From the way he talks about the health service, one would swear he was not a player. He seems to get an easy time on radio, as if he were just one of the talking heads who are invited into studios to discuss the health service and not the man in charge of it.

I, too, raise concerns about Ibrahim Halawa. This is the tenth time his court case has been postponed. Some 493 other people are on trial with him at the same time. It is a mass trial. He has been held in captivity for over 852 days and has not been afforded a fair trial. The concern is about the Irish Government's activities, or lack thereof. As I have said many times before, Egyptian Law 140 allows for a prisoner to be repatriated to his home country before a trial. Although the Government and Minister said it could not be done, they silently supported a Law 140 application in February. They forgot to tell anybody about it. During the summer, they repeatedly said they could not enforce Law 140 or ask the Egyptian President to invoke it until after a trial. Now, they have admitted it could be done but have said it would not be the best possible course of action. Given the trend of what the Government has said about the case during the past 12 months, it is shocking that it has been inconsistent.

The Minister was here last week. The fact that the case is to be heard next Saturday is a cause of concern. There is grave concern that a death sentence could be passed, as has happened in other cases. The Government seems unaware that, unlike in the case of Peter Greste, an Australian national whose release was secured by the Australian Prime Minister before his trial, if Ibrahim Halawa is found guilty and sentenced to death, Law 140 may not be applicable, given that it applies only in cases in which the sentence can be carried out in the jurisdiction to which a person is repatriated. The Government does not seem to be concerned about it or aware of it. Ibrahim Halawa has been tortured and kept in detention for a long time. Last Sunday was his 20th birthday and he has been in jail since he was 17. The myriad UN declarations and conventions the Egyptian Government has breached is astonishing. More astonishing is the fact that the Irish Government has been so silent.

I join Senator Katherine Zappone and other colleagues who have deplored the fact that Ibrahim Halawa is still in detention and that his trial has been postponed yet again. He went into prison as a 17 year old and has reached his 20th birthday. However, I deplore the political football Senator Mark Daly is attempting to make of the issue. The Government is doing everything possible at the highest level. The Taoiseach has spoken to the Egyptian President and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is in regular contact with his opposite number.

It is clear that the Government is not doing everything possible. The Members opposite voted against hearing from Ibrahim Halawa's legal team at the foreign affairs committee last week. For the committee not to want to hear the legal team's opinion is unprecedented.

Our embassy staff and diplomatic team in Egypt are giving every possible assistance to Ibrahim. We all want to see him home in Dublin, back in education and with his family, quickly. I hope the trial will go ahead next Saturday.

However, we also have to be concerned about what will happen after the trial. For that reason, I believe the Government has done everything right by not burning all of its bridges. It is fine for an Opposition spokesman to castigate the Government, but it has to deal with the Egyptian Government on this case and the proper line is being taken. I hope there will be a very successful outcome in the very near future.

I join colleagues in paying tribute to everybody who has helped the many flood victims throughout the country in the past couple of weeks. However, we need to get the message out that towns and villages are open for business. Unfortunately, many people stayed away from shops in towns over the weekend because of a perception that every place was flooded. Traders throughout the country want to get the message out that, in the main, businesses are open.

There is a lot of work to be done when the floods recede. We need the 300 schemes in line for funding under the CFRAM programme to be expedited. As Senator Aideen Hayden said, we also need to have a discussion on the issue of flood insurance. It is an absolute shame that, where major moneys have been expended and good defences put in place, insurance companies have not recognised this. I was pleased when the Minister of State, Deputy Simon Harris, spoke extensively about this over the weekend and welcome his determination to address the issue.