You will be judged by your actions.

It is my job to call out bad policy. If I am right or wrong, let me be judged.

Their viewpoint was well represented.

What else is it?

You are not allowed have certain opinions these days. This is woke culture in action now-----

-----closing down the opposing point of view.

I will come before the committee if you invite me.

Too right it is.

I did not raise this for the good of my health. I raised it for the good of other people's health.

Thank you.

Bring me before the committee.

Apologies. I look forward to that invitation.

There are many issues that the Department of Health should be grappling with as we all know, not least a lack of oversight of children's healthcare, the scoliosis issue and the endless saga around the national children's hospital. There are a range of issues that should be top priority, but when one looks at some of things that have been prioritised, it should really make us all wonder. Last year, the Department of Health pushed through assisted human reproductive legislation with very little discussion, public or …

We need 6,000 GPs in this country to provide adequate primary care services to people. We only have approximately 4,500. The country has a shortfall of 1,500 GPs. Meanwhile, 30% of newly qualified GPs are emigrating, seeking better working conditions and opportunities. This haemorrhaging of doctors and nurses to the US, UK, Canada and Australia is a crisis. The Irish College of General Practitioners, ICGP, annual conference heard at the weekend that three quarters of GPs were not accepting new medical card patients…

I welcome the Minister of State. I commend my colleague Senator Keogan on bringing forward this important Bill. I thank Senators Wilson, O'Reilly and others for supporting it. I am often struck when I am doing the family shopping of what a long way we still have to go in this country in getting people the information they need about the products they are purchasing. It may have to do with place of origin of certain products. There is huge inconsistency if we compare products in supermarkets and so on and in the dan…

This day last week the name Robert Francis Prevost would have been known to very few people in this House or elsewhere. A week on, he is arguably the most famous person in the world as Pope Leo XIV. He has certainly relegated you-know-who to the position of only being the second most intriguing and interesting person in the world and that is probably no bad thing in most people's view. While the Pope is primarily a religious leader and, as such, his work would be beyond the scope of interest or scrutiny of Parliame…

In the context of congratulating our young friends from Birr a few minutes ago, I had a conversation with them, which turned to the topic of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, in which many of us have a great interest. We have our own very fine walking routes in Ireland, such as the increasingly popular St. Declan's Way between counties Tipperary and Waterford. There is also the famous Beara-Breifne Way, which commemorates the famous and ill-fated march by Donal Cam O’Sullivan Beare and his followers in the wake…

It is about nine years since we presented in this House the Human Dignity Award to Gina Herrity, an heroic woman who has been working in Our Little Brothers and Sisters orphanage in Haiti since 1993. She has suffered violence in that chaotic country. She wrote to me last week and what she had to say was terrifying. She is asking people to give attention to what is happening in Haiti. She talks about gangs destroying the country section by section, raping, plundering and murdering in horrific fashion, with thousands…

First, I commend our leaders - President Higgins and Mrs. Higgins and our Taoiseach and Tánaiste - on representing our country so well at Pope Francis's funeral. Everybody will agree this was a deeply fascinating pontificate and the late Pope Francis was a voice of conscience on many issues. He made us all, whatever our views, sit up and think on many important issues of the day. Ar dheis Dé go raibh sé. This would be a good opportunity for a revival or to see more of the church-State dialogues that had been going …

The Department of the Taoiseach. It did it before anyway.