Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is very appropriate. I thank the Leader for making that time available. All of us would appreciate that. I know Jimmy Walsh will appreciate it also.

I am sure every Member will join me in expressing relief that an agreement has been made in resolving the issues in Cyprus. It is welcome that deposit holders who have deposits of less than ¤100,000 will no longer be levied in the way originally proposed, but it is a matter of grave concern that it took so long to achieve the apparent resolution we all hope has now been achieved.

I hope that, when the banks open on Thursday, some modicum of stability will return to the Cypriot economy. Senator Norris and others have spoken eloquently on this matter in the past week or so.

I wish to express my great relief that the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, has ordered the HSE not to destroy the Guthrie card records, or newborn heel-prick blood samples, a matter that other Senators and I raised in this House in recent weeks. On the basis of data protection concerns, the HSE adopted a policy under which these invaluable records would be destroyed on 31 March. I am glad that the Minister has set up an expert group to review how best to retain these records while complying with data protection laws. It is worth saying that other EU countries have similar laws under EU directives but have not been required to destroy such important health records. Professor David McConnell in Trinity College Dublin, the Irish Heart Foundation and many other groups and individuals expressed strong concerns in recent days about the vandalism, as Professor McConnell put it, of destroying the cards. Will the Leader arrange for a debate on this matter when the expert group reports? It raises broader issues of data protection and the retention of health records. The Minister's decision was right, given the serious concerns expressed.

Labour's candidate in the Meath East by-election, Councillor Eoin Holmes, has been receiving a strong and positive reaction on doorsteps.