First, I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on his new role. I know that he will do exceptionally well and will be very fair to everyone, which is so important.

Second, I convey my sympathy to the families of the Orlando victims. Everybody has been affected by the incident. It was an awful tragedy.

I do not wish to repeat what everyone has said about National Carers' Week. A carer's work is invaluable. It is so hard to learn, when one reads the figures and is fighting for people to have carers, that there is a backlog of 11 months in arranging appeals to have carers provided. We live in a society where people are living longer and we encourage them to stay in their homes, which is part of the policy of the new Government, yet we must fight for 11 months to arrange appeals to have carers provided for the elderly and others. This is not good enough. I ask the Cathaoirleach to call on the Minister to address this matter because it needs to be addressed urgently. There will be no point in us sitting here next year during National Carers' Week having waited a further 11 months for appeals to be heard. This is not good enough and unacceptable.

On a local issue, I represent Carlow as part of my role in the Seanad. I do not know if in many other counties there are respite centres, but the only one in Carlow was called Tir na nÓg and it catered for children aged from two to 18 years. As Senators may know, Carlow has a population of 59,000. Sadly, the centre was closed a few months ago, even though it provided a vital service for the people, particularly the children, of Carlow. I need answers; the people of Carlow want the centre to be reopened and I need to make sure funding is in place. I ask the Minister for Health to come here to address the matter.