Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We all share the concern about the health and well-being of Ibrahim Halawa and want to see him returned to his family and back in Ireland to further his education. I have every confidence in the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, his officials and our consular staff who are doing everything possible to secure his release. In the past year and a half some 42 visits have been made to him in prison in Egypt.I believe this issue will be resolved through diplomacy. I certainly believe that grandstanding such as we have seen here this morning is not helpful. I would appeal to everybody to work diplomatically and to support the efforts being made by our diplomatic staff to resolve this issue and get this young man home.

I want also to speak on behalf of the asthma suffers of this country, some 470,000 people who live with this condition on an ongoing basis. We have the fourth highest incidence of asthma in the world and 60% of sufferers in Ireland have uncontrolled asthma, meaning they are at risk of an asthma attack. One in every ten adults has asthma and one in every five children, which is a frightening statistic. A clinical programme for asthma was adopted in 2011 but, to date, it has gone largely unimplemented. I call on the Government to include the funding for the first phase of this programme in the 2016 budget. It is estimated it would cost some €2.5 million and the priority would be to spend this money in primary care, given the majority of people are treated for their asthma condition by their local GP. I would also like to see a free annual asthma review for each person with asthma. Another issue is that asthma sufferers are paying a very high cost for medication, which is an area that needs to be addressed. At some stage in the future, we should have a discussion with the Minister for Health in the House in regard to the rolling out of the clinical programme for asthma and its funding in the 2016 budget.