I wish to raise the issue of blood donation. As someone who has been a blood donor since I was 18, I encourage anyone who is eligible to contact the blood bank and make an appointment to donate. Only this morning, I got a text to tell me that stocks of my blood type are down to 1.6 days of supply when they should be seven days. I cannot believe there has been no public campaign to inform gay and bisexual men that, as and from 28 March, the eligibility criteria will change. From 28 March, a four-month deferral for gay and bisexual men will come into place and oral sex between men will no longer form the basis for a deferral.

This is really welcome progress but we really need to move to an individualised risk assessment system for all donors, such as is in place in the North. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, has confirmed that this will be the case in Ireland but we have no confirmed date, having only been told that it will be later this year. I would like to hear the Minister's rationale for this phased approach as opposed to moving directly to individual-based risk assessments. I would also like clarity as to the date on which that individual assessment system will be introduced. I would also like confirmation as to whether the Minister will address the anomalies regarding women donating. Under the new proposals, women who have sex with men who have had sex with other men will face a 12-month ban while that same man will be free to donate. I ask the Deputy Leader to seek clarity on those questions but also on why this low-key approach to these changes is being taken. The blood service is importing blood from England while there are potential donors who are completely unaware that they are eligible to give blood and could be making appointments today for next week. This is a good news story so I have to ask the Deputy Leader why the Government is not letting people know about it, thereby allowing eligible blood donors to donate next week.

It looks like we are poised to host the 2028 UEFA European Football Championship alongside the UK as we will be the only bidders when submissions close tomorrow. It is great news for football fans and our economy, which will be due to net somewhere in the region of €750 million from visitor spending. It is definitely a more realistic option than going for the 2032 World Cup. Given that we missed out on hosting games in last year's deferred European championship because of Covid, it is fantastic for football fans to see this happening. However, only today, we have already seen an issue develop with one of the main venues that could potentially be used for these games. We only have two: Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium. The issue pertains to Croke Park. UEFA prohibits the use of temporary seating at major championship finals. When the FAI has previously used Croke Park, such temporary seating has been installed on Hill 16. For the venue to be used, Hill 16 would have to be converted from a terrace to a stand. It would be ironic if a soccer tournament were to sound the death knell of one of the most famous terraces in the world.

A memo has been brought to Cabinet today by the Minister of State with responsibility for sport, Deputy Chambers, in support of the bid, and rightly so. We need the Government to back this bid as it did the bid for the Rugby World Cup. However, in doing so I ask the Minister of State to engage with the FAI and UEFA on the stadium issue from tomorrow with a view to allowing the prospect of safe standing. We have seen this practice return right across Europe. It came back in England this year, where the Hillsborough disaster initiated the conversion of terraces to stands. Safe standing has come back in right across Europe. I ask the Minister of State with responsibility for sport to engage on this issue right from the get-go. The Government is going to back this bid. We want to see it happen, we want it to be it successful and we want to see it in Croke Park. As a sports supporter and a GAA man, I want to see it happening in Croke Park but not at the cost of seeing an end to Hill 16.