Shane Ross (Independent)

I realise that this is not the Minister's portfolio so a detailed question would be inappropriate and unfair. However, the Minister's reply was not encouraging and when he says there is a Department, a council, a steering committee, the HSE and a sub-group, all in a few sentences, then we are not going very far. It is a giveaway that this issue will be submerged in bureaucracy. That is a little bit depressing for those who are suffering from osteoporosis and for the Irish Osteoporosis Society.

Even though the society operates in the Minister's constituency, I ask him to take the message to the Minister for Health and Children that there is a serious need for consistent funding for the Irish Osteoporosis Society and not just once-off funding. Can he assure me that he will do that?