I wish to raise a number of issues. In recent days there has been a series of actions throughout the country which have compounded the difficulty caused by the Government and previous Governments in shutting down rural communities, in particular the closure of Garda stations. In west County Sligo we had the closure of Easkey Garda station some years back and despite officials from the OPW visiting the location with me and members of the community, who had a project for community use, the infrastructure was sold for a mere €65,000 at auction on Monday. This has been repeated throughout the country. Another action is proposed in Keshcarrigan, County Leitrim. The measly gain of €65,000 on the part of the OPW is insignificant when we consider the loss in value in the uses it could have had for community initiatives. It also wipes out the potential for these communities to have, at a future date, the return of community Garda stations when resources permit. This is a retrograde step. I again wrote to the Minister of State, Deputy Simon Harris, on the issue this morning. I beseech all members of Fine Gael and the Labour Party to put a stop to this because it is wrecking rural communities throughout the country.

We welcome the White Paper launched today by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Alex White, on the future energy needs of the country and how we will provide them. Not directly connected to energy, it provides the community in Ireland with the opportunity to state - in a final way - that this is a country which is not in favour of fracking and is not prepared to gamble our tourism and agriculture infrastructure, and our clean air and clean water for what still remains an unknown quantity in the context of its impact on communities.

The main issue I want to raise is the health budget, about we heard this morning. Articles in The Irish Times underpin what we have been saying for many years, namely, that when the service plan for the HSE is published, it remains a bogus account of what lies ahead. Still we see - it surpasses even the terrible days of the former Minister, Deputy James Reilly - that the Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, has adopted a punditry and commentary role on health instead of realising he is captain of the ship and the one who is supposed to be driving the bus. He spoke on "Morning Ireland" and used phrases like "We projected this" and "We probably will not have enough money for that". Next year, under the fiscal treaty rules, we will not be able to have a supplementary budget of €605 million such as that which has been brought forward this year. Next year we will have to make do without. However, the budget for next year is only marginally above it. When will we have somebody in charge of the Department of Health who will take responsibility for the general management of it, budget appropriately for what is needed by the health service in the year ahead and acknowledge the crisis we are experiencing?

With regard to one crisis, in particular, we propose an amendment to the Order of Business to the effect that No. 15 be taken before No. 1 or at any stage today. It relates to the cystic fibrosis, CF, drug Orkambi, which, as Members probably know, has had huge results in other countries, with up to a 40% reduction in hospital admissions for cystic fibrosis patients. It is quite simply a wonder drug in terms of its effects and benefits. It would help at least 60% of the patients in Ireland. It is very effective for the most common CF gene alteration in Ireland, which is delta F508. Mr. Tony O'Brien, the CEO of the Health Service Executive, stated there is not enough money in the purse to provide this drug to people, without even considering the benefits we would have in reducing the number of patients. This is before the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics has even negotiated on the provision of the drug. I have been through this before, with Senator John Crown, in respect of access to cancer treatment. He and I were rubbished for our efforts to try to change the focus to the benefits to the patient rather than the cost per life saved, which is very different from patient to patient. We believe this is a retrograde step and we will put to a vote today that we take this motion and we will not agree to the Order of Business until it is taken because the cystic fibrosis patients of Ireland, their families and many people affected by this deserve better than somebody in the HSE in an ivory tower or a Minister simply saying we do not have the money to help.

I am sure the Leader will deal with the issue Senator Marc MacSharry has raised regarding the health service. However, I heard the same interview as the Senator and took a completely different impression from it. In fact, it was gratifying to hear in particular about the fall in the number of people in need of medical cards because they have been able to return to work. That was the most gratifying of all.

It enables us to invest more money in the other areas of the health system. If I remember correctly what the Minister, Deputy Leo Varadkar, said, the headline figures in almost every area are heading in the right direction. However, I am sure the Leader will have more to say on that matter.

I welcome the announcement by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, that he will be allocating an additional €8 million to local authorities to facilitate and support the meeting of the cost of the clean-up in communities in the aftermath of Storm Desmond. I am sure we all agree this is good news.

The environment committee's report is expected to be published today. It will cover, in particular, the issue of insurance that I raised yesterday in this House and the plight of people who find themselves unable to obtain insurance for properties that were previously flooded. I was somewhat disappointed by comments attributed to the Taoiseach to the effect that he did not believe it would be in the interest of the State to step in with regard to insurance for people who have been flooded. However, if we are to go by what is happening in a number of other European jurisdictions, we must realise there needs to be a backstop for people who find themselves in these circumstances. We must not rely on private companies to provide appropriate insurance for people in these circumstances.

I welcome the announcement that the number of unfinished housing estates has dropped by 75%. This is excellent news. With the flooding issue, it gives rise to the need for a serious debate on planning. The Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, has announced that agreement was reached at Cabinet level on Tuesday on the publication of a major package of legislative and policy reforms to the planning system, including the publication of a planning and development Bill that will set up an independent office of the planning regulator. That is most important and has been called for over a very long period by a number of organisations, not least the Irish Planning Institute.

I welcomed the statement by the Government that it aims to boost diversity in third level education. It is particularly unfortunate that significant groups of people are still excluded from third level education in spite of the fact that the participation levels in third level education have increased very significantly in the past decade. However, as the report states, nearly all young people from Dublin 6 go to college but just 16% of people from Dublin 17 or Dublin 10 do so. This is an outrageous statistic that needs to be addressed. The lack of student accommodation is a very significant factor, particularly for people from rural areas, in gaining access to third level education. I am sure the Leader, being from Waterford, is aware of this.

I do not know whether I have any time left but the Cathaoirleach was very generous to Senator Marc MacSharry. On a lighter note, I welcome the commission of a commemorative stamp in honour of the Irish war poet Francis Ledwidge who, unfortunately, after having survived the battle of Gallipoli, died in Passchendaele during the First World War. It is totally appropriate that there will be a commemorative stamp on the centenary of his death in 2017. I welcome the fact that he has been put back on the leaving certificate syllabus. He was on it in my day.