Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as a chuid ama a roinnt liom. Tá dhá nóiméad agam. I raise the urgent access to the drug givinostat for children-----

Yes. I want to raise the urgent issue of access to the drug givinostat for children living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, or DMD, as it is commonly known. Givinostat was approved by the European Medicines Agency last June. Nearly a year has passed, the HSE is still reviewing whether it is going to cover the cost of this drug for children and adults across the State. What makes the delays around givinostat's availability particularly distressing - and I am sure the Minister of State knows this - is that it is onl…

With respect, that does not cut it for these families. These parents are looking at their children in a race against time. The case of Diarmuid is an example. His mother said that Diarmuid's brother, Nathan, has the same condition. Nathan has had access to the drug through a UK trial for more than ten years but Diarmuid is approaching the age where he is likely to lose mobility. She asked me to imagine being a mother opening the fridge every day to give her eldest boy this life-changing medicine and not giving it t…

I am a parent of four young boys. I would go through a wall for them. The Government has to allow compassionate access to these drugs immediately.

Seo scannal bothán rothar eile - €127,000 caite ar bhothán rothar in Ospidéal Chiarraí. Tagann sé seo ag an am céanna ina bhfuil Feidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte ag rá go bhfuil sé ag dul siar ar a bhuiséad, go bhfuil smacht caiteachais i bhfeidhm anois, agus go bhfuil moratóir ar earcaíocht ar fud chuid den tseirbhís sláinte. Deirtear le hoibrithe cúram sláinte nach bhfuil go leor airgid ansin. Tá folúntais nach bhfuil líonta. Tá foireann atá traochta. Tá othair atá ag fanacht. Tá páiste atá ag fanacht míonna i…

The public is sick to the teeth of this. The Minister stands there and defends €127,000 being spent on a designer bike shed at the same time as the Government is imposing a recruitment embargo. Does the Minister not know how tone-deaf that is and what the family whose mother is lying on a hospital trolley in a corner of one of those hospitals feel when they hear that, or when the carer who is sitting at home cannot actually care for people because there is a recruitment embargo that does not allow the hours for hom…

Front-line staff are at breaking point. These waiting lists are getting longer yet the Minister defends the indefensible. How does she square that circle?

That is the problem; there is no accountability.

What about the bike shed?

The Minister has not mentioned the bike shed once.

What about the bike shed?

Answer my question please, with respect.

What about the bike shed? I have asked the Minister twice now. How can she defend that?

I thank the Leas Cheann-Comhairle. He will indulge me in welcoming the páistí ó Scoil Náisiúnta Chnoc na gCaiseal in the Kingdom, County Kerry. They are very welcome to the Dáil today to witness proceedings as guests of Deputy Pa Daly. Tá daoine ag labhairt amach le míonna anuas go bhfuil siad ag cuardach cuidithe. Tá cuidiú de dhíth orthu. Tá siad ag rá nach féidir leo a gcuid billí a íoc. Tá oibrithe, teaghlaigh agus pinsinéirí ag déanamh gach rud i gceart ach go fóill tá siad ag titim siar. Maidin inniu, dhearbh…

With respect, the Tánaiste not understand the scale of the crisis in people's homes. Does he really believe that what he has just said here makes a blind bit of difference to any one of the 317,000 families-----

"Wow"? Listen to this. Does that make a blind bit of difference to the 317,000 families that cannot pay their electricity bills now? The Tánaiste is talking about extending the fuel allowance. That ends today. He is talking about stuff that has already happened. They still cannot pay their electricity bills. That is the problem. Doe the Tánaiste know what he is telling them? He is telling them to wait until next year's budget. The bills keep on rolling in, the prices keep going up, the pressure is mounting, the bil…

These families cannot pay their electricity bills. They need support now. What the Tánaiste has said does not cut it for them because he does not understand the scale of the crisis. That is his problem.

I do-----

The Government has had four years to target energy credits.

Let us walk down the street together and talk to ordinary people.