring the power in advance, as the Senator is doing very well. All of us, or most of us, already know who the power will relate to; we have just never got around to actually obtaining it.

To highlight that is very important.

Senator Andrews spoke about the Irish Wheelchair Association. In fairness to the Senator, I welcome this because one of the criticisms I had when this controversy started with the FAI is that it is almost like we just attack soccer and nothing else, when other organisations were playing competitive sports against certain countries, although not necessarily Israel - I will not name the sports, but one was playing against Afghanistan recently. Others were competing against Israeli competitors in different sports but no one was talking about them; it was just this attack on soccer. I agree with the Senator that everyone should be held to account in the exact same way. I welcome the fact that he has raised it.

What I would say is that to get a response like “board confidentiality” does not wash. People have to say why they have made these decisions. The Irish Wheelchair Association does an incredible amount of work, as we all know from our own communities. However, it needs to be accountable for decisions like this. There might be a good reason, but we certainly have not got it yet. It is welcome that the Senator has highlighted it. As politicians, we would be sceptical when the association says that we are playing three other nations, but it does not name the nations. They might have known themselves that there could have been an issue here. It is welcome that the Senator has raised it today.

Senators Cosgrove, Keogan and O'Reilly raised the NYCI report on the number of people leaving the country. I accept that a lot of people, young people in particular, leave the country. The majority of those who leave this country leave for a short time and then come back. The number of people who are coming back to this country as Irish citizens after being away for three, five or seven years is increasing year on year.

Senator Cosgrove referred to people leaving this country because there is no hope and nothing here for them. She and I are, I suspect, of a similar age. We came out of college just before the crash started and everything fell apart. People had to leave the country because there was no work, and there was nothing they could do. There are work opportunities for everyone in this country at the moment, and we are lucky on that point. There are obviously challenges - housing is one of them - but if the suggestion is that 62,000 people are leaving this country simply because the country is failing them, I just do not believe or accept that. Young people want to better themselves and have a broader outlook on life, and travelling is a really good element of that at a young age. I hope that, just like in recent years, a lot of people are coming home. Those people who are leaving this year will also come home, and whether that is in one, three, five or seven years, they will always be welcome to come home.

Senator Collins spoke about fuel costs, in particular the cost of home heating oil, which has increased dramatically in the past year. We all talk about how 1,000 litres was about €900 a year ago, but now it is €1,600, €1,700 or €1,800. However, we also need to be realistic. That increase did not happen because of the Government. We did not double the price of it. The price has doubled because of the war in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. There are things that we can do, and I am hopeful that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Simon Harris, will make decisions on home heating and fuel costs in the budget that will support people. We understand what needs to be done, but we also have to be realistic. We cannot just cut back that increase of 100% overnight. It is just not going to happen. However, we will be there to support people, just like we were there in April with a budget that was higher than any other budget in Europe at €750 million, a budget that was not supported by Sinn Féin in the Dáil. That helped and supported people. Because we have had a surplus over the past number of years, we are in a position to do some of the things that the Senator is asking us to do. We would not be in that position if we had just spent all that money in the previous budget. However, there has to be a bit of realism in terms of what a government can and cannot do in supporting fuel costs, including heating oil. Some of the increases are just so vast and out of control. Every country is managing them. At the moment, petrol in France is €2.50 a litre. We are not alone in these challenges.

Senator Byrne raised the school bus transport scheme. He outlined a really obvious thing that needs to be changed. If a child who applies for their nearest school and cannot get a place through no fault of their own and then has to go to a different school, that should not preclude them from qualifying for a free bus pass. They wanted to go to the nearest school, but the State could not provide it, so they had to go to a different school. Why would they be doubly punished by not having a school pass because they did not go to the closest school? It was not their fault. The Senator has spoken about this several times in the House. School buses always come up at this time of year, as we know, but it seems blatantly obvious that this should be changed. It does not cost anything or do anything; it is just a change in the terms and conditions when someone applies for a bus pass. I know the Senator will speak to the Minister, and I am more than happy to speak to her on his behalf.

Senator Flynn raised the hot school meals scheme. As I said earlier, we will have a debate on that next Wednesday with the Minister for Social Protection. The Senator can raise the issue of the timing of hot meals and the other issues she brought up, such as whether people should have the option of cold meals and things like that. It will be a good opportunity to speak about that.

Senator Rónán Mullen spoke about the association of lactation and a person. I did not catch the name, but the person was brought to speak in support of the-----

It did not go ahead. There was a protest.

Did it not go ahead? He was simply invited. I have never heard of that organisation before. I do not know the person at all. If what the Senator is saying is true, I think the majority of people will be uncomfortable about those sorts of things happening.

Not the HSE and not the Minister, it appears.

I do not know the case in general, and I do not know the person at all. I will speak to the Minister about it. We will have a debate with her at some point in the next couple of weeks, possibly after the budget. There will be an opportunity to put that to the Minister when she is in the House. That concludes the Order of Business.