We will stick to our iced lattes.

That is great news. I am sure the people in that area and the people of Ireland will be delighted to hear this very good news. Well done to Senator O'Loughlin for raising this important issue.

I think today's announcement of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use to look at the issue of drugs and what our approach should be from the perspectives of legislation, education, health and public policy in general, is very welcome. To me, drug abuse and the hardship and turmoil caused by it to thousands of families the length and breadth of this country is one of our biggest challenges in modern Ireland. This time last year, I called for the drugs assembly, as other people did as well. I remember tabling a Commenc…

Yesterday, the health unions, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, SIPTU and Fórsa. appeared before the Joint Committee on Health to discuss the abuse of and attacks on nurses and members of the medical professions. In 2021, there were more than 4,500 attacks on staff on the front line of the health service. Of those, almost 500 were investigated. Unfortunately, relatively few, if any, resulted in a prosecution. I want the Health and Safety Authority, HSA, to establish …

I was a student in University College Dublin when Niamh Bhreathnach was the then Minister for Education. I remember there was a blind student who could not get her books in braille and Niamh Bhreathnach landed out to the college unannounced and, needless to say, the problem was resolved. The woman was a doer. May she rest in peace. I rise today because it has been brought to my attention that Visa interchange fees have gone up by almost 1,000%. At a time when the Government is encouraging businesses to operate on a…

I very much welcome the announcement by the Minister for Finance on the extension of the temporary business energy support scheme. It has helped thousands of businesses in rural and urban parts of the country to deal with the exorbitant cost of energy. There is one flaw when it comes to businesses in rural areas that use gas and that are not on a mains or metered. Those on metered gas qualify for the TBESS. Those who do not have metered gas do not qualify. This is a clear example of discrimination between urban and…

Of course I should acknowledge St. Brigid's Day. It will be a bank holiday dedicated to my wife.

I join the Acting Chairperson in welcoming the group from St. Christopher's Services, a great facility in County Longford. I welcome also the Minister of State. This is a difficult and challenging subject and she is dealing with decades of underfunding. Trying to scale up quickly is a big challenge. When the report was published last year regarding the situation in Kerry, we were all quite shocked and appalled. The correct decision was made at the time, following on from the report, to examine the situation in the …

I move: “That Seanad Éireann: acknowledges: - the unprecedented level of spending on health in 2023; more than €24bn has been committed to our health services nationally; - that total health expenditure has been increasing steadily over the last decade; - the significant investment in the UL Hospitals Group; - a number of capital projects have been completed at UL Hospitals Group since 2020; in total, the UL Hospitals Group has received €94.81m in National Development Plan funding for the completion of these projec…

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to the Seanad this evening. His presence to address this critical Private Members' motion speaks volumes of his commitment to this issue. It is a critical for us in the mid-west. For some years people in the mid-west have suffered considerably as a result of the overcrowding in the emergency department at University Hospital Limerick. It is very appropriate for Fine Gael to use its Private Members' time to highlight the challenges and difficulties faced by people thr…

If Sinn Féin goes into government will it open the 24-hour accident and emergency unit in Ennis?

I just asked a question.

No.

Who cracked a joke?

Withdraw that statement.

On a point of order, where did Senator Gavan come up with the point that this was a joke? I never made a joke. I asked him a simple question. If Sinn Féin goes into government will it open the 24-hour accident and emergency unit in Ennis? That is a simple ask.

We need a few facts.

Let us deal in facts.

We will suspend proceedings until after the vote in the Dáil.

That is great news. Well done.