Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I rise to highlight the more than 35,000 nurses on the picket lines. As the Leader is well aware, University Hospital Limerick is in the news every day and has been mentioned in the House many times by various Senators. I call for sense to prevail and for both sides to come together and reach a resolution. Going into the hard winter season, none of us wants to face continuous strikes. Sense needs to prevail and a solution needs to be found, as it is not right that so many people should be out.

I welcome the €200 million investment by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in the region. On Monday, it announced that it would create hundreds of jobs in the pharma sector in the mid-west. It is good news that the mid-west is being seen as a counterbalance to Dublin.