Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

About three weeks ago, I went to see a play called The Ferryman in the Gaiety. It is an excellent play. It is about three hours long but it lays out in a bare way the trauma for families who have a disappeared among them. This trauma is generational. It is important we talk about the news last night that the disappeared commission has confirmed the body exhumed from a grave in County Monaghan was not the remains of Joe Lynskey. I listened to some of his family members who thought that, 53 years after he disappeared, they would finally be able to lay him to rest and have a place where they could gather and pray for his soul.It must be absolutely heartbreaking for them all over again. I heard one of the family say it was like he had died all over again. The family were very optimistic about having the opportunity to put him to rest, but, unfortunately, they have been disappointed once again. It must also have been very difficult for the family who owned the grave and had other family members. Of course, Joe is one of five individuals whose bodies have yet to be located by the disappeared commission. It is very disheartening and cruel to subject any family to so many years of hoping and waiting in vain. We must again ask if there is anybody out there who has any information that might lead to the recovery of the remains of some of the disappeared. We must say to those families waiting and hoping in vain that we are thinking of them.

Another issue I raise concerns adult immunisation. Two weeks ago we had the opportunity to visit the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Dr. Ronan Glynn moderated a session on adult vaccinations. We know immunisation is one of the most effective public health interventions we have available to us. It is vitally important for protecting the health of our population. We are, of course, very familiar with the Covid vaccinations and the flu vaccination. Those are the two most common adult vaccinations apart from the ones children get. Approximately 286 vaccines are in production now. We have quite a bit of information about the one for shingles. It is important that we ask the Minister for Health to come into the House and have a debate on adult vaccinations.