I welcome the decision by the Government to appeal the case of the hooded men. I acknowledge and thank all Senators for their unanimous support for the Seanad motion which called on the Government to appeal this judgment at the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. It is vitally important.

I thank the men and their legal team for coming to share their story in Leinster House. They have been fighting this case for 50 years. I thank the Government for that move. It is vitally important we had this window of opportunity and that their campaign for truth and justice, which has gone on for decades, will now continue. Will the Government remain fully engaged with the men themselves, as well as their legal representatives, in bringing this appeal forward? The appeal will now be heard by a panel of five judges and will continue from there. I want to acknowledge everybody's support in this matter, including the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I also acknowledge the hard work of my colleague, Senator Ó Donnghaile, in facilitating the men and their families in coming to Leinster House. It shows the value of having Senators from the North in this Chamber - we also have Senator Marshall. There is a real value in having a 32-county approach to what we do in this Chamber.

The misdiagnosis of at least 49 children by audiology services in the west is scandalous. For many of them, it has resulted in profound hearing problems and other associated problems. There needs to be answers. I welcome the fact that the families have now got the report. However, it is disgusting it was leaked to the media first and that the HSE did not make sure it was discussed with the families affected before that. Will the Leader ask the Minister to come to the House to discuss these reports and what will be done to right the wrong done to these children? It is not only 49 children affected. I have been contacted by parents since who had been told all along there was no problem with their children's hearing but have discovered in the past 18 months that there is a problem. I do not believe the 49 constitutes the full enormity of what has gone on. I expect more cases to be revealed as time goes on.

I welcome the health committee report on sodium valproate, a medication given to pregnant mothers. There is a direct correlation between it and children born with disabilities. I have raised the matter in the House before. The Leader has said it is time the Minister came in to discuss this matter. Now that this report has been completed, it is important we have a full debate in the Chamber so we can work through its recommendations and put a plan in place.

I commend all those involved in the wonderful ceremony last week, Dublin Honours Magdalenes. It was uplifting to see it after such shabby treatment of so many women for so long by the State, other institutions and, in many cases, by individual families. It was good and positive to see such a great welcome for the Magdalenes by Dublin's Lord Mayor, as well as other aspects of civic and official society. I also commend the President, Michael D. Higgins, for hosting a reception in Áras an Uachtaráin.

I join Senator Ardagh in expressing concern about the delay in the report of the scoping inquiry into CervicalCheck. The report today appears to address only one point in the terms of reference. A full report is now not likely until the autumn, and certainly not by the end of June as it was supposed to be. My colleague, Deputy Kelly, has raised in the Dáil the issue of the continued lack of information being provided to many of the women affected who have still not received their personal medical records. Clearly, greater urgency needs to be given to this matter and I hope we can see that. I ask the Leader to pass that on to the Minister for Health.

In respect of another aspect of women's health, however, I commend the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach on moving swiftly to address issues that have arisen over the weekend regarding the legislation to give effect to the wishes of the people who voted in the referendum 66% in favour of repealing the eighth amendment. The Minister and the Taoiseach are quite right to point out that while there will be a conscientious objection clause in the legislation - that was in the heads of Bill published in March - clearly there will still be a duty to refer onwards and doctors cannot deny women access to medical care that they so clearly require.

We should also be looking for the Joint Committee on Health to conduct hearings, as I think it will, on how we can adopt a best practice model of health service provision in this area. Now we have an opportunity to get our legislation right. The heads of the Bill are strong and positive, and people were aware of those when they voted "Yes" on 25 May. It would be useful for the committee to hold hearings with, for example, experts from the World Health Organization, WHO, as well as with Irish GPs and members of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. I have written to the Minister on behalf of Women's Health in Ireland, a cross-party, cross-political and cross-professional grouping, to ask that the Chair of the Joint Committee on Health, Deputy Harty, would conduct such hearings, and I hope we will do that.

This week is national bike week, and I wish all colleagues a happy national bike week. I very much hope we will see in Leinster House greater provision for cyclists. There has been a somewhat grudging provision of facilities for cyclists in these Houses and it is something I, as a daily all-weather cyclist, have been meaning to raise more often. I am delighted to be meeting the Superintendent of the Houses and others tomorrow to look at how we can improve provision of, in particular, parking facilities for bikes. We need Leinster House to lead the way in encouraging people to cycle to work. In Dublin, there are low numbers of people cycling and a terrible provision of cycle paths and cycling infrastructure. There is much in literature now about building velotopia - a utopia for bikes - or cities in which cycling is given priority and in which citizens are encouraged to cycle. We could lead on that in Leinster House.