I raise two matters today, both of which relate to education. First is Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh, which is an Apple distinguished school. Today, it hosted an event selling its message to other schools about what it means to have that distinction. It is the only school in Ireland with that accolade and I congratulate it in that regard. Second, ESB has announced a number of bursaries to work with PhD students on electricity generation. It is most welcome to see a company like ESB get involved in research and the funding of PhD students to research future developments.

Like many, I watched the gathering last night in County Kerry of those who support women like Emma Mhic Mhathúna and Vicky Phelan, who are enduring such difficult times. I presume everyone watched it. It was heartbreaking. I saw their anger and the continued lack of accountability. More marches in solidarity are planned for this week. We must all support these women and get to the bottom of this and heads must roll in this regard.

The Government seems still to be playing catch-up on this scandal and was, most worryingly, kept in the dark about a strategy that was dangerous and sinister in the extreme. It worries me that the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health were kept out of the conversation and shielded from documents which resulted in harm to women. We are here to make good rules to protect our society and if we are not given all of the information, we must ask why. I echo calls made in the Dáil by my colleague, Deputy Marc MacSharry, for clarification on outsourcing of smears to UK laboratories at busy times from CervicalCheck. Women need certainty that smears are being read carefully and that they can trust, once again, a vital screening service.

Over the past few days, I was heartened to hear that measures had been taken to help women. However, it is still the case that not enough is being done. We have all heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child. I call on the Minister to consider that and to ensure that not only are expenses covered but that real, tangible supports are put in place for these women and their families. A discretionary medical card should be provided to anyone with a terminal or chronic illness. I have brought this up several times before. It should be a straightforward matter to claim expenses which should be reimbursed without quibble. Counsellors, childcare services and transportation should be made available to these families without obstacle. A simple request for services should be made and granted in the same conversation. I do not want to read that months down the line, families are still waiting for receipts to be cleared. I suggest these families' names be put on a VIP list circulated to all services. If they make a call for a taxi at night or for a nurse, a service should be provided straight away. The last thing anyone with a terminal illness needs to be doing is checking receipts and collecting dates and times. I encourage a debate on the introduction of care teams for all families suffering at this time. We should have a system whereby the essential village is brought in to support these families, including someone to cook for them, someone to look after their children and someone to look after the women and administer their medications. This should never have happened. We need to ensure it never happens again.

Last week, I raised a Commencement matter on labour shortages and the real difficulty for people in the horticultural sector, including the mushroom and soft-root sectors, dairying and meat production. The farming and horticulture community has difficulty getting people to come from outside the European Union due to issues around work permits. There was some discussion with the Minister in the House. I am very happy to acknowledge the great work the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Humphreys, has done. Today, she announced a pilot scheme whereby 800 people will come in. She intends to expand that but will start initially with 800 people. This is a hugely positive boost for people in the horticulture sector and agriculture generally. She has clearly responded to their extensive representations in the last few days. It is important to acknowledge her good work.

Second, I come back to the old chestnut of the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire. Since I last spoke to the Leader, I have received a letter from the private secretary of the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities to clarify that the hospital made submissions seeking 12 beds in January 2017 and that while six beds had been opened, there was no funding for the other six.

The excuse is that the National Rehabilitation Hospital has made a submission to the HSE and it is telling the Minister that it will not be in a position to fund these beds possibly until the end-of-winter planning process of 2018-19. That is for six beds. These people are in acute beds in our hospitals. I went to the Minister of State and to the Minister, I wrote to the Taoiseach and received correspondence from him last week. We have now exhausted everything, apart from having public meetings in the constituency of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and asking for people's support. That may be the next strand of the campaign because I am determined to get these beds open. I spoke to the hospital today.

Can we ask the Minister to come back to the House for a debate? I ask anyone in the House who has contacts with the Joint Committee on Health to put this matter on its agenda and to have the Minister appear before that committee to explain why there is a shortage in these beds.