I have to agree with the Minister. Children should be our priority here. As we know, early intervention is key. I have heard of cases, again in Monaghan, where a child of seven years of age had to get seven extractions done. There was no screening. That could have eliminated them. They could have put a wee filling in and helped with that process. Will the Minister make it a top priority that children are screened? It develops good habits and good oral hygiene for their lives. Therefore, I would make it a priority. …

I ask the Minister to set out the waiting times faced by people in Cavan and Monaghan to access cancer treatment, and to do so on the basis of the number of people waiting and the length of time for which they have been waiting. What was the longest period a person waited for treatment in 2025?

As we discussed earlier, the stress and anxiety that a cancer diagnosis can cause a person and their family is almost like no other. The fear and worry it can spread is excruciating. In Ireland, we are fortunate to have highly trained and passionate healthcare workers. We know that once people get into the system, they receive world-class care. Delayed treatment of cancer yields mortality. That simply is not acceptable. What timeline will the Minister commit to so that all cancer patients will receive the treatment…

Yes.

The problem is that Fine Gael outlined the White Paper, The Path to Universal Healthcare, more than ten years ago. It was supposed to be completely implemented by 2019. The Minister announced a policy of the same name, with Sláintecare 2025+ tacked on, only last May. In a lot of ways, the Minister is still waiting to deliver the plan that was announced in 2014 and due for completion in 2019. Only two months ago, after the Minister's announcement, the Irish Cancer Society sounded the alarm that cancer delays are cau…

But-----

I am just asking for action.

In the face of an ever more uncertain global environment, is it right that Ireland considers both how best we can be a constructive force for good as well as what is required in terms of our own security? At a time when the multilateral system is under attack from those who seek to discredit, dismantle or even supplant it entirely, Ireland should come to its defence. It is both the right thing to do and best serves Ireland's interest. The multilateral system and international law are the best protection that small …

What message is the Government sending to EU partners on our neutrality when, to remove the provision, it is citing that protocol as informing it? If the Government wishes to undo the solemn commitment it made to the Irish people during the second Lisbon referendum, it should place its proposals before the people through a referendum. It would have the opportunity to cite others as having abandoned neutrality. There are those who bang the drums for war, act as mouthpieces for the armaments industry and decry Irelan…

I welcome the Government bringing forward legislation to regulate the private home care sector. What is disappointing is that after five years, all the Government has to show for itself is this Bill regulating the sector. What was promised was a statutory home care scheme, which would be a better and improved version of the nursing home support scheme. Sinn Féin believes that people deserve to live in their homes as long as they can. The Bill falls well short of what is needed. It addresses nothing about access or …

I think I would be safe in saying that all of us in this House are supportive of strengthening safety regulations. Sinn Féin certainly supports updating the legislation. However, what we have here is a Bill that is emblematic of this Government. We see rushed legislation, despite the Government passing legislation at a slower rate than any other for a century. In the case of this Bill, serious concerns remain. Representative organisations have expressed concerns as to whether the legislation is fit for purpose. We …

Then the Minister of State knows how long it took farmers to get there.

That the Mercosur trade agreement has even reached this point is a result of political strokes. In the first instance, the supporters of the Lisbon treaty, including Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, opened the door to the European Commission circumventing member state vetoes.

Sinn Féin and others sought the Government to formally express its opposition to this deal and it refused. Instead, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael spoke of safeguards that we know to be worthless. The following year, the Government endorsed the reappointment of the Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen. She executed the stroke the Government parties empowered her to use under the Lisbon treaty and stripped Ireland of its veto. Still, the possibility remained that a blocking minority could be formed in Europe of tho…

Not a chance. That is, until the day on which the deal's passage was secured, at which time the Taoiseach said that we would vote against it, secure in the knowledge it would not have a meaningful impact. The Taoiseach is not opposed to the Mercosur agreement. He just thinks the Irish people are fools who will buy his cheap charade. They were working behind the scenes is what an tAire Stáit said. What a laugh. Sinn Féin's motion tonight gives every Member of this House the opportunity to lay on the table exactly wh…

It is from both sides of the Minister of State's mouth.

You are giving it to the energy companies.

Constitutionally required, a key provision of this Bill relates to capital carryovers. This allows Departments to carry over allocated but unspent capital funding this year. That is straightforward enough. However, a cause of frustration is equally straightforward and that is the question of why. We immediately know that these funds are going unspent because one of the Minister's ministerial colleagues managed to deliver to some works early or under budget. It was the Minister for Finance who oversaw the signing of…

The withdrawal of funding for medication blister packs was an ill-thought-out and cruel choice. It is disappointing that the Minister has allowed this issue to fester into the debacle we now have before us. I raised this with the Minister over a month ago, and her response, in effect, was to deny that there was or has been an issue at all until, that is, the public outcry became much too much. Pharmacists are being asked to play an ever more important and front-line role within our communities, and it is time Fine …

Blister packs.