It is now four days since the CHI scoping inquiry was published and the serious concerns of the families have not been addressed. Worse, they have been ignored. I want to reiterate why the families have these concerns. Their children, who have scoliosis and spina bifida, were repeatedly failed by the health service and the Government. Critical surgeries were delayed, sometimes for years. In some cases the delays were so long that the children became inoperable. Children were left in excruciating pain as the curvatu…

I read Mr. Farrell's report from start to finish-----

-----and I spent the past couple of days talking to parents and families who are furious. They say this is worse than they feared. They feel unheard. They said this has the potential to be a farce. The Tánaiste has to listen to them. I also listened to the Taoiseach yesterday, who said there would be more consultation. Meanwhile, the Minister for Health said she accepts the recommendations in full. Which is it? Will there be more consultation and change to what is proposed or is the Government accepting it in full?…

The majority.

I, too, would like to congratulate my colleague Deputy Hearne on tabling this proposal. It is an important one and an important debate. I am disappointed that the Minister did not stay to respond to the debate. We have had a good discussion. Time and again, Ministers do not engage with the substance of the debate in the House and do not stay to respond to the points made by the Opposition. Far too often, it feels like we are shouting into a void and they are not listening or responding to the key issues we put befo…

I normally do not contribute to these debates on justice and migration but I have come to speak on this issue because I am deeply concerned about the direction of the policies the Minister of State and the Government are taking. They have lost their way and it is deeply concerning. I am also deeply concerned about the anti-migrant rhetoric we hear on different sides of the House from national leaders. Migrants who come to Ireland make an extraordinary contribution to our society in so many ways. It is important for…

We need to discuss the proposed public inquiry into Children's Health Ireland, CHI. The families of children with scoliosis and spina bifida have expressed real concerns about what is proposed in Remy Farrell report. They will not accept a behind closed doors public inquiry. The Minister must sit down with these families and campaign groups immediately. The Government has one chance to get this right. We need truth, accountability and transparency. We need questions and answers with the Minister this week.

Since 12 September, LGBTQ people, organisations and activists in Türkiye have faced a co-ordinated wave of detentions, arrests, digital restrictions and public targeting as part of an organised operation by authorities. This crackdown represents the first mass criminalisation of LGBTQI+ people, activists and associations as part of the government's anti-LGBTQI agenda and a new round of operations is expected imminently. At least 117 people have been detained in connection with the operation, of whom 44 are LGBTQI h…

I thank the Minister of State for outlining the Government’s response, which is comprehensive. I welcome the Government commitment to keep a watching brief on this, because it is an evolving situation. It is a very serious crackdown on human rights organisations, lawyers and journalists in Türkiye. What we are seeing is deeply concerning. As I said, it is part of a rollback on rights that we are seeing right around the world. That is why it is all the more important to continue to advocate and defend LGBTQ human ri…

I apologise to the Minister. I missed her opening statement. I was down at the Traveller committee, where we are looking at the health report produced by the committee, which shows damning findings and extreme levels of health inequalities faced by our Travellers as a result of racism, discrimination and neglect. It was welcome that the two junior Ministers engaged on that issue but I think it would be good, at some point, for the Minister to engage with that report as well.

Yes. We might engage as a committee on that because a substantial amount of work and hearings went into that report. That brings me to the point I made previously. We get a lot of statements on the Dáil floor in relation to many issues. We had statements on pharmacy-related issues not too long ago but there are lots of other health issues. I see this in my work as Chair of the health committee. We get such a number of requests on different issues from Government and Opposition members to discuss particular topics. …

It is a related point about how we decide on statements, what kind of statements we have and the discussions we have. It is an important point because I feel strongly, as a citizen and an elected representative, about this Parliament, how we run the Parliament, how we make it more productive and how we serve the citizens of the State best. It is a great honour to be here to represent people and the time we have here is vitally important. Engagement with a senior Minister on these issues is really important and a Mi…

It has; that is great. There has been some real progress and that should be acknowledged and welcomed by both the Minister and her predecessor. It is important that work is happening and it is good to mark it on World Pharmacists Day. As we know, Sláintecare has a strong emphasis on enhancing public health and prevention and the delivery of an integrated healthcare system. Pharmacists have an important role to play in the delivery of these aims. When it comes to public health and prevention, they are already engage…

I will raise how badly newly qualified student nurses have been treated by the HSE in Cork. In June, these students interviewed for posts and were offered jobs in named clinical areas in CUH. In September, the HSE tried to row back on this decision in really shoddy terms. It organised two meetings with the students that were cancelled and then, at short notice of just five hours, it called the students before it and said that instead of getting jobs in named clinical areas, they would be placed on the bank. We acce…

Hear, hear.

I welcome the Bill. We spend a lot of time inside these Houses talking about other parts of reproductive healthcare and not enough about contraception, so it is really welcome that we are having a focus and discussion on it and are moving forward with changes. On the point in relation to the eligibility piece, it is important that we expand eligibility as much as possible, and at the older age groups as well. In a reply to a parliamentary question last month, the Minister said that expanding access for 36- for 40-y…

I move amendment No. 8: In page 5, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: “Report on prescription-free oral contraceptives 4. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on a proposal to allow registered pharmacists to dispense prescription-free oral contraceptives.”. This is an amendment looking for a report on the provision of prescription-free oral contraceptives. It calls on the Minister, within six months of the passing of the Act, t…

We are talking about the prescription of oral contraceptives as called for by the World Health Organization, as set out by the Irish Pharmacy Union and as endorsed by the previous health committee. We are looking for a report on that with the detail of the various elements, if more detail is required. It was from that call from the IPU, endorsed by the health committee. The committee previously wrote to the Minister about access to oral contraceptives. There is a letter in the Department from the previous health co…

It is important that we allow pharmacists to operate at the top of their licence and give them as much power as possible, and alleviate pressures on GPs. As I said, this is recommended by the World Health Organization and endorsed by the previous health committee and the IPU. That is the background to this amendment. Many pharmacists have private spaces where they do consultations about emergency contraception. Those spaces exist. It is one that we can maybe think about and have dialogue and engagement about in fut…

It is deeply disappointing that the Government has not announced plans to issue a State apology to thalidomide survivors. The Tánaiste said 2026 has to be the year we bring some degree of closure to these people who have been treated so badly. Time is running out. There are just 40 survivors left; this issue must be resolved. There are only two weeks until we go into summer recess. We need to have statements on the issue and to hear from Government why it has treated the survivors so badly and when it intends to ma…