Departmental Strategies Dail Éireann — 2026-03-03 ============================================================ Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central Táim an-bháúil le daoine a bhíonn ag snámh san fharraige go háirithe. Níl an t-am agam é a dhéanamh mé féin i rith an gheimhridh ach, le cúnamh Dé, beidh níos mó seansanna agam chun snámh san fharraige i rith an tsamhraidh. In respect of sexual assault, Deputy Coppinger is not here, but I need the background of the case. I think the assertion was that in UCD, a student lost their place in medicine as a result of a sexual assault, which should not happen. I do not know the background to it but I would be interested in getting the full case. I will ask my officials to contact UCD in respect of this, because the dignity and respect framework should be observed and adhered to and absolute priority must be given to a victim of gender-based and sexual assault. Also, I do not understand how a rapist would be allowed to complete their degree on campus, if that was the assertion. Rapists should be in jail and convicted for such heinous crimes. If I could get the background of that, I will engage with UCD in the first instance because it was mentioned and I would like to hear its perspective on it. In response to Deputy Ó Murchú, the Minister, Deputy Dara Calleary, is preparing work on the cost of disability and has already initiated a public consultation on that. That is a sustainable way of dealing with the cost that people with a disability undoubtedly have. It is better to do it in a proper, measured, sustained way that is researched properly and evidence-based. That is the approach the Minister is taking. The Deputy has already raised the issue of the hearing, which I have already responded to. On the National Ambulance Service, I will talk to the Minister for Health to get the full background. If commitments were made to people, they need to be realised. It is a pity because the professionalisation of first responders and emergency paramedic technicians is the one area we have made great progress on. It is a very important area that has done a lot to reduce death and provide early interventions prior to someone being transported to a hospital. It is critical. I was involved in establishing it, in terms of the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council, so I have an interest in it. Deputy O'Sullivan raised the issue of water quality. My understanding is that overall water quality has improved but there is an issue in Carrignavar. There is an issue on the north side of Cork city in terms of water quality, which is quite poor. We have made a lot of representations to Irish Water. There has been some progress made in some areas. Again, however, Irish Water has internal reforms, which it is progressing in respect of addressing any issues that might pertain to Irish Water itself. Deputy McGreehan spoke about social prescribing and community health projects. I would be very enthused by those. They are very important. There is a lot more we can do there. The Deputy has identified some areas of the report in terms of single parents being under pressure and the area of mental health, where there is a greater need for not just clinical interventions or primary care and community care-based interventions but also broader supports and strengthening multidisciplinary teams in addition to psychiatry alone. Deputy Hayes raised the well-being framework. Again, he mentioned social justice. The well-being framework we have is a very comprehensive one. I would prefer if social justice inputted into that framework so that we would have one framework. Maybe this framework is too positive in most of its outcomes. That is the problem; we do not do positivity very well in this country --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-03/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:02+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-03