The Aire Stáit might get the all-Ireland back in September as well.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit agus guím breithlá sona di. Tá ceann de na rátaí asma is airde ar domhan againn in Éirinn. Is é an galar scamhóige ainsealach is coitianta in Éirinn í. Is féidir an cuid is mó de na básanna a bhaineann le hasma a chosc trí chúram agus bainistíocht níos fearr. There are currently 450,000 people living with asthma here. One in ten of those are children. Some 86,048 patients with asthma were enrolled with the chronic disease management programme, CDMP, as of 2023 and in the same yea…

I thank the Minister of State for her answer. I take on board the points she made as well as how there are supports in place. I reiterate the point that making this universally available for 12-to-17-year-olds could be transformative in terms of asthma care. It is an age cohort where their care for themselves maybe falls down a little bit, so having the MART inhaler available could be a really significant transformation. I understand the pressures that Department is under in terms of the drugs budget. I want to tha…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Canney. I wish to raise a couple of points with the Minister of State. The points about vulnerable users have been made well. I will be cycling out to Harold’s Cross after this engagement. I agree with the points made about cycling in Dublin. I find it quite scary, and that is partially down to cyclists. It is something for which we all have a collective responsibility. I will speak to that point about vulnerable road users, pedestrians and cyclists. Fatalities around t…

I want to be associated with the vote of sympathy in relation to Seamus Carroll, who was a great character and we always had a bit of banter around the hurling in Kilkenny and Tipperary. He will be sorely missed here. Like others, I do not want to repeat points that have been raised, but the school meals programme has been transformative. There is no doubt about it. The review that took place was most welcome and very comprehensive. Many important elements that were considered in it will now be added into the schem…

We do not have a written response for the Senator but we will get that provided for her.

I welcome our MEPs, particularly my new Green Party colleague, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin. We certainly look forward to the continued merging of the parties over time. I want to take up a point raised by Senator Clonan. It is about the wildfires and heatwaves we have had across Europe. A temperature of 400 C in many of our European cities seems to be the new norm and there is a new acceptance that these are the temperatures we are facing. Over 700,000 ha of land has been burned, literally incinerated, across Europe. There i…

I am sharing time with Senator Nessa Cosgrove. I will let my colleague go first.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I thank the Fianna Fáil Senators for using their Private Members' time to bring forward this important motion. The motion recognises the distance we have come since 2020 under the Minister's predecessor, my colleague Deputy Roderic O'Gorman who did incredible work. We want to see that same trajectory continue. I recognise the comments made by my colleague here. We have gone some distance towards affordability, professional development and retention of staff but, as the Minister knows, s…

Before I invite Senator Stephenson back in, I welcome members of the Young Entrepreneurs Club to the Gallery. They are guests of the Minister, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. Cuirim fáilte romhaibh go léir. We have a note here about no homework, but I want to allow that voucher to be carried forward to September, if that is okay, because it will still be relevant then.

I also welcome guests of the Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris, from County Wicklow. They are all very welcome. I congratulate them on their recent Tailteann Cup success.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. We might get copies of the Minister of State's response. That would be useful for Senators.

Mayo for Sam.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I again commend Senator Black, who has been campaigning on this issue for a very long time. It is disappointing that we are here this evening without services included despite the very detailed recommendations of the Oireachtas joint committee, the views of many legal experts and the clear legal opinion of the ICJ from July 2024. In that decision, if we recall, the ICJ held that all states were under an obligation "to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings ... and to take…

I wish to raise a number of issues, the first being that of 28-year-old Kilkenny native Emily Felix, who was diagnosed with Friedreich's ataxia at the age of 12. The National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics has determined that Skyclarys, a drug which could be life-changing for her and the other 200 sufferers of this disease, not be recommended for consideration for reimbursement by the HSE. Again, I ask for reconsideration on that and I call on the Minister to make a statement on it because of the extremely debilitati…

I join with my colleagues in our outright condemnation of this approach by the Government in relation to this legislation. The Government is going to be the lead negotiator on behalf of the European Union at both the climate Conference of the Parties, COP, and the biodiversity COP later this year. We have zero credibility in asking other member states to step up or in trying to show leadership from a European perspective when we are disapplying our climate Act every time we want to, be it the Critical Infrastructur…

Tá an chéad ábhar eile in ainm an tSeanadóra Cosgrove. Ní mór dúinn fanacht leis an Aire Stáit.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Christopher O'Sullivan.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit.