Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I support Senator Mooney's call for a debate on events in Palestine and the Middle East.

I ask the Leader to schedule a debate after Easter on the issue of creche regulations. I anticipate that during the Easter recess the Minister of State with responsibility for children will publish a new set of regulations. I hope he does so because they are widely anticipated and needed. Rather than such regulations being simply noted on the Order Paper, I request the Leader to schedule a debate on them, as it is important we have such a debate.

We should also have a debate, as I requested yesterday, on issues around acute care services, namely, accident and emergency services and specifically on the policy on acute care. I ask that the Minister for Health and Children would come to the House and speak on those issues because my sense is that there is a good deal happening. We should have a role in debating those and other issues relating to them.