Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish I could share the Senator's enthusiasm for that appointment. However, anybody who knows the newly elected Speaker will know he has set his face against any form of immigration reform, which is impacting Irish families and is contrary to consistent Irish Government policy. As such, I do not welcome Mr. Ryan's appointment one little bit, despite his Irish heritage.

I welcome Senator Mullins's call for a discussion on the credit union sector. The conversion of Members opposite to the credit union cause is rather belated considering that our spokesperson, Deputy Michael McGrath, has tabled several motions on the matter in the other House, each of which was defeated by the Government. We continue to seek a roll-back of the imposition on credit unions. Anybody who has a credit union in their area, as I do in my home town of Drumshanbo where an excellent new premises has just opened, agrees these restrictions are inhibiting credit unions' ability to expand their business. It seems crazy, at a time when we are talking about banks' failure to lend, that the billions of euro on deposit in credit unions cannot be used because of the new regulations.

Yesterday afternoon, thanks to the Cathaoirleach, I had the opportunity to raise concerns regarding the Gardasil HPV vaccination programme with the Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar. Later in the evening, the Minister dealt with a similar motion in the other House which was brought forward by Deputy Michael Moynihan of my own party and Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan. To say I am surprised by the Minister's attitude on this matter and his response both to my motion and that tabled in the Dáil is to put it mildly. I am not referring necessarily to the content of his responses, but to the dismissive manner in which he, as a Minister of Government, treated my Dáil colleagues and me on this issue. It was very surprising, especially given that I had considered myself, at least on a human level if not on a political level, to have a good relationship with the Minister. However, he was absolutely hostile in his attitude and seemed resentful that I and Dáil colleagues were raising this important issue, which Deputy Fidelma Healy Eames has likewise raised in this Chamber.

This issue is gathering force and it will not go away. After the debate yesterday, I heard from some of the parents of the unfortunate girls who have suffered as a result of this vaccination programme. One of those parents pointed out that when the initial programme was rolled out, there were to be three stages of vaccinations but, in the past 12 months, the HSE has reduced the number to two because, apparently, a number of the girls who have suffered side effects did so after receiving the third round of vaccinations. I intend to inquire about this and I ask the Leader to do the same. The clear implication is that the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, has set his face against any form of investigation of the linkage between this vaccine and the trauma, physical, emotional and mental, tragically being suffered by girls within days of receiving it. He refuses point blank, as does the HSE, to accept there is any causal link. My colleague, the leader of the Fianna Fáil group, Senator O'Brien, has been instrumental in bringing this issue to the fore, initially because it affected people in his constituency. It has since affected people in my constituency and those of Senator Healy Eames and others. Notwithstanding my having raised this issue on the Commencement debate yesterday, I intend to discuss with my colleagues the possibility of putting a full motion before the House in order that Members on all sides of the House can be drawn out on the matter. It is an issue that is not going to go away.