I appreciate the Deputy's acknowledgement of certain measures the Government has taken. The Government has acted, as indeed has the Opposition. The Deputy made a very fair point about the State of Palestine today and the question of how one reconstructs a pathway to a two-state solution in the context of the appalling war and genocide being waged by Israel. I am very conscious of the particular family the Deputy mentioned. That case is illustrative of the absolute immorality of this war being waged by the Israeli G…

It is at that level-----

-----and at the level of the United States Government that the real leverage can happen to get Israel to stop.

On the bond issue, the Central Bank of Ireland is part of the European Central Bank. It is a constituent member of the European Central Bank. We all know that.

No, it does not act unilaterally on fundamental matters.

That is the reality of Ireland joining the European Central Bank. The Central Bank is independent of the Government, by the way. That is a fundamental point of central banks. Politicians and other political leaders rail against central banks. That is another inconvenient truth-----

It does not sell.

It is a very narrow area in terms of the prospectuses and whether that would-----

There are limits. If all of us want to be honest about this - I want to get the right phrase here - we are really on very narrow ground here.

We are, really. This is not as proclaimed. The Central Bank is not facilitating anything-----

-----or approving bonds or anything like that.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and the cases of Emilia and Hannah. Will the Deputy confirm that Hannah did not get the surgery?

Okay. I do not want to put too much of a burden on the parent, but the issue should be formally referred to the Medical Council, for example, or to the authorities in CHI. It is important now that the Medical Council takes a role here in terms of the professional regulation of its members.

There is an onus on the Medical Council to be proactive in respect of this issue. I am conscious that it is a random, anonymised sample, although, to paraphrase, the author says there is a preponderance to a smaller number of surgeons in this context. I do not know who the clinical director at Cappagh is, by the way, but I know who the clinical director was at that time. That in itself is a serious issue because that seems to be a shutting down of the multidisciplinary team. The multidisciplinary approach is a safe…

The Minister has said already in response to that the last evening that she is not ruling out going beyond 2010, but that the priority right now has to be followed through-----

Let us be sensible about it. The Minister has to deal with those where skeletal maturity applies in terms of the cases that have been the subject matter of the external review, which is about 15 years. For those over that, they are in a transitional programme of care already as they transition to adult care. However, the Minister has said that this can be looked at in the context of getting the first phase done initially. I wish to make one cautionary note that private healthcare does not mean unethical. Many peopl…

I thank the Deputy very much for raising this issue. I always marvel at the scenic beauty of County Kerry. I was down there on Monday at Fossa-----

No, at the economic summit. I had a very good few days in Kenmare early last summer when I was preparing for the general election. It sorted me out fairly well. Of course, we are all inspired by that beautiful ballad, "As I Leave Behind Néidín". It was written by a Corkman, Jimmy McCarthy, and made famous by Mary Black.

The Deputy is right to highlight the strengths and assets of Kenmare. He has been very clear about the need for funding for Kenmare pier. Local authorities have primary responsibility for the maintenance and development of the piers, harbours and slipways they own. As the Deputy knows, as part of the annual fishery harbour centre and coastal infrastructure development programme, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine provides funding to assist coastal local authorities in carrying out small-scale projec…

I will certainly talk to the Minister of State with responsibility for the marine and Kerry County Council to see what we can do in order to put something together. The funding might have to come next year, I do not know. It would be good even if the planning was done and there was an assessment of what is required. The Deputy is correct that Kenmare is a beautiful town. I like the way he referred to the great food and everything else that goes with it. I can confirm that. There is no question about it. Across the …