Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This morning on the way to the House I took the opportunity to call in to Punchestown, which is gearing up for a tremendous festival. The festival is worth €60 million in the local economy so it is very important. I wish the team there, including the chair David Mongey and the racecourse manager Conor O'Neill, all the best for the week ahead. I was there for the launch of the HRI strategic plan for 2024 to 2028. It is a very important and ambitious plan. When we look at the figures we see that more than 30,000 people are employed through the horse racing industry. It is a notable industry worth €2.45 billion to Ireland. I wish HRI CEO Suzanne Eade and her excellent team well with it. There is a particular focus on equine welfare, which I welcome. That will be very important as we go forward. It is an industry that is very important to County Kildare and throughout Ireland. It is important that the Government supports it.

I want to briefly mention a public meeting I was at in Allenwood last night with Councillor Daragh Fitzpatrick. There was a lot of concern about the sewerage system there. I did not need to be at the public meeting to be aware of the issue because I have brought it to the attention of officials many times. Allenwood is a small rural village which has grown in the same way as many other villages and small rural areas in Kildare, Wicklow, Meath and further afield. The sewerage system is not fit for purpose. There was an agreement to have three phases but only phase 1 was implemented approximately 20 years ago. The community is still waiting for funding for phases 2 and 3. Trying to get a timeline or guidance from Uisce Éireann is very difficult. I want to do a shout-out for this. I have no doubt there are many small rural areas in this situation. We need to do a countywide and countrywide assessment on the need to have proper water and sewerage systems in place. This is the very least we can ask.

Last week I met Gareth Landy from Kilcullen. He has Klinefelter syndrome, which is also called XXY. It is a genetic condition which makes young men infertile. If it is caught early enough, there is every chance their partner will be able to conceive from their sperm. Through a sperm donor Gareth and his wife have four-year-old twins and they are very happy. He is doing his best to highlight this issue. We speak a lot about women's health issues and infertility for women. I think Mr. Landy is right in that sometimes we put women through a lot of arduous testing and so on when the issue may be from the male side. We are going to do a briefing in the audiovisual room soon but I think we need to highlight the issue and support an earlier diagnosis, because help can be put in place.