That has been ruled out of order, unfortunately.

I think that is a missed opportunity. It is a pity the Minister of State did not go further, because we would presumably need additional primary legislation to have the management of chronic illnesses placed in the hands of pharmacists. It is regrettable that we did not. I regret that my amendment has been ruled out of order. I welcome what the Minister of State's amendments are doing, insofar as they go.

Is that the Minister or Department saying that?

Okay. That is good.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 10, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “Report on prescription-free oral contraceptives 9. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on allowing pharmacists to dispense prescription-free oral contraceptives.”. This concerns an issue that has been around for quite some time, which is the need to move to a situation where oral contraceptives can be provided off prescription by community pharmacists. I kno…

It is regrettable that the Minister of State is not taking this on board. She said the timescale is too short, but I am requesting that the Minister provides a report within six months. That is reasonable. I am not saying that a scheme has to start within six months; I am saying that we should have a report on it and I think that is a reasonable request to make. It makes absolute sense to allow this to happen. I do not know why the Minister of State would not at least provide a report. It is disappointing that she …

When will that happen? A lot of other health legislation is backed up that is supposed to be a priority. Is it the case that there is no timescale?

I will press the amendment.

I commend the Minister of State on bringing this legislation through all Stages in the House. I thank the officials involved. It is important legislation. While I would have liked it to go further, we await the report of the expert group. I hope when it is delivered to the Minister in July, he does not sit on it for too long and it is published so we can move forward in utilising and exploiting the huge potential of community pharmacists. We need a chief pharmacist officer in the Department of Health. There is big …

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on affordable electricity. Since the beginning of the cost-of-living crisis, spiralling energy costs have had a devastating impact on many families and workers. Many have been forced to make the stark choice between the various essentials in any family budget and trying to decide which of those essentials they will drop in order to be able to afford to meet their energy bills. That is no way for any family to have to live. In households across the country, some…

I will probably be done by then. I welcome this debate on the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2024, which I am taking in the place of my colleague, Deputy Jennifer Whitmore. I am disappointed the Bill has been drastically pared back, so much so that only seven of the children's committee’s 96 pre-legislative scrutiny recommendations are now relevant to the legislation before us. Extensive provisions on child welfare and protection have been put on ice. That is regrettable. We are told another Bill will be published lat…

The Taoiseach will recall that as Minister for Health in 2017 he committed to introduce a statutory right to home care. In 2020, he said the scheme was nearly ready and the new Government would introduce it. Here we are, four years later, and we are no nearer to having a statutory scheme for home care. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, admitted as much last week when she said the nut of funding that scheme had not been cracked. This failure to follow through on that broken promise has huge implications for the …

At the outset I would like to join with others in wishing Martin well in his retirement. His 22 years of service have provided an incredible record of helpfulness and professionalism. We all found him very good to deal with and always very supportive. I wish him good health and happiness in his retirement. I welcome this legislation, which the Social Democrats are happy to support. The transposition of Articles 10a and 25a of the amended motor insurance directive will certainly strengthen protections for policyhold…

I strongly support the call for a guillotine not to be imposed on this very substantial Bill but I want to go back to the issue of carers, which was raised earlier. In reply to Deputy Cairns, the Taoiseach quoted a lot of figures but made no reference to the level of need. Here are some more figures. Some 72% of family carers get no respite at all. Only one in four family carers get the carer's allowance. Some 50% of family carers have no choice but to pay privately for therapies, while the other 50% go on long wai…

Will the Taoiseach address the question on carers?

What about next week then?

Is the Taoiseach agreeable to a debate taking place next week?

I welcome to the Gallery a group of women from the Inner City Organisations Network. I am raising an issue that will be of relevance to them and many other people and about which I gave notice to the Taoiseach earlier. A charity, GP Care For All, which was established by a Dr. Austin O'Carroll, is in real difficulty because of changes that were made to the taxation of GP income. I am asking the Taoiseach to give urgent attention to this matter. A wonderful GP service has been provided in Summerhill Primary Care Cen…

I thank the Taoiseach.

The Minister has taken a reasonable approach on this. I endorse the point made by Deputy Cullinane. Speed is fine if people are in a hurry to get something but speed in addressing legislation, and especially legislation as long and very complex as this Bill, very often results in our having to revisit the issue unless adequate time is given for consideration of the provisions. Therefore, I think it was right that we took the time that we did on Committee Stage. It is welcome that the Minister has taken on board a n…