Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Regional Group I want to be associated with the best wishes for Deputy Whitmore and we hope to see her back in the House soon. I also thank Martin Murray for his 22 years of service in the House. Many Members may not realise the reason his boxing skills were headhunted in the House was because, in a previous Dáil, we had a colleague, former Deputy Joe Higgins, who handcuffed himself to one of the seats. That is why we needed Martin's particular skills and I wish him well in his retirement.

Children's Health Ireland has produced a national strategy for accelerating genetic and genomic medicine to build a strong national genetic service. That was launched in December 2022. We cannot do that without having basic laboratory facilities. When the children's hospital is relocated from Crumlin, the existing laboratory will remain behind. The Government has decided to redevelop that site and there is now no home for our genetics laboratory in this country. I raised this issue with the Tánaiste on 9 May and asked him where this laboratory would be based. He promised me he would come back to me but a month later I am still waiting for information on where this laboratory will be based.

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