He is already informed.

Senator Ray Butler raised the important issue of quarries. It is important that we allow local authorities to be involved. However, the Minister with responsibility for the matter, Deputy Simon Coveney, should also be involved.

Senator Rose Conway-Walsh raised the case of a person in University Hospital Galway. I will be happy to raise the issue with the Minister for Health.

The Senator also referred to Apple. We will debate that issue next week in the House.

On NAMA, there is a commission of inquiry under way and there will also be a debate at the Committee of Public Accounts.

The Senator is also right that the crisis in the health service did not just start with the click of a switch. It continued under the watch of some of the Members opposite. When I hear Deputy Micheál Martin speak about the need for fairness in Irish society, I wonder where he was for 14 years when he was leading various Departments, but I will not open a political debate on that issue today.

Fine Gael has had five years in which to fix it.

Will the Minister for Health attend the House to discuss the issue?

I have asked him to come to the House and he has given a commitment to do so.

I commend the Green Party for its proposed legislation dealing with microbeads. I heard the Minister discuss the issue today on "Morning Ireland". There is a knock-on effect, about which we need to have a conversation.

I have dealt with the issues raised by Senator David Norris.

Senator Michelle Mulherin raised the important issues of renewable energy and energy efficiency. The Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, has been in the House and will return to it.

I join Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee in highlighting the need to discuss a comprehensive suite of measures to deal, in so far as we can, with the high cost of child care. I welcome her to Fine Gael's position on the squeezed middle and thank her for joining us. She is right to raise the issue. There is a group of people who pay for everything and believe they get nothing in return. They are looking to all of us-----

What is the Minister going to do about it?

I will come to that question. They are looking to all of us to give them some hope in terms of cost reduction and value for money.

This poses the issue of who should pay and benefit from the next budget. I look forward to the Minister coming to the House, I hope before or definitely after the budget, to discuss the very important issue of the cost of chid care. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, will be in the House during the next few weeks. We also had a pre-budget discussion before the recess. The Senator can raise the issue as part of the discussion with the Minister and the Minister of State. She is correct. As Members of this legislative assembly, we must make every effort to ensure the squeezed middle will be looked after in some shape or form.

Senator Tim Lombard is correct about the grain industry.

Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile referred to north Belfast. I join him and all others in commending the two mediators involved in the resolution of the parades issue. It is important that we all, no matter what our political ideology is, continue to work to bring together both sides in the North. We can see some normality returning in the resolution of the parades issue, for which I commend all involved. I agree with the Senator that it can be transformative and benefit the lives of people in both communities.

Senator Maria Byrne raised the important issue of the 9% VAT rate. In the post-Brexit era it is important that the tourism sector continue to receive a break in order that we can attract visitors from across the world to come to the country. We welcome the increase in passenger numbers at the airports. It behoves me, therefore, as Leader, to repeat the view I expressed here that when hotels in the capital city and across the country increase their rates, it sends the wrong message and defeats the purpose of the 9% rate which was to attract tourists. The Restaurants Association of Ireland is meeting today across the road. It has worked to ensure prices will be kept down by offering a variety of menus. I hope those involved in the hotel sector will continue to work with all of us to keep prices down. If hotels raise their prices, different competitors will enter the market. It behoves all of us, therefore, to ensure this will be the Ireland of welcomes by ensuring prices will be kept down rather than increased.

Senator Robbie Gallagher referred to Brexit. During the coming weeks we will have a series of debates on the issue in which Senators will have an opportunity to discuss it with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and other Ministers. I join the Senator in commending the Ceann Comhairle for holding the symposium on Brexit in the Mansion House last week. It was a very worthwhile and informative event.

I thank Senator Colm Burke for commending those who work in the health service. Ireland is 13th on the table he mentioned. It is important that we continue to invest in health services and try to recruit staff across the various sectors to have people stay in the country and work in the health service.

I join Senator Paul Daly in hoping Ministers and Opposition Members will stop flying kites to frighten people about what will be included in the upcoming budget. The Minister for Finance has said it will not be a giveaway budget, but listening to the Opposition, if one was to include everything that has been proposed, one could fill every stadium in the world. In reality, we have €1 billion at our disposal and a tax and spending ratio of 2:1 has been agreed. If we were all to enter the world of reality rather than the world of make believe, we would do our constituents and those we represent a better service.

I agree with Senator Frank Feighan that Roscommon County Hospital is very strong and progressive and one in which there is much activity takin place.

Senator Paddy Burke raised the issue of hedge cutting. From the limited information I possess, the local county engineer has the power to cut hedges to make roads safe. The Senator is correct. There has been an increase in the number of fatalities on the roads. There is, therefore, a need for better co-ordination between local authorities, Transport Ireland and utilities in how they do their work in the cutting of hedges in rural Ireland. I will be happy to refer to the relevant Department the matter of whether the hedge cutting date should be brought forward.

Senator Joe O'Reilly raised the important issue of the cost of car insurance and referenced an increase of 40% in premiums in some cases. He is dead right that it is an attack on work. The increase is penal for young people, many of whom cannot afford the cost of insurance.

The Minister of State, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, is chairing a cross-departmental committee which is dealing with the matter, on which the Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, Deputy John McGuinness, has held hearings. It is important we continue to be mindful of the fact that it is an important issue for many.