Sorry, I am answering the question. A workforce plan is in place. Recruitment for the new laboratory is an ongoing priority for the HSE. It is working with the faculty of pathology to build the required expertise. As already stated, Dr. Cillian De Gascun was recently appointed as interim director of the national cervical screening laboratory. A lot will depend on the pace of recruitment. It is a matter of high-level expertise. Thankfully, new technologies that reduce the capacity for human error have emerged for ce…

In terms of the clinicians meeting with their patients, I will follow through with the Minister and get a response for the Deputy on where that matter stands. That should have happened. It has happened in a number of cases. On the implications for other Departments, all Departments will take on board lessons learned from the CervicalCheck scandal and will follow through on best practice in respect of disclosure. The medical negligence report has been completed and more work is required in regard to it. I will come …

A good polemicist and a great propagandist can often conflate issues and spin them to his heart's content, which is what Deputy Boyd Barrett has done. However, he has done it in a very disingenuous and, dare I say, dishonest way in his presentation and his attempt to conflate the two matters. Suffice it to say that I have repeatedly stated in this House that housing is the greatest social issue facing this country and the Government's number one priority is to deal with it. The Minister for Housing, Local Governmen…

Free trade is the esprit de corps of this country. Since the 1960s, we have fundamentally changed an insular approach to an external approach by joining the European Union and embracing the Single Market. Why? Because we sell 90% of everything we make in this country, be it services or merchandise. We sell and export to create wealth and jobs in this country. Deputy Boyd Barrett's diatribe and his reading of the riot act to me is anti-enterprises, anti-jobs and against the best interests of this country. Is the Dep…

We export €4 billion to Canada, which is a country that abides by the same liberal democratic values as we do and which is as committed to climate change as we are.

Nothing in CETA can stop us-----

-----or can in any way damage our Constitution or, indeed, the values of the European Union for that matter.

No, it is not true, actually. The Supreme Court is clear. If the Arbitration Act is amended, the point of law that was raised can be dealt with.

Sorry, hold on a second. No country can be sued for adhering to the European Union treaty. It is daft to suggest it could be. It cannot.

Neither can any country be sued in respect of upholding its own constitution.

That would be the effects of the amendment to the Arbitration Act.

The Deputy should not scaremonger in the hypothetical manner he does and raise the one issue.

I have read about and taken far more substantive advice on this question than Deputy Boyd Barrett has and I can say to him very clearly-----

It is not your question, Deputy Murphy; it is Deputy Boyd Barrett's question. Have some respect for the norms of the House.

I will repeat what I said. An amendment to the Arbitration Act takes out any theoretical issue, which is theoretical rather than hypothetical at this stage. We are bound by European Union treaty-----

-----and by the decisions of the European Union treaty, as we are by our own Constitution. By the way, investor courts or mediation forums are part of every standard trade agreement, so you need to come clean.

You lot over there need to come clean on where you stand in relation to free trade.

It seems to me if your policies came to fruition, you would grind trade from this country to a halt. That needs to be called out.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is important in terms of the improvement and enhancement of our health services. It is very much grounded in recruiting expertise and personnel. Since 2020, a net 15,000 personnel have been recruited to the health service, which is the highest ever number recruited in the HSE since its establishment or indeed in the health service. Huge numbers have come in. Obviously, the population is growing. Services are expanding and in many instances are getting better. I was at a…

It is our wish that we will have this issue solved in advance of that timeline but that is still a matter for the discussions and negotiations. Following agreement we would intend bringing in a new contract hopefully to ramp up the recruitment of more consultants. On the RHAs, good consultations and engagement with health sector stakeholders have been held and more are scheduled. These include a workshop of the voluntary dialogue forum and six regional events were held for health service workers in Cork, Sligo, Kil…