Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator Swanick's comments about Dr. Selim. He is a Trinity College lecturer in Arabic and a spokesperson for the Clonskeagh mosque. I do not know how he is qualified to speak about medical issues, but his comments were absolutely disgraceful. RTÉ takes its role to provide balance a little too far in allowing someone like Dr. Selim speak about what is essentially the butchery of women. People have been working so hard around the world to combat the practice. Some 200 million women and children have had it performed on them. It is a violation of women. What this man has to say is an absolute disgrace, and I do not see the need for him to be given air time on this issue.

Senator Murnane O'Connor raised the issue of psychiatrists. There is a need to address the need for more psychiatric services for young people. I hear from friends of mine who are general practitioners that it is very difficult for young people to access psychiatrists. We should discuss this in the House because it is a very serious problem.

The main reason I stand is to raise the issue of folic acid. We all know folic acid is required to avoid neural tube defects, including spina bifida, and that 1,000 babies are born with spina bifida every year. Recent research has suggested that folic acid should be added to some staple foods in the UK, whether bread, water, milk or whatever else. There was a lot of lobbying against this because various studies were produced to show that excessive levels of folic acid could cause all sorts of harm. Much recent research shows that this is absolutely untrue and scaremongering at its finest. Despite huge awareness about folic acid among women, specifically that it is required if one is of child-rearing age, a surprising percentage of women do not take folic acid. It would be a very good idea for us to consider this. It was covered in the ancillary recommendations of the report of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, and the HSE was relatively receptive to the recommendation. I wish to raise it with the Minister in the House at some point soon.