Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

Recently the HSE informed me that there are 25 unfilled speech and therapist posts in hospitals and special schools throughout the old health board areas in the city and county of Dublin. In fairness to the Government, it has allocated money for these positions but they simply cannot be filled. This year alone, four universities will produce 100 excellent young professional graduates in speech and language therapy. They will be trained to a high level of proficiency and are prepared to work in this country, but they cannot be employed directly because the Health Service Executive has stipulated they need three years of postgraduate training.

Will the Leader use her good office to contact the HSE to determine whether we can surmount this problem? There are unfilled positions in Dublin and throughout the country, yet some of our bright young graduates will head off to England or France, which is crazy. We need to create junior posts to allow them to engage in speech and language therapy to the benefit of Irish children and adults. There has been a huge vacuum in the provision of the service in recent years. Will the Leader contact the HSE directly on this matter to make progress thereon? She might have more luck than I would have.

Will the Defence of Life and Property Bill 2006, in the names of Senators Morrissey, Brennan and Minihan, be backed by the Government tonight? When a Private Members' Bill in the name of the Fine Gael Party was introduced to address this matter in the other House, the Government voted it down. It has done a complete about turn on this issue. The two Bills are not exactly the same but the U-turn is now virtually complete. Is the Defence of Life and Property Bill 2006 a Government Bill?