I rise today to speak for a mother, Michelle O'Toole, who spent thousands not on luxury, but on love. Her daughter Katie was faced with a harrowing surgery abroad where a full removal of the pancreas, spleen and gall bladder had to take place in London because it was not available in Ireland. Katie was ultimately forced abroad, and Michelle's only thought was to be by her side at this very difficult time. However, no support came from the State in terms of travel or accommodation - no guiding hand. What parent has …

I very much welcome the endometriosis clinical guidelines that were published recently. This is a very positive step forward for the thousands of women who suffer with this condition. One in ten women in Ireland is believed to suffer from it. Many of them suffer in silence. The guidelines specifically state that the clinical guidelines should be used in conjunction with the national framework. However, the national framework has yet to be published. It was due to be published last year. From speaking with the repre…

What incentives can be provided to GPs to engage with this process?

The framework.

I welcome the Minister to this debate on housing. He says he wants to deliver more private homes across the country. I agree that we need those houses, but there is another way. He has completely sacrificed renters in order to unlock this, but there is another way. I know people of my age across Mayo - people I play football with - who have planning permission and who were given prices by their builders, but they are not building. This is because of the cost of building. What has the Minister done for those people?…

Early intervention is critical. I want to ask about CDNT vacancies. What is the number of vacancies? What is the percentage of vacant posts throughout the CDNT network? What are the long-term and short-term strategies to address recruitment issues?

How many vacancies do we have in the CDNTs? What is the number? What is the percentage? What are the strategies on this? The Minister of State alluded earlier to the strategy being recruitment in secondary schools. Am I right in saying this? Are we to believe the crisis will not be solved for a number of years? What are we doing to entice the wonderful graduates in this field who are now in Australia, Canada and the UAE? What strategy does the Minister of State have in place to bring these people home? This is the …

I have to say if I were a parent listening to this I would be incredibly frustrated. The Minister of State has, perhaps, a mid- to long-term plan but very little to alleviate the crisis today. There is a window of opportunity. These children will miss their targets. They will be significantly disadvantaged. For some it will mean the difference between being able to live independently or not. We have many wonderful professionals abroad. They are living abroad for many reasons. The Minister of State has not answered …

This is the type of proactive solution and policy I want the Minister of State to address. These are wonderful Irish graduates-----

-----some of whom graduated with their basic degree in Ireland. They went away for doctoral training.

The HSE is not welcoming them home. Meanwhile we have a crisis today.

Will the Minister engage with me on this?

I very much welcome the childcare supports and subsidies. It is critically important that we reduce the cost. I also want to raise with the Minister a poll by Amárach Research in 2024, which found that 69% of mothers with children under the age of 18 would prefer to stay at home if they could afford it. In addition, 76% of mothers felt that their work in the home is undervalued compared to work in society. We know that women who stay at home to look after their children provide a very valuable service to their fami…

What about the broader point of childcare? Are there any additional supports for those mothers?

I welcome the very positive news that Ireland will become an associate member of CERN. Ireland has a rich history in research and scientific innovation. Indeed, the Nobel science laureate, Ernest Walton, who was the first person to split the atom, should be recognised here today. Membership will open doors for Irish researchers to take part in CERN scientific programmes and make Irish citizens eligible for staff positions and fellowships. We have an enormous amount of home-grown talent but as a small country, we ha…

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1: To Insert the following after "rolling planned maintenance will support this": "commits to: — reducing the turnaround time for vacated local authority homes to new tenants from the current average of eight months, to a two month average turnaround time; and — ensuring that local authorities be permitted to apply to the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant for the purpose of refurbishment of vacant council houses.". This amendment seeks to bring vacant council property homes…

I ask the Minister about Storm Éowyn and the preparations that I hope are under way to make the grid more resilient. I am sure the Minister is well aware of the difficulties, as is the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, in my constituency, which experienced huge fallout from the storm. Many houses have only recovered connectivity and landline communications in recent weeks. What steps are being taken to address and improve the resiliency of the network?

This Government, in fairness, is great at documents and plans but very poor on delivery. The Minister spent most of his time acknowledging the work of the ESB, which has done tremendous work, but I want to know how many meters have been cleared. For example, there are thousands of kilometres of ESB lines where trees are growing up through those lines. There are guidelines that state the lines should be 10 m minimum away from the felling line of the tree. That is not being met, and my understanding from speaking to …

Clearance.

It is depending on the tree.