Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know we need houses. I do not really have an explanation for the Senator, but as Senator Chambers and Senator Malcolm Byrne mentioned, we need a debate on the Defence Forces. I will see if I can organise it in the next few weeks. I was at a loss when that announcement was made this morning.

In response to the issues raised by Senator Kyne, we will certainly have a debate on the issue of GPs. I know their world has changed significantly in the last 22 or 23 months. Their workload has increased by 40%, which is significant, given that we have the impression that nobody goes to their GP any more, which clearly is not true. We definitely have a crisis not just in rural Ireland, where there are no GPs, but in urban Ireland, where there GPs but not enough of them to go round for the amount of people that there are. I will organise a debate as quickly as I can. I wish the Senator and the people in Rossaveel every success in combining what would be a great project on wind development along with the deep harbour. If there is anything I can do to assist the Senator or get information for him, I will.

Senator Chambers opened today's proceedings and spoke about her sister's interview on Newstalk. I did not hear it live, but went back and listened to it. It was powerful. The issue at stake is endometriosis and the fact that we have only recently just opened the first clinic in Tallaght for every woman in Ireland, who has to travel there. It is like other issues in that women are supposed to silently suffer and put up with it just because they are women. I am sorry, but we are not putting up with anything any more. I thank the Senator for raising the issue today. We will definitely organise a debate on that, as well as the issue of menstrual health in Irish society and how we deal, treat and support women, in the coming weeks.