I also wish to be associated with International Women’s Day. It is an extremely important day. It is celebrated more in other countries than here. That has improved in recent years and rightly so. I support Senator Ahearn’s proposal that we have a debate with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment specifically on the area of employment for people with disabilities. As Senator Ahearn rightly said the employment rate is just over 30% and for blind and visually impaired people in proper employment in this c…

I commend Senator McGreehan on tabling an absolutely outstanding Commencement matter. If such a scheme was in place, it would transform the lives of people with vision impairments. I was quite disappointed the then Minister of State, Deputy English, was not able to facilitate this when I organised a meeting. I organised another meeting last week with the Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection, Deputy Richmond, so hopefully we might see some progress. Well done to Senator McGreehan.

I thank the Senator for a very practical and sensible Commencement matter.

I thank the Minister of State. Before I call on Senator Ward to ask a supplementary question, I would like to welcome a group from St. Mary's school in Arklow, County Wicklow, to the Public Gallery. I hope that they have a very enjoyable day in Leinster House and find it not just enjoyable but informative as well.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, for attending the House. I thank Senator Ward for his Commencement matter.

I want to acknowledge the role of the Leas-Chathaoirleach in remembering our flag and the super work he has done in that regard over the years. It is critically important that people understand the background to it. I was at the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, BIPA, yesterday. It was a special meeting to commemorate the Good Friday Agreement and there was a lot of positivity and hope for the future at it. I hope that the deliberations the parties are engaging in will not take too long and that they will concl…

The Minister is very welcome to the House with what is one of the most important Bills that we will put through during this term. We have had Covid emergency legislation, and that was important, but this is critically important. That there was agreement to change the name of the Bill to the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Bill was very important because the Title of a Bill does matter. A Title of a Bill should clearly state what the Bill means and what its intentions are. The open disclosu…

Our group supports the Order of Business as outlined by the Leader. I welcome the Bulgarian ambassador and wish her every joy and happiness in celebrating Bulgaria's national day. I acknowledge the great friendship that exists between our two countries. May it continue and flourish. It is also great to see the British ambassador, Mr. Johnston, and Mr. Wilmshurst here again. We work very well with them. I am looking forward to a very productive weekend in Belfast at the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. The meet…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to the House. I am delighted she is here to take this matter. As we know, there is an increased number of people in this country on dialysis. We have seen the figure increase exponentially in recent years. This is partly due to people living longer and there being better healthcare options and opportunities available. There are quite a number of people in County Clare receiving dialysis. Some of them are in the west of the county, down on the Loop Head Peninsula and…

Indeed.

That is great news. It is not aspirational; it is imminent. Clarity is needed in respect of the timelines. I encourage the UL Hospitals Group to finalise its tendering process as soon as possible. I hope the Minister of State and her officials in the Department will fast-track the funding in order that the service can be rolled out. It would be great if we could get this over the line in quarter 2 or quarter 3. That would be a reasonable timeline. It is not that additional people will be getting dialysis; it will j…

I thank Senator Ahearn for raising that important topic for the people of Clonmel and the south Tipperary area in general.

Just before the Minister replies, I concur with Senator Byrne. I raised this issue on the Order of Business in the past week. The University of Limerick has put forward a very professional application. It was not long ago, just before Christmas, when I was flying to Poland and I met 60 students going there to train as vets. Of course, we would love to see them training in this country. I know the Minister is very committed to seeing that happen as well. I now invite the Minister to make his final response, please.

I thank Senator Byrne and the Minister for taking those three Commencement matters.

Today is Rare Diseases Day. It is a day when we reflect on what we have done as a society to help people who have rare diseases. Unfortunately, we are behind the curve yet again this year when it comes to rare diseases. It takes a third longer for people in Ireland with rare diseases to access drugs that have already been sanctioned and approved by the European Medicines Agency. It takes a third longer for people who have unique, different diseases to access orphan and new medicines that could be life-changing. Tha…

It is such an important topic and the Minister of State's reply was outstanding. I think of the great work my local pharmacist, Ciaran Curran, and his team in Ennistymon do, with such professionalism. There is such scope for extending the work they do. I commend Senator Gallagher on a excellent Commencement matter.

I want to acknowledge the phenomenal work that Senator Seery Kearney does for the people of Drimnagh in this House, week in and week out.

I welcome the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, to the House.

I thank the Minister for making time to come into the House to respond to this important issue. I congratulate him on the work he does.

Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia. We have to remind ourselves every day that the people of Ukraine are suffering beyond belief. Whatever we do in this country, we are doing it in solidarity with peace, with what is right internationally and with what is ethical. Whatever we are doing is still not enough and we can always do more. We should all reach out and extend the hand of friendship to people from Ukraine. Some of them have been living in hotels for almost a year an…