I thank the Minister of State for being here. I wanted to have this discussion today because, like many others, I am genuinely concerned about the growing use of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas. Tallaght Tidy Towns volunteers, in particular Nico Crowley, collected 305 nitrous oxide canisters in January alone from just five locations. Just think about that for a moment - in one part of a community, in one month. The reality is that that figure is almost certainly only a fraction of what is actually bei…

I thank the Minister of State for the response. I do not really like to use the word often but I think we are in an "emergency" situation with this. Not to be dismissive of anything that the Minister of State has said, a fact sheet is not going to cut it with a 16-year-old or a 17-year-old. We need to reach young people. Given that something so easily available can cause spinal cord damage, we need immediate action on this. We do not want a tragedy. I do not want to wake up and read on the front page of a paper tha…

I thank the Minister of State for being here and thank Senator Conway, who spoke brilliantly. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and about the shingles vaccination programme. Fianna Fáil welcomes the debate and we note that the Government is not opposing the motion. That reflects a shared understanding across this House of the seriousness of shingles and its impact, particularly on older people and those who are immunocompromised. It is not a minor condition. It is caused by the same virus, as was sa…

As we all know, today is world cancer day. Earlier on, I attended the launch of the cancer dashboard for Ireland prepared by the Swedish Institute for Health Economics. The report made some very good points and is a really interesting read. However, today, something unexpected happened to me. At the launch, I came face to face with my oncologist from 12 years ago, Professor John Kennedy, and I had not seen him in over ten years. Seeing him again today was genuinely emotional and it was so random that it was on worl…

Before I call the next speaker I want to welcome to the Public Gallery my dear friends, the lost boys, also known as the Dragon walking club. This group of people are very close friends of mine and they have raised tens of thousands of euro for numerous local and national charities. Alongside our good friends in Kerry, we do annual walks. I think everyone here has contributed at some point and has heard of this group. It is an honour to have them in here today and we will have a good night tonight. Senator Sarah O'…

I welcome this debate on genetic and genomic medicine and I commend the proposers for bringing forward a motion on an area of healthcare that is rapidly transforming how we prevent, diagnose and treat disease. I find it fascinating. Fianna Fáil welcomes this discussion and the Government's ongoing continued commitment to improving genetic and genomic medicine services in Ireland. Our vision is clear. We want a patient and family-centred genetics and genomics service aligned with the principles of Sláintecare, parti…

I commend Senator Boyhan who in his caring nature has been very clear with regard to this Bill and making sure that facilities are properly monitored. I commend the Minister of State because unannounced visits are very important. I have learned something in this discussion. I would have been right behind the idea of unannounced visits. When people do not know when they are going to be inspected, they work to a standard and we cannot let it slip. I did not think through the follow-up where they are working together.…

When Senator Ryan referenced a lack of funding for certain organisations, maybe they have not gone about getting the funding or applying for funding in the manner it is supposed to be applied for. Sometimes, I get queries from people saying that their organisations are not get any funding, and when I ask if they have applied for it, they might not have. I ask if they have a bank account, and they reply that they do not because theirs is only an informal group. If we were handing out money informally, we would be he…

It has to be done the right way. I liked the Senator's story about people going to sing, but maybe if they reached out to the Minister of State and the Departments, they could be talked through how to acquire funding. Unless they were refused funding, then we could look at why they were refused funding. I commend the amount of money being put into Jigsaw. Yesterday, Jigsaw appeared before us at the health committee. What an organisation. There are very short waiting times to get an appointment with Jigsaw. When I w…

It has been said that we have spent about 19 hours discussing this, and I think it was hours well spent. It was not a hardship for me, being honest. I have learned a lot about the other Senators in the room. I do not think we are too different. We want the best for people in Ireland because mental health is everybody's health. It is good to get to where we are today and we will be back in March. I cannot top Senator Boyhan. I do not think he omitted anyone from his acknowledgments and thanks, so I echo whom he has …

Next Tuesday.

Next Wednesday at 2 p.m.

I am glad to hear the Minister of State has hit the road and is visiting the various CAMHS teams, because to acknowledge that there is a disparity between certain CAMHS teams is very valid. Today, in the health committee, one thing that struck me was that Jigsaw said that some CAMHS teams do not accept referrals from it, but others do. That is wrong. It is almost a postcode lottery as regards where accepts referrals. I was not aware the Minister of State had hit the road on it, but I am happy she has and I am glad …

Before we move on, can I ask a quick question? Would it be possible for us to come in slightly earlier and start at 12 noon tomorrow? A break is scheduled.

Over the weekend, I received the heartbreaking news that Ziva Cussen had passed away. She was just 24 years old. Ziva visited the Seanad on a number of occasions and was present when we held a debate on breast cancer services. It was her strong belief that the system must do better for young women. Ziva was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer at just 21 years of age. I first met her in February and we spoke at length about diagnosis, treatment and the realities of living with breast cancer at such a young age. Fro…

I commend Senator Boyhan on emphasising the rights and welfare of children in the context of this matter. I wish to speak about children being put into adult services or wards in emergency circumstances. The picture I am have in my head is of a 12-year-old in a ward with 50-year-olds. I accept that it does not happen like that; it is an emergency reaction. There were two 17-year-olds in a private room on their own.

We have spoken about the aspirations for this Bill. The bar should be very high, as the Minister of State said. What strikes me is what was said about recovery. We want to see people getting better. We want to see them recovering and returning to their lives. We want them to go back to their communities and families and living their lives again. That is what lies at the core of this matter, and it is what struck me during the debate. I commend those who did so on raising concerns about this. I also think as a paren…

Just speaking on the issue of a child being put into an adult facility, what is age-appropriate? I just want to address that. If they are in an adult facility for a very short time, under the care of nurses 24-7, in a room on their own, is that not appropriate for their age for a short space of time? If for one second they were going to be put into a ward with four people, I would be saying that is not age-appropriate. If they can be shielded from the other adults, let us say, are they not in an age-appropriate set…

I thank the Minister for being here today. In 2024, the previous Minister published the review of the enforcement of child maintenance orders. There were 26 recommendations grouped under three approaches, a consensus-based approach, a compliance-based approach and a deterrence-based approach. I acknowledge the Minister's work on the matter of child maintenance and efforts on the implementation of these guidelines. Every day, in every room we sit in, chances are we are in the company of a parent raising children or …

I thank the Minister for his response. When he took up this role, I knew that there would be movement in this area because I had spoken to him about it previously. He understood at that time how important it was, and it was something he had worked on prior to taking up his current role. In that context, I am happy with today's response. I am happy that he took the 26 recommendations seriously and that he has made certain moves, particularly as this was a priority for him previously. Prior to his being in this role,…