Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and her husband on the birth of their baby boy. I wish them all the best.

This afternoon, there is to be a briefing by the Saolta University Health Care Group on the implementation of the recommendations of the review of gynaecological services in Letterkenny published last August. This briefing comes following a recent announcement that the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, is to carry out a review of governance arrangements for gynaecological services at Letterkenny University Hospital. This review is timely. We can all agree that gynaecological services need to be improved and the waiting times for diagnosis, treatment and consultation reduced.

I also note the excellent recommendations given by the Citizens' Assembly last weekend on the issue of gender equality. Among its many recommendations were that maternity leave should be introduced for all elected representatives, that lone parents should get the same total period of parental leave as couples, that childcare should be publicly funded, that we should move towards a living wage instead of a minimum wage by 2025 and that we should have a right to collective bargaining. What actions will the Government be taking in the next year in respect of these recommendations?

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