Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his team and the representatives of the HSE. I join with earlier speakers in hoping that the six-month period of the Presidency will be beneficial to Ireland on many levels. I note from the Minister's comments that he expects the priorities under the health heading will include clinical trials, medical devices, serious cross-border threats to health and tobacco. All of those, with the exception of the latter, will certainly be reported on at the conclusion of the Cypriot Presidency. They are all part of ongoing work being handed on to the Irish Presidency. Has the Minister given consideration to initiating a particular focus on any given area during the course of the six-month Irish Presidency? I commend to the Minister the whole area of rare diseases. This is invariably an area that is not addressed because of the small numbers directly affected by any disease. However, the collective impact of all the recorded rare diseases demonstrates that it is an area that needs to have urgent and particular address.

We would serve those individuals, their families and the wider community - not only in Ireland but also across the European Union - well if we were to take such an initiative.