Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like the other Senators, I congratulate the ladies team. Maybe the men could learn something from them in that sphere, as in every other sphere. I support Senator Brennan's comments on bankers' salaries. The only bank in Iceland that did not fail was governed by a lady. We should widen the debate to gender experience worldwide and how it is a valuable asset not only in sport but in every sphere. It is a lesson well learned and well taken.

There must be something in the Coghlan gene but we are about to throw away and destroy 1,000 samples in the national archive of the heel prick test taken from every baby born in every hospital. Iceland, Norway and Sweden preserve these samples for 1,000 years. Why do they do this? They do so because of the valuable genetic material stored in that system. It has been used in the past to confirm that Ireland has the highest frequency of haemochromatosis. It has been used for various other things, including identifying vulnerability to sudden adult death syndrome. All of this will be lost. I am asking for a debate on this issue before it is too late. The samples have not been destroyed yet. Professor John Crowe, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, has called for the samples to be saved from destruction because they are a valuable and precious resource for future genetic studies on the Irish population. Why are we doing it? It is not just being done for fun, obviously. In 2011, implied consent was agreed-----