I would like to raise two issues under the Order of Business today. The first of these relates to Coillte and the forestry sector. I attended a meeting of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association in Leitrim a few days ago, at a packed venue in the Bush Hotel. I listened to distraught farmers talking, one after the other, about the devastation of their beloved County Leitrim through forestry. I recognise that there is a need to address our carbon emissions, our carbon targets and the need for the plantation of trees. That is not the issue. The issue concerns the survival and sustainability of communities, particularly rural communities. It is about sustainable plantations and sustainable forests, with broadleaf trees mixed with Sitka spruce and other trees. The issue concerns farmers having to compete with multinationals for small plots of land of five, ten or 15 acres. These farmers aspired to extend their holdings and are now up against competition from vast concerns.

Who owns Coillte? I acknowledge that it is a private company. However, its shares are vested in the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Therefore, the State has a full involvement. As such, it can make interventions to allow communities to survive. We heard a litany of problems: schools closing down, houses being knocked down, land being purchased at exorbitant prices, local people being bid out of their communities, rural communities in devastation, with no sense that they can hold on to their beloved Leitrim and extend their prosperity and business in small agricultural holdings.

I know that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is coming to the House today, but this is not an issue for him specifically. The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Andrew Doyle, has special responsibility here. While he is an exceptionally good Minister, we need a strong debate about this issue. It concerns sustainable forests as well as sustainable communities. It is about protecting and supporting rural communities. It is about the importance of alternatives such as broadleaf trees. It is also about small agri-tourism concerns and allowing the community to prosper. If the Leader could organise a debate on that, it would be very helpful.

I acknowledge the work of the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government. I am a member of the committee and today, less than an hour ago, we launched a report on building standards, building controls and consumer protection. I acknowledge the enormous work of Deputy Eoin Ó Broin, who is the rapporteur on that committee, as well as the Chair, Deputy Maria Bailey of Fine Gael. It is an excellent report. There are 26 key recommendations in this report, but one thing we are clearly saying to Government is that there must be independent oversight of the construction industry. There has to be some mechanism of redress for the people in houses where there are water leaks, where there is pyrite or where there are serious issues of damp in substandard accommodation that people are living in and paying for. That is the galling part. They are paying to live in these homes to keep a roof over their heads. I recommend that everyone gets a copy of the report today, and I commend the committee and all those involved.

I thank Senator Boyhan for mentioning the report on which Deputy Eoin Ó Broin was rapporteur. I commend that report to the House. There is very good stuff in it, which we will no doubt talk about in the coming weeks.

On the issue of pensions, while I welcome the changes in pensions that were announced yesterday, the issue brings home the stark reality of the inequality in this country. Something like €270 million was saved over six years by taking money from some pensioners' pockets. We can contrast that with the CEOs of some banks. These are the banks we have been dealing with on the tracker mortgage scandals and similar issues. There are individuals from those banks who have got away with pensions in excess of €600 million. When one compares that to the way that ordinary, decent pensioners are treated in this country, it gives people the answers they need about policies that are driving the inequality that is destroying our country.

I must raise the issue of Translarna. Five young children are left without a drug that is available in more than 20 countries throughout the world, many of which are in the EU. I thank the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, for meeting Anne Marie and Padraig Harte, the parents of one of those boys, Lewis Harte, when he came to open the primary care centre in Castlebar. I appreciate his meeting them. Moreover, I appreciate the fact that after that meeting he met Muscular Dystrophy Ireland and the HSE to see if there was some way that an agreement could be reached between the drug company, PTC Therapeutics, and the HSE.

I am really dismayed that the HSE is ignoring the recommendations of the Minister. I have to ask to whom the HSE is accountable. What is the role of the Minister? Can he not instruct the HSE to carry out the simple task of arranging a meeting to discuss an important issue and something that will ensure a quality of life for five young boys in this country? I ask the Leader to arrange for the Minister for Health to come into the House and explain to us the accountability of the HSE. Is it just a monster, a body that is allowed to do what it likes and ignore the instructions of the Minister? These boys need this drug desperately. These families are facing a choice. Do they have to move out of this State to get the drug that is necessary for these children to stay mobile? It is wrong. It was wrong when I raised it last year and it is wrong now. Something needs to be done about it immediately. I would really appreciate it if the Leader could speak to the Minister in the meantime to see if he can instruct the personnel within the HSE to do what they need to do.