I thank the Minister of State for his response. I want to drive home my message about the machinery. As I said, if an office was operating with a photocopier that was not working to the proper standard, it would get rid of it. This is life-saving technology. I want to know what is going on in procurement and I want to be a part of the national cancer strategy. I want to be a part of what is going on. I am a stakeholder. People who are sick or dying are sharing their stories because they know what a harsh illness ca…

I welcome back the Minister of State, Deputy Kieran O'Donnell.

I welcome to the Gallery a group of students and their teachers from the Harold School, Glasthule. They are guests of the Minister, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. As is customary in Seanad Éireann, there will be no homework for the students today. I hope they really enjoy their visit to Leinster House.

I thank the Minister of State.

I want to speak about the area my family are originally from, namely, Bohernabreena. Less than a ten-minute drive from The Square, you enter a place that has a proud agricultural heritage and some of the richest natural landscape. It is just so beautiful. Its farmlands, rivers, waterworks and mountainous surroundings are not just a part of our local economy, but a part of our identity and a way of life. It frustrates and annoys me that this beauty is being damaged by the ongoing scourge of fly-tipping. Illegal dump…

Anyone who watched "The Late Late Show" on Friday night will have seen an interview with two brothers, Jordan and Cian Adams, known as the FTD brothers. They are undertaking an incredible challenge in memory of their mother, Geraldine. They are running 32 marathons in 32 days across Ireland, or 33 if we count the fact that Jordan began this journey by running the London Marathon with a fridge strapped to his back. What a way to start this campaign. The mission is simple, namely, to raise awareness about and funds f…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I want to highlight an issue that was brought to my attention at a recent meeting of the health committee. In Ireland, over 160,000 people are affected by food allergies. By my own admission, until I sat in that meeting I never thought about the impact that a food allergy could have on people, how serious it can be and the difficulties they face. It is a serious public health concern. Allergies affect up to 6% of children and 1% to 2% of adults. They are chroni…

I thank the Minister for State for her understanding on this matter. I was struck by the lived experience of people who said they were not being reimbursed. If it was something that was not available and they were going abroad-----

Then they were opening themselves to allergens. As the Minister of State said, she had that similar experience on the plane. I would be really grateful if she could bring something back to the Minister on that and maybe we could it flesh it out and be a bit of help to these people, advising them on a way of possibly getting reimbursement for this.

I move: That Seanad Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft: Data Protection Act 2018 (Section 60(6)) (Scoping Exercise in Response to Requests from Dignity4Patients) Regulations 2026, Data Protection Act 2018 (Section 51(3)) (Scoping Exercise in Response to Requests from Dignity4Patients) Regulations 2026, Data Protection Act 2018 (Section 60(6)) (Children’s Health Ireland Inquiry into Spina Bifida and Complex Scoliosis Services Scoping Exercise) Regulations 2026, Data Protection Act 2018 (Section 51(3…

I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I welcome and support this motion. It is necessary and timely in light of the establishment of a statutory public inquiry into spina bifida and complex scoliosis services at Children's Health Ireland, CHI. The Minister of State spoke about the importance of lived experience. For these scoping exercises to proceed effectively, it is essential that the personal data can be processed lawfully. The legal basis for processing this is grounded in Article 6(1)(e) of the general…

Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

I thank the Minister of State. Before we go on to the next Commencement matter, I welcome the guests of Deputy Ardagh, the children from School Eoin in Crumlin.

I thank the Minister of State for coming in today. I raise the issue of the need for her to set out clearly what is being done to improve Internet access across rural areas. It is a real and practical problem for people in rural areas. In my constituency, an area called Bohernabreena is severely affected. Many residents and farmers there continue to experience very poor and unreliable broadband. This is now creating serious day-to-day difficulties. One serious issue that has been brought to my attention is that of …

I thank the Minister of State. I am glad that progress is being made. I will be making use of the email address for representatives to follow up because what I witnessed on Friday was chaotic. It showed terrible shortcomings for a rural area. I stood in a room with approximately 20 farmers who were suffering with poor Internet connections, which is a barrier to accessing the agrifeed system. In what other industry would you have 20 business owners who cannot access a basic service to carry out their work? It was ve…

I want to speak about givinostat and the current status of efforts to have this medication made available to the boys in Ireland who are living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, DMD. I will outline the timeline and where the process now stands. On 11 June 2025, I stood alongside parents of families at a demonstration outside Leinster House and we held a briefing in the audiovisual room to raise awareness of DMD. What politicians learned that day is that DMD is the most common and one of the most severe genetic cond…

I begin by congratulating the organisers of the 2026 Local Authorities Members Association, LAMA, all-Ireland community and council awards on what was a truly fantastic event on Saturday night. It was a wonderful celebration of the people and projects that make such a difference in communities right across our country. For me, the night had very special significance because South Dublin County Council won not one, but two awards. It was recognised for the best enterprise and start-up hub for WorkIQ, but most import…

I thank the Minister of State for being here. Dyslexia affects an estimated 10% of the population with about 4% experiencing severe dyslexia. In every classroom in Ireland there are children with specific reading difficulties. For some, mainstream supports are sufficient but for others they are not. Reading classes in schools provide specialised, short-term interventions for children with these difficulties. These classes operate with small pupil-teacher ratios, specialist methodologies and structured literacy prog…

I have spoken to the children, who have a lived experience and are saying they need more reading schools. I am not happy with the answer, if I am being honest. This is about two years of children's lives and getting them on the right road so that things can be turned around. I am dealing with one child who is under the second percentile, cannot get a place in a reading school and is getting slagged in the mainstream school. It is not good enough. Everybody's situation is different and requires a different approach.…

I thank the Minister. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Health Information Bill. Fianna Fáil welcomes and supports this legislation. It provides, for the first time, a clear legal basis for digital health records in Ireland and it is a foundational reform for how care will be delivered into the future. At its core, this Bill is about patients. It will give people easier and more meaningful access to their own health information, enabling them to make informed decisions about their health and their care. It …