I thank the Minister. When speaking to the group of people involved in this project in Galway, one of the points they made was that there are many institutions in the United States which, in the current climate, are looking for bases in the European Union. Ireland has this opportunity. We talk about the threat of tariffs and the difficulties in getting new industry here. We will hold our existing industry, but the concern is that down the road research and development will move away from us. There is an opportunity…

I want to raise the issue of the maternity unit at Portiuncula University Hospital. During his time as Minister for Health, the Tánaiste would have been very aware of the Walker report in 2018. There is a problem in the maternity unit in Portiuncula Hospital. I had an exchange with the Minister for Health a couple of weeks ago. The narrative being sold by HSE West North West is that this unit has failed in spite of the implementation of the Walker report in 2018. The chief executive of the HSE, Bernard Gloster, sai…

Tomorrow marks World Mental Health Day, a moment to pause and reflect on our nation’s mental well-being. I welcome the Government’s sustained commitment to improving mental health services right across the country. Next year, the total allocation for mental health will reach €1.6 billion, representing an increase of more than 50% since 2020. This is a remarkable achievement and a reflection of consistent, deliberate investment in the well-being of our people. It means more psychologists, counsellors, nurses and psy…

I acknowledge the Minister's bona fides in the matter of the maternity unit in Portiuncula hospital. She has acted at all times on advice in what she felt is the best interest of the safety of mothers and babies in the region. However, I want to ask her why the Walker report of 2018 was not implemented and if she will make a statement on the matter.

I acknowledge the mothers and babies who have experienced, at birth, sometimes catastrophic events. It is a small number of women but that makes it no less. I worked with the Minister on Portiuncula maternity unit on the premise that the Walker report had been delivered, but it manifestly has not been delivered. I do not believe the HIQA report. Last week, at the health committee, the CEO of the HSE, Mr. Bernard Gloster, said that the Walker report had not been fully implemented. That is the reality because all of …

We are not in a good space because the maternity unit in Portiuncula hospital is in trouble. For example, it was recommended by the Walker report that there be seven consultant obstetricians. It never happened. There were five at the most: three full-time, one on managed leave and one on managed sick leave. There was never a full complement. Someone second-guessed the Walker report, so it was never implemented. Regarding infrastructure, the recommendation of a theatre in the labour ward did not happen. Who walked b…

I will start with a quote: What we are doing in Gaza now is a war of devastation: indiscriminate, limitless, cruel and criminal killing of civilians. It's the result of government policy - knowingly, evilly, maliciously, irresponsibly dictated. Yes, Israel is committing war crimes. They are the words of Ehud Olmert, ex-Prime Minister of Israel. The devastation in Gaza defies human comprehension. Whole neighbourhoods have been flattened, hospitals have been reduced to rubble, healthcare workers and journalists have …

The new proposed peace deal is remarkable for the lack of Palestinian consultation. It has been presented as a threat, with obvious equivocation about Palestinian statehood on the part of Netanyahu. It is an anaemic strand of hope for a ceasefire, for the release of all hostages, for humanitarian aid and for the rebuilding of Gaza.

As both a legislator and a doctor, I cannot overstate my concern at the rise of vaping among young people in Ireland. What began as a tool to help adults to quit smoking has been transformed into a product designed to recruit a new generation of nicotine users. The industry has succeeded in making vapes appear harmless, fashionable and accessible and the result is a surge in adolescent uptake. The evidence is unambiguous. Almost four in ten Irish 16-year-olds have tried vaping and 15% of them use vapes. Disposable …

I acknowledge the Minister of State's exceptional commitment to his brief since he was appointed and his approachability at all times to help us solve problems in our constituencies. School transport is not a luxury. It is a necessity for thousands of families, including many in my constituency. Every school day, 180,000 children rely on the service, which is one of the largest logistical operations managed by the State. However, the system as it stands is too rigid and inflexible. When a child's nearest school is …

I wish to draw the Minister's attention to the lack of a policy framework and service infrastructure for rehabilitation supports for children with a neurological condition. She will be aware that the national neurorehabilitation strategy only applies to people over 18 years of age and there is no equivalent of community neurorehabilitation teams for children. That means there is extremely limited access to therapeutic supports.

As the Minister of State will know, in Ireland, 450 children suffer a moderate or traumatic brain injury each year yet the CNDTs do not have the capacity to provide neurorehabilitation. Moreover, the children's disability network teams cannot cater for children with complex neurological disability in areas such as spasticity management, orthotics, gait analysis, feeding issues, assistive technology, seating, neurorehabilitation vision and hearing assessment. The national model of care for pediatric healthcare recom…

I welcome the announcement of additional services in the community. We need to point out that there are gaps in the current system. Children are discharged from paediatric, neurology and neurodisability services in hospital at 16 years of age. Adult disability services, including day services, accept clients from 18 years and over and therefore there is a gap there. There is also a clear lack of care co-ordination for children with acquired neurological conditions. There is a critical need for case management and k…

Housing is the singular issue of this Dáil and this generation. The new planning framework has gone to the local authorities. What has been the response from the local authorities and what initiatives will the Government take to ensure its instructions to increase the rezoning of land will be carried through at a local level? The development of wastewater treatment plans, and developer-led wastewater treatment plants, would serve small towns and villages very well, as Deputy O'Meara pointed out. There is a pent-up …

Equal voices, equal actions, equal futures. I welcome the publication of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which is shaped by people who live with disability. This is a landmark moment. This is the first national strategy since Ireland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It commits this Government to a whole-of-government response to equality, participation and choice not merely as aspirations, but as rights that must be achieved. However, we must b…

I welcome the motion to establish the commission of investigation into the handling of historical child sexual abuse in both boarding schools and our schools generally. I fully support it. I pay tribute to the courage and resilience of the survivors who have campaigned on this issue. I remember the people who were abused who are not with us directly because of the abuse they suffered in silence, in a system they felt would deny them justice, vindicated in their belief by the abused who were denied justice. The scou…

This week, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have rightly emphasised the Government's strong commitment to easing the cost-of-living pressures on families, including the recent move to strengthen the powers of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to ensure fairness in grocery pricing. Given the extraordinary external pressures of recent years with Covid, the war in Ukraine and the rising global energy costs, will the Tánaiste outline how the Government plans to build on the cost-of-living supports alread…

Today, I speak not only as a TD for Roscommon-Galway but as a GP with over three decades of experience. In that time, I have witnessed the hidden trauma of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. I recognise what Deputy Connolly has said that in some way, the term domestic has minimised what in fact is assault within the home. "Domestics" were sometimes minimised because it was simply "a domestic" and it was treated in a different way than if it was a common assault out on the street. I recognise what the Deput…

Following the 26 June post-Council European statement, I note the EU position on Gaza, Iran, Ukraine and Syria. Ireland has led the EU in advocating for the beleaguered Palestinian people in Gaza and in the West Bank. The Taoiseach has called it genocide and forcefully decried the lack of action on the part of the European Union. There has been formal recognition at EU level, driven by Ireland, of the human rights abuses and a promised review of the Israel-EU association agreement. There is tentative hope that a ce…

The ongoing conflict in Gaza risks igniting a much wider regional war, an outcome that would be profoundly tragic and destabilising. Gaza remains an open wound festering and poisoning relations, not just between Israel and Palestine, but also between Israel and much of the international community. Ireland has made the situation in the Middle East a central foreign policy priority and we remain firmly committed to advocating for a sustainable peace through the realisation of a two-state solution. That a population c…