Every time I meet a family that has children with disabilities or additional needs, there is a common thread, which is that they have to battle every day of their lives. They are battling in some cases to keep their child alive and to get the best prospects for their child. They are also battling the education system, the health system and the State. We need to get to a point where that no longer happens. We are a country that is full of resources and that is putting billions of euro away in the form of wealth fund…

We did not know.

Nobody but the Minister for Health-----

No, we are deferring it.

Can we get a ruling now?

I am just looking for a ruling.

Can I get clarification from the Leas-Cheann Comhairle as the Chair here today? The issue is that nearly 100 health professionals have written to the Minister - I am not going to go into it. Therefore, it is really important that the Minister himself is present. We have a right to ask for a deferral until he is here.

Is that right being upheld-----

-----or is it subject to-----

It is being upheld.

Will this be deferred until tomorrow?

If the Minister is available.

I express my condolences to the family and friends of Kim Damti. Their heartbreak, grief and immense pain are things no family should ever have to experience. I wish Kim's family, and all of her friends who loved her, strength at these very difficult times. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis. As we turn towards the budget, tá sé soiléir go bhfuil an Rialtas seo i ndiaidh an tuáille a chaitheamh isteach ó thaobh ár seirbhísí sláinte. Cé nach raibh an ghéarchéim inár seirbhísí sláinte níos measa riamh, ní raibh siad…

What happened to the promise made by the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, of 1,5000 additional hospital beds? He announced it on three occasions. That promise has melted away like snow on the ditch. It seems that the Minister was hung out to dry by a Government that has backed his incompetence every step of the way. It is clear to everybody that the Minister is out of his depth. He has no real plan to transform our health services and makes it up as he goes along. What does the Government's failure to provide …

What land is the Tánaiste living in? He can walk into any of our hospitals any day of the week, any week of the year and he will see patients on trolleys or in chairs who have been admitted to hospital but cannot get into a bed. Why? Because the beds do not exist. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, told the Government that we need 1,000 beds right now and approximately 300 to 400 beds every single year. The Minister for Health said he was going to deliver 1,500 rapid beds. The Department of Health ev…

The Minister for Health acknowledges that the Government has underfunded health so why did the Government throw in the towel? The Tánaiste knows it has thrown in the towel.

Why did Government decide to do this and abandon all of these patients-----

-----who we will hear about in the weeks and days to come?

It is true.

And the Government decided not to increase funding.