We support the Bill, but we really need to get down to brass tacks when it comes to medical cards. I do not think there is anybody in this building who will not have heard of cases, some of which are very sad, involving people who cannot avail of a medical card and are in really brutal circumstances. I have a limited amount of time so I will go directly to an example. One of these examples luckily got dealt with but I have said here many times - even yesterday to the Minister - that it is a failure of the system wh…

We are talking about health.

I will be raising the issue again.

I will bring up the 14 other issues later.

Yes. I apologise, Leas Cheann-Comhairle, if I did not indicate properly.

We obviously need an infrastructure to be able to make a determination with regard to the threats that we face. Again, we are talking about hybrid and cyberthreats, and we are talking right down to what was mentioned earlier with regard to the plague that is organised drug crime in the State. We are also dealing with the fact that we have a genocidal slaughter in Gaza and the escalation there. We have had the effect of the brutal Russian aggression in Ukraine. Obviously, we still need our own independent foreign po…

UN agencies are warning of an explosion in child deaths in Gaza, on top of the situation we have seen already. This is an explosion on what has been already the unmitigated slaughter of the Palestinian people. We know Rafah is under threat as Israel makes its preparations. While we may welcome that the language of the United States has improved somewhat, I agree with many others that the likes of the US, Germany and Britain could put on some pressure by stopping the delivery of weapons to the Israelis. It is about …

We all welcome the €800 million in funding that has been announced. In my constituency, we want to see the Narrow Water bridge built. We know what is necessary for the projects relating to the A5, the Battle of the Boyne site and Casement Park. I even see proposals on educational disadvantage. Will the Tánaiste provide timelines? As I said, we all welcome the funding. We also welcome that the Executive is up and running. I do not usually listen to Joe Duffy's show.

However, when he dealt with a particular issue earlier, a proposal that was also brought to me by Alison McCabe was mentioned. It is for a reduction in the grant for post-mastectomy products for women who have been through breast care. This is an issue we need to look at. It is going to be highlighted by many people. Will the Taoiseach take a look at it? The grant is necessary.

Will the Taoiseach look at the other issue?

To use the Minister's language, we are dealing with children who have been left in inhumane conditions. He also said that he will not say that everything that could be done has been done. Once again, therefore, we are accepting that there has been abject failure. We have absolutely failed to deliver for some of the most needy of our citizens. Everyone mentioned the promises that were made by the then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, in 2017 to the effect that every child would be dealt with, whether they were af…

Will the Minister provide an update on the establishment of an interdepartmental working group with the Department of Health to examine and review the system for means testing for carer payments and related schemes? We dealt with this issue previously. We all know the issues around the thresholds. Anything that can be done to introduce some element of flexibility into the system and something that works to benefit those people doing a great amount of work for the State and for their families, would be welcome.

We all welcome the increase in payments and thresholds but we also understand that a significant number of people who are not on big money can be detrimentally impacted depending on where the thresholds are. I suppose that is why the Minister is looking at the interdepartmental working group. I understand that when people hear those sorts of terms, they think it is an excuse to do nothing but I have no doubt that there will be follow through. Did I catch it correctly that she is looking at means testing for her ent…

All right. Perhaps the Minister could give an update on the timeline. She said later in the year but perhaps we could have some sort of notion of roughly when the report from the interdepartmental working group might be available.

It is positive that the interdepartmental working group is going to happen. In fairness, the Minister put it better than I would. Mothers and fathers are doing not only their families but also the State a significant service. We have all met people who have been forced to change the nature of their lives because of the enormous work they have to do in caring for family members who have complex additional needs. That needs to be recognised and, as I say, I welcome the moves that have been made. We must ensure we kee…

I thank Deputy Healy-Rae.

Could the Minister outline the marketing strategy employed by Tourism Ireland to promote Brigid 1500 abroad, whether it was deemed to be successful, and will she make a statement on the matter? If I talk of my home town of Dundalk and obviously Faughart, we had an excellent festival of lights that was run by Dundalk Bids, Louth County Council and many others. It and other events that I attended in Faughart were really successful but we probably could have done more. I would like to get the Minister's view on that.

We can all see the successes that there were when I talk about Brigid 1500, whether it was in County Kildare or whether I am talking about County Louth and, as I said, Dundalk and Faughart. Tourism Ireland needs to play a far bigger role with regard to more joined-up thinking. None of us wants to get into a spat, and we have seen that from time to time. People in the general north Louth area got really annoyed when they heard RTÉ talking about Kildare being the birthplace of St. Brigid, or at least that is what the…

It is obviously disappointing that there was not greater involvement with regard to this content and the festival that was to be operated in Dundalk and north County Louth. Into the future, I would request that the Minister would take a hands-on approach to ensure engagement with Tourism Ireland. Other elected representatives from the area and I will follow through on this. We need to make sure that we do it together, and that we sell the entirety with regard to north County Louth, Dundalk, Faughart and Kildare. We…

I am asking this question on behalf of Deputy Munster who is dealing with a constituency matter. The Minister previously expressed a preference for direct Exchequer funding to replace the television licence. Will she provide an update on any correspondence, communications or meetings she has had with Government colleagues in this regard and will she make a statement on the matter? The public wants to see clarity on how this can be operated in the future.