Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I ask the Leader to invite the Minister of State with responsibility for older people, Deputy Máire Hoctor, to come to the House for a debate on the issue of ageing, ageism and older people in Ireland. The front page of today's edition of the Irish Examiner contains an article on the rise in the incidence of suicide of older people in the country because of the closure of pubs. In the past rural life was based on agriculture. The cattle market is gone and cattle are brought directly to the factories. The milk is collected by tankers and taken directly to the creameries.