Seanad Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 18 Jun 2024

Before I ask the Acting Leader to outline the business of the day, I will announce to the House for the information of Members that Senators Regina Doherty and Lynn Boylan have been elected to the European Parliament. Pursuant to the European Parliament Elections Acts 1992 to 2019, the Senators will cease to be Members of the Seanad when they take up their seats at the first sitting of the European Parliament, which is likely to be on the 16th day of July 2024. Accordingly, a vacancy in the number of nominated Members of the Seanad and in the Oireachtas Sub-Panel of the Agricultural Panel will exist at that time. On my behalf and on that of the House, I congratulate Senators Doherty and Boylan, our MEPs-elect, on their success.

The Order of Business is No. 1, Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024 to be taken at 3.15 p.m., with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed ten minutes, all other Senators not to exceed five minutes, Senators may share time and the Minister to be given no less than ten minutes to reply to the debate.

Before I call on Senator Fitzpatrick, I commend the Acting Leader on her wonderful podcast and initiatives in terms of women's health in the Inter-Parliamentary Union. It is wonderful for the Oireachtas to have a person of the calibre of Senator Clifford-Lee leading initiatives and discussion on behalf of parliamentarians. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Seanadóir Clifford-Lee.

I share in the congratulations to the elected Members to the European Parliament. I congratulate them and commiserate with those candidates who were unsuccessful on this occasion in both the European elections and the local authority elections. Our democracy depends on good people coming forward, putting their name on a ballot paper and contesting elections. Our democracy is indebted to every candidate who went forward. Success is not final and failure is not fatal. I am sure there are better days ahead for many of the very fine candidates who may not have been successful last week.

I draw the attention of the House to the fact that the nature restoration law was passed yesterday in Luxembourg. I welcome that news. I welcome it on foot of the support from the Fianna Fáil MEPs when it was going through the Parliament. This nature restoration law is an incredibly important policy from the European Union's perspective. It aims to provide a framework to all the member states to allow us protect and restore our nature - our rivers, parks, lands and urban areas. It is incredibly important that we invest today to ensure that future generations can enjoy a healthy and sustainable environment.

On that note, I congratulate the fifth year students, Ms Alecia Dibu and Ms Alison Koci, and their teachers, Ms Fiona Dockery and Ms Adrienne Healy, from St. Dominic's College in Cabra, who were part of the team representing Ireland at the prestigious NASA/NSS Ames Space Settlement Contest.

The challenge was to design an off-world space settlement capable of sustaining a population of more than 10,000 people, while creating an Earth-like environment. The girls from Cabra did that, which was a great achievement. Alecia, Alison and their team called their project Danú, which is the name of the ancient Irish mythological figure who personifies nature, wisdom, strength and fertility. They designed a settlement that would not only provide a sustainable and safe place for humans to live, but which would also protect Earth from the enhanced greenhouse effect. I just want to give a big shout-out to those girls from Cabra. I am a graduate of St. Dominic's College in Cabra. I am very proud of that. While Cabra might seem like a very long way from the International Space Station, I can tell you that us people in Cabra can bridge those gaps. It is an incredible achievement for the girls to have represented our country and to have led the way in showing respect for our planet for future generations.

I join with Senator Fitzpatrick in congratulating the students from Cabra. I think she said their names are Alecia and Alison. I commend them on the initiative. It is wonderful that a small country like Ireland can have such wonderful leaders and innovators. We join with Senator Fitzpatrick in congratulating them and wishing them well. As a former teacher, it always gives me joy to see students doing well, in particular when they are from Ireland. I say well done to the two girls and their teachers as well.

I join in the congratulations as well. I also join in commending our colleague, the Acting Leader, Senator Clifford Lee, on her important work with the IPU, which is fantastic. I also congratulate the two Senators who were elected as MEPs. They are two very capable ladies - our Deputy Leader - a former Leader, and a former MEP and soon-to-be former Senator, Lynn Boylan. She will be missed from the EU scrutiny committee, of which she was an active member. She will bring her undoubted expertise to the European Parliament where she will be wearing the green jersey and representing Ireland. We wish her well.

Today, I seek a debate or discussion with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, on moving from the emergency response to the Ukrainian crisis in which we are currently engaged to a more sustained long-term plan for accommodating our Ukrainian friends. We see too often that accommodation units are being closed and Ukrainians are being moved to different accommodation. For example, people were moved from Killarney to some other part of the country recently, even though most of them were in employment and many of the children were in school, where they had been for two years.

There was also a situation where a number of Ukrainian families were moved from Shannon to Lisdoonvarna, even though approximately 30 of them are in employment in Shannon where they provide essential supports and services and many of the children were in school. That brings me to Lisdoonvarna in County Clare, where there are five hotels at the moment accommodating either people from Ukraine or people in the international protection system. Most fair-minded people would agree that while that might have been acceptable during an emergency situation, but that is no longer the case given the fact that the predominant income in north Clare is derived from tourism for at least six months of the year. Restaurants, bars and visitor attractions have suffered simply because there is not accommodation for tourists.

The best approach is that each local authority would be asked to come up with a plan. In the case of Clare County Council, I am sure it would recommend that the number of hotels in Lisdoonvarna would be reduced and that there would be a more sustainable approach that would be more spread out. At the same time, we would not have a situation where people are being unilaterally moved but it would be done on a planned, phased basis in consultation with the community and with the families affected.

What has happened has happened, but we need to see a medium- to long-term strategy that is fair to people from Ukraine and fulfils our international protection obligations but it also fair to the businesses and communities that are affected.

We need to start this process by having the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, in for statements to see what his plans are in this regard, because at this time, I do not know what his plans are, and we should know.

Finally, before I finish, I commend our colleague, Senator Gavan,-----

I too wish to be associated with the congratulations to Senators Regina Doherty and Lynn Boylan on their elevation to the membership of the European Parliament, and also to Senators Blaney, Chambers and Gavan. It is a massive thing to put oneself forward in any election and I commend them all on their performance.

I cannot have been the only Member of the House observing some of the statistics from the recent elections. I refer particularly to the concerning rate of voter turnout as well as the perennial issue of spoiled votes. In a morbid landmark across EU elections in this country, just under half – exactly 49.4% - of voters made it to the polling stations last week to cast their vote, down from a participation rate of 50.2% in 2019, as Ireland broke away from the EU norm of increased turnout this election cycle. This phenomenon was particularly glaring in working-class areas of Dublin, where turnout was as low as 33% in the south inner city. Perhaps equally bad, the Electoral Commission reported that there were 60,000 spoiled or incorrectly filled-out ballots - 1.3% of all votes - despite continued campaigns in recent years to heighten voter awareness. While great strides have been made to mitigate the cause of incorrectly filled-out ballots, many of those reporting on the Midlands-North-West European constituency described a higher than average rate of spoiled votes, potentially driven by the number of European candidates.

As Ireland’s politics becomes more diverse and our elections become more complicated with a greater selection of candidates, there is concern that pre-existing issues with voting will be magnified. Has the Electoral Commission considered the use of simplified ballots, as tried in Australia and Germany, to reduce voter confusion, or even the prospect of giving the voting system greater instruction time in schools? Similarly, has the commission given much thought to the potential of electronic optical scanners for vote counting, as used in many American states, such as Florida and Michigan, and recently piloted in the UK and France? Scanners have been tried with success in the UK local elections and could minimise the time taken up by traditional hand counting and free up time for politicians and national airwaves. Despite the mountains of reporting on the so-called far-right or the threat of misinformation, having half the population shirk from their democratic duties or simply being miseducated and not vote properly is a major concern for Irish democracy. While the prospect of electronic voting is perhaps beyond the political grasp as of present, due to past scandals, it is time for Irish electoral practices to enter the 21st century by integrating the best technological practices on offer while minimising spoiled votes. Democratic suffrage is only as good as the mechanisms that support it, and the warning signs are showing when it comes to the machinery of Irish democracy following last week's elections.

I too wish to be associated with congratulating Senators Doherty and Boylan. I congratulate Senators Blaney, Chambers and Gavan for putting their names forward as well.

I wish to take up the last point made by my colleague with regard to spoiled votes. The issue I wish to raise is those ballots that were not stamped, which is a huge issue for us. Those people did the right thing. When I was in, I saw those spoiled votes being debated. They had a correct number one, two, three and four, but they were spoiled because they were not stamped correctly. As my colleague said, in this day of technology, we need to look at something better. Those people voted. I think the figure from the last local elections is well over 1,000 votes were spoiled, and that is totally unacceptable in a modern democracy. We should look at that urgently. I have come across it. Especially when voting comes down to one or two votes, those votes can make all the difference. It is something we need to come back to.

I wish to mention something I raised here a couple weeks ago related to an estate called Abbeylands in Castledermot. I spoke about Uisce Éireann-Irish Water, Kildare County Council and a sewage spill that happened.

As the estate was not taken in charge, there was consternation as to who was responsible. Unfortunately, over the weekend this situation arose again, this time in respect of the Branswood estate in my home town of Athy. The issue with Branswood is that three times in the last five months the sewerage pumps have failed, which has left raw sewage pouring onto footpaths and into people's gardens. In one estate the damage to a garden is estimated to be of the order of €2,000. I have been told that the problem is that Kildare County Council is waiting for word back from Uisce Éireann as to three options the council has given it. This matter has gone on for almost a year yet the residents of Branswood still await a solution to their problem. Unfortunately, this flows into a neighbouring estate in Corran Ard as well. I have mentioned before that Uisce Éireann need to get its act together. It needs to ensure that both Kildare County Council and the developer, who is still in situ, know the exact response in this case. Unfortunately, this is happening too often. It is simply unacceptable that there have been two cases in recent weeks. We need to bring this matter to a head. We need Uisce Éireann to respond quickly, rather than taking up to a year to respond in respect of three options put forward by Kildare County Council to solve this problem and the previous problem I brought up that occurred in Abbeylands in Castledermot. This is important because young children and older people cannot go out and enjoy their gardens and walk on their footpaths. Maybe this is a matter that we can debate or raise with various Ministers.

I know that we will debate cancer services tomorrow but today I want to raise the issue of medical cards for cancer patients. Very recently I have come across three different cases concerning this matter. The stress placed on families because their family member with cancer is not automatically entitled to a medical card is something to behold. In one particular case the stress has become too much for the family I am dealing with. They are going through an appeal mechanism at the moment but that is not something this person and his or her family need to deal with at this time. We can talk about this issue again tomorrow but something needs to be done and this matter needs to be sorted once and for all.

I begin by offering my congratulations again to our colleagues, Senator Doherty, and my good friend, Senator Boylan. I also commend Senators Blaney and Chambers. From my experience, it was a really enjoyable campaign and very worthwhile in terms of a good life experience.

The first issue I wish to raise is the appalling but really powerful documentary by “RTÉ Investigates" in respect of Shannonside Foods. Anyone who watched the documentary could not have been but absolutely shocked by the type of practices that were going on there. The documentary does beg a number of questions. I remind everyone that we saw horses being repeatedly hit, whipped, punched around the head and struck with long lengths of plastic piping. One horse was seen falling and being too weak to stand, to be later prodded with a pitchfork. That horse died after hours of struggle and was seen being dragged out of a shed the next day. Why were the veterinary officers from the Department of agriculture who were working on site not aware of the barbaric cruelty that was going on? It is hard to believe that they would not have been aware to some degree. Why was the adjoining lairage shed not included in the abattoir's licence to operate? Crucially, "RTÉ Investigates" had informed the Department one month in advance of the documentary being broadcast. Why did the Minister wait to take action until after the documentary was broadcast? He had that information for a month at that point. The remaining horses should have been seized and removed from their despicable abusers - the owners. We do not even know whether the horses were checked by vets before their removal from the Straffan facility. We do not know where those horses are at this time or why they are still under the control of the owners who, let us not forget, have a track record of criminality when it comes to abuse of animals. I hope the Acting Leader will agree with me that we need a debate on this issue. We need to have a real investigation into how these practices have been allowed to go on for so long. It would be really important, on an all-party basis, for Senators to support my call for a debate and see what else we can do to help the situation.

The second issue I wish to raise concerns the following. I welcome the fact that we have a new employment regulation order for the security industry. Under the new order, the rate of pay has increased from €12.90 an hour to €14.50 an hour. That is a reasonable move but is not good enough in terms of a rate of pay. It has taken months of negotiation by SIPTU to get the increase across the line as the employers dragged their feet on a number of occasions. These are the people who stand in front of emergency departments at hospitals at weekends and nights, enduring all sorts of abuse. It is really tough work, yet they are paid €14.50 an hour. Frankly, we should pay them an awful lot more. Of course I would argue that those jobs should never have been outsourced to a private security company.

These people should be employed by the hospital. However, the key point is that last week at the count centre in Cork, I discovered that Top Security has won the award for minding our ballots. Top Security is a company that has shown flagrant disregard for trade unions and has taken court orders against our employment regulation order. How can it be that companies that have total disregard for trade unions win public contracts to mind our electoral process? Surely to God, we need to look at our procurement policy. I call for an urgent debate on that. Workers should be represented and respected and so should their trade unions.

I am seeking clarity, if possible today, from the Ministers for Justice and integration about the system of referral of international protection, IP, applicants to the International Protection Accommodation Services, IPAS. Most of us in this House agree that the emergence of tents and people being forced to camp overnight along the canal and in other areas around the city is inhumane. It deprives the people of any dignity. The lack of sanitation and so forth is degrading and communities also have legitimate concerns.

In recent days, we have seen what I might call a lopsided approach whereby An Garda Síochána is clearing the tents and is not following, as we understand it, the procedure of referring the IP applicants to IPAS. They are being told that they have to leave the area they are in and that if they set up camp somewhere else they may be arrested and they are left with literally nowhere to go. Particularly at a time where the risk of attack is significant, it is simply not good enough that the system that is supposed to work is failing. What is happening is interesting because in the High Court last month, by way of affidavit, an assistant secretary general from the Department of integration confirmed that An Garda Síochána is working closely with IPAS on the emergency referral system. While it may have worked in recent weeks, I understand that it has not been working in recent days. There is inconsistent information from An Garda Síochána. Some gardaí do not appear to know about the emergency referral system, others do. We need clarification from both Ministers about what exactly is happening with that referral process at this time.

I call for a debate with the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, about how the GAA is viewed by the RTÉ network. I am deeply concerned that the GAA is considered to be a third-class entity by RTÉ. There were 14 matches last weekend, but none was shown by the national broadcaster on Saturday and only two were shown on Sunday. Of 14 matches, only two were shown by the national broadcaster. We have the bizarre situation where "The Sunday Game" has been moved to a late night slot around 10.15 p.m. It is nearly X-rated. It is absolutely crazy to think that it is on at almost 10.30 p.m. We are trying to get young people to watch our sports, but it is very hard if we put the programme on that late at night.

We also have the bizarre situation that at 1.15 p.m. next Saturday a senior hurling match will happen in Thurles to fit the RTÉ schedule because a rugby match is also on. The United Rugby Championship, URC, rugby match, in which no Irish team is participating, is taking up the slot. We should be looking at a prime time slot for these games. How RTÉ views the GAA, and hurling in particular, is a significant issue. There needs to be a debate with the Minister about how the GAA is looked upon with regard to prime-time slots.

There is a bizarre situation with GAAGO, which is running a platform that has not been approved by the regulator. The regulator started its work on that in May 2023 and has still not made a decision.

We need the Minister to come to the Chamber to outline her vision for RTÉ's role in promoting the national sport. At the moment, I do not believe it is doing an appropriate job, with the national sport now being considered a third-class citizen within the organisation. People are deeply concerned about the relationship between RTÉ and GAAGO and how all this ties together. I fundamentally believe we have a conflict of interest when we have GAAGO and RTÉ working together and then RTÉ deciding what goes on the platform itself. There is something seriously wrong here.

I welcome to the Gallery our good friend and colleague Deputy Noel Grealish and his guests from Oranmore in County Galway. Tá céad míle fáilte roimh gach duine. You are very welcome. Make sure Deputy Grealish buys and pays for the lunch. We are told he has loads of money, so make sure he spends it on you. Cuirim fíor fáilte romhaibh.

The publication yesterday of the Digital News Report Ireland 2024 made for extremely interesting reading given that, for the first time ever, online outlets are now the main sources of news for people living in Ireland. They now surpass television, radio and newspapers. Indeed, newspapers rank at only 3% in respect of where people access their daily news. This follows examinations in other countries as well. Worldwide, almost four in ten people now say they sometimes actively avoid the news. This figure has risen from 29% in 2017. In the UK, 73%, or almost three quarters of people, said they get their news online.

The point here is about ensuring news credibility into the future. In this country, RTÉ still retains the trust of the public despite everything that has happened and all the controversies. The journalists in RTÉ are still trusted, and this came through in the report. Regarding the question of who pays for news, only 17% of those surveyed said they paid to access online news content. This goes to the heart of how we will fund our news provision in future. If people are not prepared to pay for the product, then it does not become financially sustainable. Newspapers are on their deathbeds. They have been a bastion of society for more than two centuries. If we do not have the money to pay for the journalists, the newsrooms that operate to provide us with news are going to die.

People clearly do not want to pay for the online news now becoming so popular. This begs the broader question, as we have the debate for the future funding of the media, of who will pay for these news products. We need a broader debate on this topic. We are going to do this in the context of our own reports in the context of the Oireachtas media committee, but in this Chamber, and indeed in society, the findings of yesterday's report throw a very stark light on where we are going with news reporting in future.

Roscommon town was today named the best-kept large town. This is an all-island accolade. Towns in Northern Ireland also go forward in this competition. I am really proud to see that Roscommon town has won this all-island accolade. The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, is a big promoter of Tidy Towns, with the awards presented in conjunction with SuperValu as the partner here in Ireland.

It is incredible to see the funding that has come into Roscommon town. There has been urban regeneration funding, rural regeneration funding and funding for the town itself. That has transformed the main street and provided a thoroughfare. The Easter parade was there and the Christmas markets. It has opened up a space for communities to use and for families to enjoy. This is what we see when we see our towns being transformed by this regenerative funding that is coming through the Government and which really transforms many of these areas. I congratulate the Tidy Towns team in Roscommon town. I acknowledge the investment made through different Departments to develop our towns and make them places people want to visit. I can tell you now that Roscommon town is the place you want to visit, especially when there are the likes of the Easter parade and Christmas markets.

I echo the concerns and views expressed by my friend and colleague, Senator Cassells. The Oireachtas media committee will shortly publish a report on the future of media. I hope we will be able to facilitate a debate in the Houses on the findings of that report and, more generally, on the media in Ireland.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been praising Irish athletes, the role of Athletics Ireland in promoting and supporting young athletes and the extraordinary success of our athletes at the European Athletics Championships in Rome. I am certain the Acting Leader shares my disgust at the levels of online abuse directed at Rhasidat Adeleke. It is absolutely appalling that such abuse is being experienced by a most outstanding athlete who has achieved so much on behalf of this country; far more than some of those who hide behind anonymous Twitter handles to carry out that abuse. The sort of racist and abusive language she is subjected to has no place online or offline. It reflects a rising culture of racism and xenophobia that we are, unfortunately, beginning to see in this country. We have seen elements of it in these Houses. There is a responsibility on all of us in public life to call it out. I continue to support all our athletes. They are doing wonders for our country and not just in terms of their achievements. They are also, including Rhasidat Adeleke, amazing role models. We in this House must call out the racist language we are, unfortunately, increasingly hearing.

Gabh mo leithscéal. It was really significant to have six Members of this House contesting the elections to the European Parliament. In addition, a former Member of the House, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, was successful. When I was first elected in 2016, I learned a lot from him. It was fantastic to see him succeeding. I commend everybody who put their name forward, whether they were successful or unsuccessful, in both the European Parliament elections and the local authority elections. Our democracy depends on people putting their names forward and putting their ideas before the public. Whether they win or lose, they have contributed to the democratic process.

Senator Fitzpatrick referred to the nature restoration law and the important framework that was agreed on in Brussels. She also mentioned the fifth-year students, Alecia and Alison, from St. Dominic's College, Cabra, who are representing Ireland in the NASA/NSS Ames Space Settlement Contest. It is absolutely fantastic to see the success of young women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM. It is a really significant achievement for the girls themselves, for their school and for other young Irish girls across the country who see their amazing success in the NASA contest. I commend them on it.

Senator Conway raised the need for a long-term plan for the Ukrainian colleagues and friends who have joined us in Ireland since the outbreak of war in their country. I agree that we need a long-term plan. It is not fair on the people who have settled into communities, made friends, started jobs and are contributing to society to face being moved on at a moment's notice. I support the Senator's call for a debate on the issue.

Senator Keogan raised the important issue of the 60,000 spoiled ballots in the recent elections. That number is really shocking. The low turnout is also of concern. We have work to do in schools and in bringing forward a public awareness campaign about how our electoral system works, how the single transferable vote works and how to fill out a ballot paper. We need to encourage people to make their voices heard.

As we saw, a number of contests were marginally won and lost, so everybody should be encouraged to vote. The online system to register to vote was a really important step forward but there have been a number of issues with it. A constituent of mine raised this with me. He updated his details online, having moved house, and put in his eircode but, because the housing estate had a similar name to that of a housing estate elsewhere in Dublin, the local authority registered him at the latter address, even though he had supplied the correct address and its eircode. Remarkably, the local authority encouraged him to vote under an address at which he had never lived and in an area with which he had no connection, which was really shocking. That man was disenfranchised because of a fault in the system. The Electoral Commission has a lot of work to do there. If we could have a system of looking into the simplification of the ballot paper and education for the public, it would be really welcomed.

The guests are very welcome. I hope they enjoy their trip.

Senator Wall also raised the issue of spoilt votes and, more concerning, the incorrectly stamped ballot papers, which resulted in approximately 1,000 votes around the country being deemed invalid - again, shocking.

Senator Wall also raised the issue of a sewage spill in Athy and Uisce Éireann's inability to respond to Kildare County Council and the people living in Athy over that issue. That is unacceptable. If Uisce Éireann cannot respond to local authorities on something as serious as that, we do not have a public utility worth anything. I hope Uisce Éireann will respond and give those people the answer they need.

Medical cards for cancer patients is an issue I have raised previously. Senator Wall makes a very good point about it being a stressful point in people's lives when they are given a cancer diagnosis. The last thing they need to be worried about is bureaucracy, filling out forms and engaging in appeals. It is really not acceptable. I hope we will be able to raise that issue in the course of the debate tomorrow evening.

I am glad Senator Gavan enjoyed the European campaign and is looking on it positively. I think all of us who have engaged in electoral politics at some stage or another have come up against failure and adversity. I have no doubt that he has learnt a lot from the campaign and will put it to good use in the next one.

The documentary on the abuse of horses is something I have not been able to watch yet because it is so appalling and shocking, but I have read a lot about it. We should have a debate in this Chamber about animal cruelty in general. Senator Hoey, among others, has been relentless in raising the issue of animal cruelty and safety for animals. We need answers because it is completely appalling and shocking.

Senator Sherlock raised the issue of the system of referrals. She would like to get answers from the Minister for Justice and the Minister for integration. I suggest that would be a good Commencement matter. She might be able to get some direct answers from the Ministers in that regard and the clarification she seeks.

Senator Lombard raised the issue of the status of the GAA within RTÉ. I have been struck by our debates about RTÉ over the past 12 months that they have emphasised the importance of RTÉ and maintaining the cultural identity of our country, being a small one. If we did not have our own State broadcaster, we could perhaps be overcome by cultural influences from outside the country. That is a valid point, but when we see our national sports sidelined and put off into the graveyard shifts, we have to question its validity. It is worth a debate. I certainly would like to see a debate on that issue.

The next Senator to speak was Senator Cassells. He raised the issue of the future of news in Ireland, which is connected with the RTÉ debate. People have to realise that if we want good-quality, credible news sources, we have to pay for them. If we rely on news outlets and their advertising revenue, they will just produce clickbait articles and shocking headlines.

They will not invest in proper, serious, well-thought-out investigative journalism, and we will all be the poorer for that. It is a very good point that Senator Cassells raised, and Senator Malcolm Byrne touched on that later. We should have a debate or a series of debates in this House on that matter. Perhaps it is too big to cover in a two-hour debate. Maybe it is something we should be talking about more long term and on which we should put together a plan because our democracy depends on it.

Senator Dolan raised the wonderful achievement of the Tidy Towns team in Roscommon town. Roscommon is the best kept largest town in Ireland. That is fantastic. I have had the great pleasure of being in Roscommon town many times. As the Senator said, to see the investment of the various urban and rural town regeneration funds from the Government having such an impact is fantastic. There has been a lot of that in my constituency in Balbriggan and in Lusk. It is fantastic to see it taking shape. I commend the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, on prioritising rural towns. I hope to get down to Roscommon during the summer.

The final Seanadóir to contribute was Senator Malcolm Byrne. As I said, he spoke about the future of media in Ireland and raised the issue of the absolutely appalling and disgusting racist abuse our wonderful athlete Rhasidat Adeleke has received. I am beyond appalled by what I have seen. These disgusting keyboard warriors denigrate a woman who has brought such pride and honour to this country, her sport and her family. She is back training with her head down for the Olympics and she is putting up with this from people who have no contribution to make and have never made a contribution. The European and local elections showed that this is not the majority opinion. You might look at it online and think this is how people think but the majority of people are not racist bullies. They are not abusing people. They vote for centrist parties. They do not vote for right-wing, racist parties in their droves. That is not where Ireland is at. I am happy to see that the answer was given in the ballot box. Anybody who supports this or continues even to entertain people with these types of views should really take a long, hard look at themselves. It is absolutely appalling. I ask that we send a letter to Rhasidat Adeleke and her comrades and team-mates to congratulate them on behalf of Seanad Éireann and to say that we stand shoulder to shoulder with them and we in this House will not tolerate a slip and slide into racism and xenophobia in this country. That is the Order of Business.