Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I ask the Leader to examine a report published yesterday by the Economic and Social Research Institute on the rate of caesarean sections in our maternity hospitals. This is an issue of concern with its implications for the health of pregnant women and their babies. I ask the Leader to examine the possibility of inviting the Minister for Health and Children to the House to debate this important issue.

I refer to Tristan Dowse, who is in an Indonesian orphanage at the moment. Will the Leader ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to apply to the High Court to have independent legal representation made available to this young, vulnerable Irish citizen whose rights must be protected as the situation changes?