I commend the Minister as she was central to this drug being approved. She met with families, treated them with dignity and gave them hope, and I commend her on that. However, it feels like groundhog day because I know that in three, six or nine months' time, another cohort of patients will be looking for another miracle drug. I have seen children regain their mobility from taking some of these drugs. That is what they do. The innovation the Minister referred to is phenomenal. Every year, corporation tax collected …

I raise the new school building for Coláiste an Phiarsaigh. To be clear, I taught there once upon a time. I was also a former student there for six years, so I have a vested interest in this relatively big school building programme. I am asking for a clear update. It seems to be stuck at the 2b lottery stage, which I know is frustrating for many TDs. A lot of these building projects are frequently stuck in this phase 2b. This is just another example. This school has a remarkable story. It opened in 1973 with only 2…

Unfortunately, I do not have my date. I get that we have invested an awful lot in infrastructure and education over the last few years. That is undeniable. I was struck by a couple of phrases the Minister of State used, including "affordability" and "value for money". We have all been in this House long enough to know that the longer we wait to do these projects, they more inflated the price becomes given the way the current market is. If we leave this another year, it could easily add another 10%, if not more, to …

My question is fairly straightforward. We understand the pressures that disability services are under right across the country. They are more acutely felt in certain regions and there are black spots around the country that have been well-documented in many of our clinics. There is a particularly acute problem with therapies in Cork, as the Taoiseach is well aware. A post for disability clinical lead for the country was advertised a number of months ago. My understanding is a number of people were interviewed, but …

I want to talk to the Minister of State about the Before We Die campaign, a grassroots, family-led campaign across the country. It deals with an issue that we in this country have neglected for too long, that being, not finding appropriate residential places for people with intellectual disabilities. Unfortunately, it took a number of parents in Cork to raise this matter, albeit the main instigator, Tony Murray, was based in Dublin. He started this campaign a number of years ago. I pay tribute to Sinéad, Janet, Lin…

I thank the Minister and welcome the initiatives. I spoke to the Ministers, Deputies Foley and Browne, in recent weeks and I knew that a plan was coming together. However, as many Deputies will know, I am a cynic in here. I do not understand how we are having this discussion in 2026 and how no one in the various Departments, but particularly the Department of disabilities, had a light bulb go off at some stage and realise that the Departments were not meeting the level of need. As the Minister of State read out fro…

I am not sure if the Taoiseach saw the "Prime Time" special recently in relation to rare diseases and patients' inability to access much-needed drugs. I know the Taoiseach is very familiar with the topic as he previously served as the Minister for Health. I want to bring up this issue again because we have given a commitment in the programme for Government that we will reform the reimbursement process. We really need to start that body of work now. If the Taoiseach had watched the programme, he would have seen Emil…

We have a budget process that we are all heading into at the moment, and we need funding for rare diseases and new drugs to be included as part of this budget.

I thank the Minister of State for coming in and taking the Topical Issue. As I mentioned to him a while ago, I might start by reading a letter I received from a constituent, who is a patient of one of the GPs affected by the issue I am highlighting this evening. He is a deeply respected GP: who has dedicated over four decades of his life to serving the people of ... [his] community ... [and he is now being] compelled, against his own wishes, to cease accepting Medical Card holders. The reason is not a lack of compa…

Like all good answers, maybe the door is slightly ajar there in the reply, "The HSE can grant an extension on a case-by-case basis, where considered necessary and appropriate, to allow a GP to continue to see their GMS patients after reaching 72 years." That begs the question as to what is deemed necessary and appropriate. I do not expect the Minister of State to have an answer to that given he is not in the Department of Health. Perhaps somebody could provide clarity on what is considered necessary and appropriate…

I thank all the nurses around the country on this day, International Nurses Day. It is only fit and right that we start our speeches in here by saying "Thank you", not just as a formality or a generic line in a speech but as a meaningful and heartfelt one. All of us in here have experienced healthcare at various stages of our lives or with our family members, and nurses have always been there to help us along those sometimes most treasured moments in our lives but sometimes the most difficult moments in our lives a…

I am asking this for Deputy Cathal Crowe. Will the Minister for higher education outline his priorities in relation to Erasmus+ in the current negotiations for the EU’s multi-annual financial framework from 2028 to 2034?

I realise that next year will be the 40th anniversary of the Erasmus programme and it has gone from strength to strength. Like the Minister, I know dozens of students who have availed of it over the years. I believe Ireland has sent more than 65,000 students since the programme's inception. It is a programme that we all support and would like to see go from strength to strength. The funding for the programme has increased to €40 billion now, which is far greater than its predecessor of €26 billion. However, because…

We know the value of the programme in terms of the student experience. People pick up linguistic skills and become more rounded students. It is proven academically that students who engage fare better in terms of their academic life and their job prospects afterwards. There is no denying how important the scheme is. I believe it was worth €14 million to the Irish economy in 2016 with 25,000 students coming here as well as their families who might visit them. In 2025 we received 44,500 students showing how it has gr…

I will take from the Minister's response that he is satisfied or somewhat satisfied that enough courses are being filled and enough graduates are coming through the pipeline. The Minister knows the importance of Cork. He outlined it himself. According to the Irish Examiner , we are home to seven of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world. Approximately 14,000 people are employed across Cork in those pharmaceutical companies. We are a hub for the global life sciences. Maintaining that position is imperativ…

If the Minister asks, he will receive my local knowledge. I visited a company recently. I will not name the company, but I would love for the Minister to visit it at some stage - maybe not this Thursday because I know his schedule is full, but perhaps at another stage when he is in Cork. This company employs 65,000 people internationally, 500 of whom are in Cork and based in the city centre. The vast majority of them are PhD graduates. I recently attended there in late January. A total of 80% of their workforce hav…

I thank the Minister of State. Cork Life Centre will be having its annual awards on Thursday, 21 May. We are all looking forward to that as well.

I thank the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, for coming to the House. It is rare that we get a senior Minister taking a Topical Issue, so I appreciate him coming in. I want to address the ongoing and worsening overcrowding in Cork Prison and the very real impact it is having on prison officers and staff, who are being asked to manage conditions that are no longer sustainable. Cork Prison has an operational capacity of 296 but the daily average number of people in custody in 2024 was 335, which rose further to an avera…

We are all aware that this prison extension is going to happen but I welcome the confirmation from the Minister. It is unfortunate that the plan for it to be delivered extends to 2031, which is the best part of five years away. While I understand that these things take time, I hope that if everybody puts their shoulder to the wheel, that could be shortened. I welcome the fact the proposal is to go forward for planning. When it comes to the design level, we will do what we can to work with the communities that live …

The Tánaiste will not be surprised that I am again raising the issue of rare diseases. In the coming weeks, RTÉ will be broadcasting a "Prime Time Investigates" programme on this topic that will highlight the difficulties patients with such diseases have in accessing drugs here. The Tánaiste was Minister for Health in 2017, so I know he is aware of this matter. Back then, he described the system as broken. The system has not changed one bit in the intervening nine years. There was a bit of transparency in the form …