That is a disgusting lie.

I very much welcome the opportunity to make a contribution to this important debate and to speak in favour of the motion. This debate offers the House the opportunity to speak not only on the detail of the pact itself but on the issue of migration more widely. EU migration is a shared European challenge that requires shared European solutions. EU agreement on the pact demonstrates that we stand strong together in ensuring that our asylum systems are cohesive, fair and efficient and that we work together on protecti…

I thank Deputy Doherty. I join him in wishing our colleague Deputy Jennifer Whitmore all the best. I did not realise she had taken ill. All our thoughts are with her today. Briefly, I want to congratulate the fantastic 4x400 m relay team of Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley that had phenomenal success winning a silver medal at the European Championships. We are all so proud of them. We have two gold medals and two silver medals now. It is a phenomenal haul. Hearing the young kids on …

A full investigation is under way. It has been under way for a number of weeks. The abattoir where the slaughtering is taking place is a regulated environment. I want to be clear that the animal welfare rules apply everywhere. They apply also in the holding area even if that is not the area where the inspection was actually taking place, which is in the slaughterhouse itself. In the holding area, the same animal welfare rules apply. What we saw on our television screens exposed by RTÉ's "Prime Time Investigates" wa…

I can assure Deputy Smith that any legal practices will be dealt with using the full force of the law. I agree with him that the highest standards must apply throughout the equine industry. I know he has not done this and it would be wrong for anyone to seek to portray what we witnessed last night on RTÉ "Prime Time Investigates" as representative of the wider equine industry because I genuinely do not believe it is. The Government supports the equine industry because it is a very important part of the Irish econom…

I wish to make clear that the funding that is provided by the State is primarily for thoroughbred horse racing, a very important part of our economy and a really important part of the fabric of regional and rural Ireland. I do not for a moment believe that what we witnessed on RTÉ's "Prime Time Investigates" is representative of the wider equine industry. It is important that we all put that on the record because many people in the industry today are very hurt and angry that the reputation of the wider industry get…

I thank Deputy Naughten for raising what is a very important issue. The first point I want to make is that the Government is committed to ensuring that patients in Ireland get timely access to new and innovative medicines. In my time in the Department of public expenditure and reform, this was an issue on which we consulted and worked very closely with the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, and his Department. We provided ring-fenced funding to ensure that new medicines could be made available in Ireland. Some 1…

This is a priority area for the Government. It is one that I am very familiar with. I know very well of companies, such as BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., which operates in my constituency in Cork and which focuses on the manufacturing of drugs for rare diseases, namely, orphan drugs. We engage with it and others in the industry on an ongoing basis because we want to ensure that people who are afflicted by very rare diseases and young children whose life expectancy may be limited get access to those drugs as quickly …

I thank the Deputy. First, looking to the medium to long term and the need to ensure there are adequate facilities and infrastructure at University Hospital Galway, as the Deputy knows, we are making progress on the delivery of major capital projects that are planned for the hospital. A formal project board has now been established. We are finalising a master plan for the development of the Galway city campus, which will enhance the delivery of essential healthcare services for the population. As the Deputy knows, …

The facilities at University Hospital Galway are not fit for purpose. I have been there in recent months and I am very much aware of the ambitious capital investment plans, which we will support. They need to happen because the scale of demand for services there is only going to go in one direction, and we have to ensure we have not just the staffing but the physical infrastructure to meet that need. That is why the new master plan will involve the new emergency department as well as the women's and children's bloc…

I join the Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Doherty and others in thanking Martin for his service over all of those years. He has been a thorough gentleman to everyone and I wish him the best in his retirement. Thankfully his boxing skills were not called upon here. It may have seemed to come close a few times across the floor but thankfully he never had to intervene in that way. I am not familiar with the detail of that individual case but I am sure the Minister, Deputy Martin, and her officials will follow up with RTÉ on …

It is a pity we will not be at the Euros but we will enjoy the football nonetheless. The Government is fully committed to supporting the development of football in Ireland. There will be an announcement of a record allocation of sports capital grants in the next number of months by the Minister, Deputy Martin, and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne. Football will be a major beneficiary of that. I know we have had a memorandum of understanding between the FAI and the Government. My understanding is that there is no…

I welcome the appearance of Paul Reid before the first meeting of the new Oireachtas committee which will examine and respond to the report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use. We await the outcome of that with huge interest and the Government will be prepared to make decisions arising from that. Drugs are an absolute scourge and we need to have a serious debate as a society about the prevalence of drugs and why people start taking illegal drugs in the first place. It is just so visible now in all parts of our c…

I apologise that I do not have that information to hand but we will follow up and make sure a reply is issued to the Deputy and, more importantly, that there is full clarity on the continued provision of what is a vital service. We agree with the Deputy on that so we will respond promptly.

I am not aware of the outcome of the Business Committee's deliberations but the Government is anxious to provide as much time as possible to debate the EU asylum and migration pact.

There are different perspective on this across the House and we acknowledge that, and the Government deems it is in Ireland's national interest to be part of an EU-wide system with an EU-wide agreement. The Deputy holds a different view and there will be ample opportunity to air those views-----

-----and tease out all of the issues-----

-----over the course of next week and the Whip will respond on that in due course.

The Deputy makes a very good point about how vital a role is played by people who come to our country to provide healthcare facilities. They include doctors, nurses and other allied health professionals. I am aware of the issue raised by the Deputy because it has come to me at a constituency level and I have followed up on certain cases. We are following up on a policy level with the Department of Justice. There are established rules and procedures regarding allowing family members to come here to join somebody who…

I think all TDs in the House will have had experience of dealing with individual cases where schools might have fallen just on the wrong side of the relevant threshold to keep an existing teacher or to get an additional teacher. My understanding is that it is based on a point in time. I think it is the end of September of the previous year in question but I also understand there is a provision where a case can be made by a school to the Minister and the Department based on the circumstances. For example, if there h…