Thank you, Deputy.

The Deputy will have another minute later.

Thank you, Minister.

I again remind Members to please try to stick to the times. It is unfair on their colleagues.

The Minister’s time is up.

Thank you, Minister.

The Minister will have another minute at the end to reply.

I thank the Minister. I want to start by saying that I realise this is a very difficult and distressing, and heartbreaking, time for everybody involved and I commend the courage and bravery of all the families that have spoken out in relation to this matter. The revelations in the "RTÉ Investigates" programme about Cork University Maternity Hospital, CUMH, sending babies' organs to Belgium along with clinical waste for disposal has shocked everybody to the core. One of the most heartbreaking testimonies was when yo…

Okay.

Deputy Wynne wants to take some of the time.

As my party's spokesperson on children, I will focus my short time on children. We know there are 106,000 children waiting for an assessment, treatment or a diagnostic scan in a public hospital. The largest waiting lists are in ear, nose and throat and general paediatrics. I do, though, acknowledge the work the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has done on the assessments. I know that that is an area she has been working on. She herself acknowledges a lot of the difficulty. One example in my constituency is someb…

I thank Dr. Niall Muldoon and the Office of the Ombudsman for Children for requesting this discussion. Dr. Muldoon has generally been progressive in his role and his office is absolutely excellent in the work it does. We should take every opportunity to discuss issues affecting children, including the impact of the Covid-19 crisis and, in particular, the scourge of child poverty and homelessness. The pandemic has had an enormous impact on the developmental, physical and mental well-being of children in Ireland. The…

I commend Deputies Connolly and Pringle on bringing forward this Bill. Sinn Féin will support it. I feel a sense of déjà vu because we have had this discussion on many occasions over the past year and a half both in this Chamber and in the convention centre. As Deputy Harkin said, it is important we continue to have this debate until we get the situation resolved. I am always surprised, as are people you speak to who are not involved in this area, to hear there are people who still do not have a legal entitlement t…

I thank the Minister for taking this question. I understand and appreciate that it does not fall solely within his Department's remit. It concerns the guardianship status of children and ensuring their rights in the best interests of the child. Will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

Surrogacy was the reason behind me raising this. I understand that other Ministers are involved. The Department of Health is limited with regard to questions due to the cyberattack and it is important that I can raise this in the Chamber to keep children's rights on the agenda. Dr. Conor O'Mahony produced an excellent report on this. It is important that the recommendations in his report are looked at. It makes some excellent recommendations and Dr. O'Mahony is very well placed to look at this issue. There are diff…

I am very glad to hear that. It will be welcome news for families who have gone through surrogacy or are facing surrogacy in the near future. It is welcome that surrogacy is an option and I am sure we will see much more of it in the near future. On the report, the Minister has met with some of the families and advocacy groups. They are open to meeting with him, the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and any other Minister they need to meet. They get their stories across very well and I commend them on al…

This question relates to the review of the national childcare scheme, an issue I have raised a few times. Deputies are coming across continual discrimination against disadvantaged children under the allocation of hours through this programme. I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter.

I am glad to hear the Minister's comments because they address the crux of the matter. We raised this issue in May, and I have raised it a number of times since. Following that, some services that had brought it to our attention tried to get in contact about the review. They were led to believe it was a one-year review of the whole NCS, which was not looking at the issue of potential disadvantage. I reiterate that the cohort of children we are talking about are those who will not necessarily come to the attention o…

This is the point I was trying to get to. I believed the issue had been clarified in May but question marks arose again afterwards. However, the Minister has made it very clear that the issue of disadvantage will be part of the review and I welcome that. As I said, it is about the children who will, potentially, fall through the cracks, which is what we are always trying to avoid. I say this regularly, but this is particularly the case with early year and childcare settings. It is not just about parents. We are all…

Yes, I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy Carthy. What are the Minister's proposals to improve the pay and conditions of professionals in the early years childcare sector?