Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Thank you. My time is slipping away. I propose that No. 17 be taken before No. 1. Basically, this Bill calls for the implementation of a domestic violence register that will function in a similar manner to the sex offenders register. The Bill provides that a person convicted of the offence of coercive control is required to notify the Garda of their name and address and any change to those details in order to ensure that the information recorded by An Garda Síochána is accurate and always up to date. This Bill will be known as Jennifer's Bill as it is inspired by the tragic death of Jennifer Poole. I have been working with her brother Jason Poole. Many of us have had the opportunity to meet him and listen to the awful story of his sister being murdered by her ex-partner, who had actually done time before for domestic violence.

There are two other issues I want to raise. We spoke last week about the dramatic seizure of cocaine valued at around €157 million. I refer to it again this morning in relation to the illegal drugs trade in Ireland, the havoc it causes in communities and the heartbroken families at the centre of it all. In last week's Sunday Independentthere was a poll that showed that around 50% of young people admitted they had tried cocaine or use it on a regular basis. Some may not develop an addiction but we all know they become part of that whole circle of horrific drug crime. Some do go on to become addicted, with all the devastating consequences and havoc wreaked on individuals and communities that entails. We are hearing in many quarters about fentanyl, which is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. We need to have a debate with the Minister of State with responsibility for drugs, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, to discuss how we as a country are preparing to deal with this epidemic that is almost on our shores.

The last point I want to raise relates to the cross-border healthcare directive, which is a really important initiative that allows medical procedures to go ahead in an EU country or a country that is part of the EEA. A constituent I am dealing with got the go-ahead to go and have a cataract removed. While she was on the operating table, the surgeon told her that she needed have to the other eye done and could have them both done at the same time and would be reimbursed. When she went to get reimbursed, she was only reimbursed for half the amount of money. They are refusing to reimburse the other half. This is a huge amount of money. I accept that the surgeon may not have had the go-ahead but still did it. I am trying to deal with it. We need to have a little bit of flexibility around this.