Well done.

I refer to the health service and note that the Minister for Health today presented the bed capacity review to the Cabinet. It is extremely important that there has been a full review and that the agreed number of new beds that are considered to be necessary be opened to deal with the challenges health services face. In opening new beds there is also the challenge of making sure wards will be adequately staffed. When I raised this issue last year, I pointed out that the HSE had been well able to recruit more than 2,000 administrative and managerial staff in a very short period. In responding to the needs highlighted in the bed capacity review I hope we will also be able to employ the additional staff required to provide adequate care for the patients who will occupy those beds.

The negotiations on the GP contract have been under way for more than 12 months. I firmly believe this issue needs to be given priority and that GPs need support to deal with the increased demand. There has been a major change in the demographics which will continue over the next ten to 20 years. We need to be ready to face the challenges presented by an older population and many more people being retired. There will also be an increased demand on the health service. If sufficient progress is not being made by the National Association of General Practitioners, the Irish Medical Organisation, the Department of Health and the HSE, we should seriously consider looking for an independent chairperson to chair the negotiations. The issue needs to be given priority. We also need to have targets and deadlines to make sure comprehensive health care support will be provided in the community.

I apologise for arriving late. I was listening to the Order of Business on the monitor.

I want to raise a point that is relevant to the one raised by Senator Ray Butler about the self-employed and it is one I have raised on a few occasions. Members of the Oireachtas are not entitled to parental leave, be it maternity or paternity leave. That is a serious issue because we are trying to implement policies that are family friendly in circumstances in which we do not have our own house in order. Senator Ray Butler rightly mentioned the self-employed in this context and has been consistent on the issue. Self-employed women and men who wish to take paternity leave are precluded from doing so because of the reality of their jobs. In many instances, they are providing employment and contributing to the Exchequer in a major way. We need to prioritise policies that are family friendly, given that there are professions other than politics that do not necessarily attract many women. They include surgeons, for example. I believe only 7% of surgeons are women who find the position very difficult. It would be very helpful, therefore, to have a discussion in the House in the near future on this issue and link it with the one raised by Senator Ray Butler, with the Minister for Employment and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, in attendance. Perhaps it was something the Leader had intended to suggest.

I commend Aldi on introducing a restriction on the sale of high-sugar energy drinks to those aged under 16 years. These drinks have been linked to sudden cardiac death in some instances, but also feed in - pardon the pun - to the obesity problem. It has been long established by experts that the one thing they feel that we, as policymakers, could do is reduce the amount of sugar-sweetened drinks that young people drink. That is a huge driver of the obesity problem with which we are faced. What is proposed is not a panacea and it will not solve the obesity problem. However, measures of this sort are very helpful in the overall scheme of things. I am conscious as well that we are having a discussion on obesity on Thursday so I will leave it at that for now.