That has helped young people and first-time buyers enormously, so much so that the number of first-time buyer mortgages is way ahead now of any other type of mortgage.

How do we get from 40,000-odd to 50,000?

I thank Deputy Stanley for raising this issue. He mentioned that Ireland is well over 100 years in existence as an independent State. There is a great book by Mark Henry, In Fact: An Optimist’s Guide to Ireland at 100 . It contains a great chapter on health that I invite Deputy Stanley to read. If he looks at what people were dying of in 1922 and 1923 and the average lifespan at that time and the position today, he will see that there is no comparison. There has been an incredible improvement in the average lifespa…

We have also developed a much-needed revolution in women’s healthcare in terms of see-and-treat gynaecology clinics and-----

-----fertility hubs and specialist menopause services. All that helps to gain greater access for patients.

We can see from the Deputy's demeanour that he is doing very well.

I again thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The biggest movement in the past couple of years has been the GP access card, the GP visit card, more than the medical card. I acknowledge that point. We have, however, reduced the drug threshold payment as well. We are also building up the public health system as per Sláintecare and Government decisions-----

-----which I think are, in many respects, extremely important in terms of the diagnostic hubs and the community-based model that has been evolving over the past number of years. It actually gives people very ready access to diagnostics and treatments in terms of not having to access the acute hospital system all the time. On growing college and training places, which the Deputy referenced earlier, as he knows, there was a big investment in 2026 enabling higher education institutes to deliver over 1,100 new healthca…

We have had a particularly significant investment in more GP places in our colleges and clinical placements thereafter.

I thank Deputy Lowry for raising a fundamental issue insofar as it affects the livelihoods of our citizens across the country, workers, those on pensions and so on. We rarely get opportunities to discuss the wider economy in this House. I was struck that earlier this week we had a significant investment by Intel of up to €5 billion in its site in Leixlip, and there was not a whisper in this House about it. It kind of tells us a story about the degree to which this House is divorced from the reality of economics and…

I appreciate the point. This is a pro-enterprise Government. That matters. I believe in nurturing and supporting companies and people who start their own businesses. Those people take great risks. In many instances, for the first ten years of a new company, they have to work 24-7. An issue we discuss with Enterprise Ireland is how to enable those companies to have capital to scale up. Part of our European Union Presidency programme is around competitiveness and giving a better break to SMEs in particular and giving…

We put a comprehensive plan together in terms of the broader area of special education. We also issued a circular and so on. That was an agreement with the trade union Fórsa at the time. The matter went to ballot, and the result was not positive. Government always stands ready to engage with the trade union representatives in respect of the broader picture. The investment in SNAs has been huge. It will continue to be significant, as will the investment in special education across the board.

We can, but I am not clear about the direction in which the Deputy is heading on that. Is she saying that we should shut them down or put them out of use-----

------with all the implications that-----

------would have for users of technology? The hosepipe ban is important but trying to juxtapose, having the big baddie over here and saying we should not have a hosepipe ban because------

I just do not think that is a valid juxtaposition.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which I dealt with extensively earlier in reply to Deputy Cullinane. The Minister is doing everything she can to expedite the convening of the rare disease technology group, to which the matter has been referred. This is very serious and urgent for all concerned. Some countries do reimburse it and others do not. The health technology assessment relating to this matter was published. If the Deputy reads that assessment, she will see that it proved challenging. We are not s…

I take the Deputy's point. The Minister for Health has sought a comprehensive report from Children's Health Ireland on one of the issues that concerns me, namely injuries to children arising as a result of e-scooter accidents. I refer, in particular, to head injuries, brain damage and so on. We have to assess that report when we get it as a factor in how we deal with this issue. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, will be bringing proposals to Government. We will have meetings next week in relation to this. We wi…

I thank the Deputy for raising the situation and how it personally impacts on Emma O'Shea from west Cork. Well over 200 families are impacted by this rare condition. It is particularly high in Ireland in comparison with other locations. I accept fully the impact and trauma on Emma's and other families. The Minister is doing everything possible to progress the issue and get the group established. There is a broader issue about the assessment of new drugs and how we do that. We have to have a scientific dimension to …

-----as per the exiting process that is laid down in legislation. However, I take the Deputy's overall point.