It is a good day for the Seanad that Commissioner Hogan will address it. I welcome the opportunity for Senators to raise issues.

I call on the Leader to raise a matter with the Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, regarding his non-attendance here last week. He said he was not advised on time about a Commencement debate. This was untrue because his Department was advised of the matter on Tuesday. I have written to him to seek clarification on the issue. He effectively blamed the Seanad for his not being here to take a debate on Beaumont Hospital. This is not true as the Department got nearly 48 hours notice for him to attend. I am going to pursue this. I am aware the Leader mentioned he would also pursue the matter and I ask him to keep it on his agenda. Keeping that in mind, it might be useful for the Minister to know when we are having a specific debate on health. We have had a number of such debates because the health system in Ireland is in crisis. I want to raise a specific issue now. Members may not be aware that we have no pancreatic transfer surgeon in this country. Beaumont Hospital has had a vacancy, which has remained unfilled, for a transplant surgeon specialising in pancreatic transplants-----

May we have silence to allow Senator Darragh O'Brien to continue?

This is an important issue. We do not have a transplant surgeon who deals with pancreatic transplants. At least ten people are waiting for this surgery, but the waiting list has been suspended. Furthermore, none of these patients has access to transplant co-ordinators in Beaumont. They have been told that if they have an issue they must go to the accident and emergency unit. This is the last place they should go to, as consultants in the accident and emergency unit would say when told this. This is a serious issue and it has been raised by the Irish Kidney Association. The former pancreas transplant surgeon, Mr. David Hickey, was quite public on the issue a number of months ago. We are now being told the service will move to St. Vincent's University Hospital. If that is correct, that is fine, but the difficulty is that we have not been given a timeframe for the move and no surgeon has been appointed. A patient can transfer to St. Vincent's University Hospital, but if there is no surgeon appointed to do the work and carry out a transplant, we have a serious issue.

I have written to the Minister about this issue. It is one that cannot wait until September and I will probably submit it for discussion in a Commencement debate as it would be appropriate to raise it in that way.

Will the Leader use his good offices to arrange a debate on some broad health matters before we leave for the summer? The Minister has other stuff to do. When he comes to the House and takes a Bill, as he did last week, it is inappropriate for me to raise issues like this one. The Cathaoirleach or the Leas-Chathaoirleach would rightly say to me it was not relevant to the Bill and that I could not raise it. The Seanad can do a job here. We did a job a couple of years ago in regard to organ transplants where the Seanad was recalled for a specific debate. In some parts we got ridiculed for sitting, but the debate raised the profile of the issue and brought about some changes. The Minister of State at the time was Deputy Alex White and he attended for the recall. Therefore, I ask the Leader to address the issue and to arrange a debate.

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 17 be taken without debate before No. 1. Most Members across the House will agree, or should agree, that the proposed cut to the lone parent's payment is wrong. The cut is due to be made next week which will mean that the parents of children aged seven or older will no longer be entitled to the payment. I have listed, with my colleagues and others-----