Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is total disrespect, frankly. I would expect more from Senator Bacik considering her profession.

Having said that, I wish to support what Senator Quinn has said. We are all shocked by the figures that emerged overnight about the number of drownings. However, I take this opportunity to congratulate Irish Water Safety. I come from a small town in the west. We have an outdoor heated swimming pool. My family has been heavily involved in Irish water safety for decades, going back 20 or 30 years. The organisation carries out a comprehensive system of training throughout the country, including in my colleague's county, Cavan, and in other parts of the country. The same is true nationally. The organisation uses lakes that are safe for swimming. Usually at this time of year it carries out two to three weeks of water safety classes to ensure people are able to swim. Notwithstanding that, I fully support what Senator Quinn said but I took the view that I should put that much on the record.

I share the concerns in respect of the medical card situation. Although it has been stated that the medical card will be withdrawn from those who are not terminally ill, I have had experience of people who have been terminally ill and who have been refused medical cards. I have had to intervene because of red tape and bureaucracy. The bureaucracy has required doctors to sign death warrants for patients rather than give an analysis or diagnosis of their condition. Still, it has resisted sending out the card. In one tragic case, by the time the bureaucracy got around to granting the medical card, the individual had passed away. It is totally unacceptable that there is now a suggestion that we will take it away from people who, as Senator Crown pointed out, are diagnosed as being terminally ill. I support that call and it is important that the Minister for Health should come to the House to clarify it.

A report appeared in this morning's newspapers which, I believe, will cause shudders throughout the nation. It stated that omega-3 supplements could lead to aggressive forms of prostate cancer. This was a follow-up study to a 2011 study. If that is the case, then it is vital as a matter of public information that the Minister for Health should clarify exactly the implications of the report for the hundreds of thousands of people who are taking omega-3 supplements.