Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Humphreys has come in again this morning regarding St. Joseph's and addressed a very important matter. He acknowledged that my office and I have been in contact with the office of the Minister for Health. I am disappointed that a meeting has not been arranged for which I apologise. I will endeavour to ensure that a meeting takes place with Senator Humphreys on the matter. We have endeavoured to get a meeting. I ask the Senator to again allow me, after today's Order of Business, to contact the office of the Minister for Health and I will see what I can get out of that discussion.

I wish to say to Senator Murnane O'Connor that the Minister for Health is meeting the Irish Pharmacy Union today. I assure the Senator that all of us support the whole issue of community pharmacies.

I congratulate Senator Byrne on her stewardship of the mayoral election plebiscite in Limerick. It was a credit to her, unlike the Fianna Fáil Party and its leader who absented themselves in Cork. They played politics with the city of Cork and the future of local government in Cork. Disappointingly, the option was not passed in Cork but it was narrowly defeated in Cork and Waterford. In Cork, the defeat was primarily because the Fianna Fáil Party played politics. I commend Senator Byrne for the work that she played in Cork.