Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Clifford-Lee would have a better chance than me. It is good to see the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. As always, she is very welcome to the House. She is a regular attendee here and when she addresses us it always makes great sense.

I commend Senator Pauline O'Reilly on proposing this motion in Private Members' time tonight. It is extremely important. As a male I do not have a full understanding of the intricacies of menopause and all of its various consequences but it is clearly extremely important and it is something that has been overlooked for way too long. The Government has taken women's health seriously. The first time we had a strategy on women's health was in 2022. It beggars belief that it took until 2022 to have a strategy. That has happened because of the commitments in the programme for Government and people like Senator Pauline O'Reilly, Senator Clifford-Lee, and others who have not let this lie. They have constantly campaigned to make extremely important changes. They are only incremental because there is a lot to be done. The funding we are talking about here should not be even up for discussion; it should just be available, end of story.

I have no doubt this motion will shine a light on the issue. It will remind the Government of its responsibilities and what it should be doing and what should be taken as a given. I was disappointed that the Department only got an extra €800 million in the budget. To be quite honest, it should have got far more than that.We are 11th of the top 15 countries in terms of what we spend on health. We are nowhere near what we need to spend on health. I have always advocated that we do not need significant tax cuts but what we need is significant investment in areas like health and housing. I sometimes feel that I am a lone voice articulating that but-----