I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Frankie Feighan, to the House. Anois, tosóidh muid leis an Seanadóir Seán Kyne. Tá ceithre nóiméad aige.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. Tá mé buíoch as an deis seo a fháil inniu sa Seanad. Tá fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Feighan. The Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, is welcome to the Chamber today to discuss the issues of family resource centres and the need for one in Clifden and the north Connemara area. The Minister of State will be familiar with Galway and Connemara. It is a large area, geographically sparse with pockets of population in many different, remote areas of the community centred around the service town of Clifden. Family resource centres are hugely important in terms of their interventions and working with the disadvantaged and those in need. Oughterard presently serves the Connemara area. However, looking at the map of the country where there are 121 family resource centres, I believe there is a gap in the north Connemara-Clifden area for a dedicated family resource centre. This would provide family support and well-being services including one-to-one support parenting programmes, low-cost counselling and youth supports such as after-school programmes, holiday activities and targeted support for young people at risk. It would provide community development initiatives including groups for older people, carers and new communities. It would also offer practical supports such as information and advocacy to help people to become more sustainable and responsive to local needs. I believe a dedicated centre would be a perfect fit for Clifden providing a non-stigmatising walk-in hub where people could access support early, before issues escalate.

The Clifden-north Connemara area has some unique challenges in terms of precarious work linked to the hospitality and tourism area, which is impacted during the winter period. There are traditional industries such as farming and fishing which have their own challenges. There are some 523 households in council houses across Connemara, alongside sheltered and housing for older people and mental health service users. There are also 500 people on the live register including a growing number of those under the age of 25. Again, that may be linked to precarious employment. I believe this would be a perfect fit for a family resource centre to engage with the services and complement the services presently in Oughterard. What I am looking for is advice in terms of how we could progress this. What engagement is needed? What would be the pathway to developing a family resource centre in the area? Obviously, it is linked to budget but there also are practicalities in respect of the capital and current budget which would be important, as well as the know-how on how these issues are decided. What criteria are in place to decide where a new family resource centre would be established? What advice can the Minister of State's Department give in relation to establishing a family resource centre for the Clifden and north Connemara area?

I thank Senator Kyne for raising this important issue and giving me the opportunity to respond. In regard to family resource centres, I started my political career about 26 years ago through our family life centres. It was part of the outreach services of the family resource centres. The service they provide in every town, village and major city around the country is exceptional. Many times people came to my office with issues. We have certain skills but for the skills that I do not have it was reassuring to ring the family resource centre and put them in touch. They were professional and confidential every time. I know the work they did and I thank them for the great service they give.

Commissioning a new family resource centre is an operational matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, which is responsible for day-to-day administration of the family resource centre programme. Neither the Minister nor the Department have any involvement in the assessment process for new members of the family resource centre programme or selecting the new members. The Senator rightly said that Connemara has a huge geographical spread and there is a gap there. I will take that back to the Minister.

There is a programme of Government commitment to work to increase funding and expand the capacity and network of family resource centres in budget 2026. This commitment will be honoured with funding secured for a further ten family resource centres. This has brought the family resource centre programme membership up to 126 members in 2026. It follows an increase in the membership of the programme in 2025 by five members. A comprehensive national application assessment process was undertaken in 2025 which was led by Tusla and independently chaired by a representative of the University of Limerick. A total of 49 organisations applied for membership of the family resource centre programme, following an open call from Tusla for applications.

This indicates again, as the Senator said, the strong level of interest in communities across the country in having family resource centres as part of their community infrastructure. Regrettably, funding only allowed for 15 new members to be selected, leaving 34 applications unsuccessful. I thank those organisations for their interest in joining the programme and for the important work they continue to do in their communities.

The benefits of community-based services such as family resource centres cannot be overstated and many of us will have witnessed at first hand the impacts family resource centres have on the communities they serve. They engage with vulnerable families, offer services to individuals across the whole life cycle from early years to senior citizens and, crucially, foster a positive and inclusive community spirit. The range of services they provide can be extensive as determined by the needs of the relevant communities. It is particularly important to note, and I think the Senator would agree, that many services are delivered at no cost or at low cost to families who otherwise might not be able to access them.

Also, by availing of funding schemes operated by other Government Departments and agencies, there is great potential for family resource centres to grow their scope and reach and further embed themselves in their communities. I understand there is currently no additional funding available to further expand the family resource centre programme in 2026. The Minister has previously indicated that she intends to continue to pursue the expansion of the FRC programme through the budgetary process and in line with the programme for Government commitment.

I will bring the Senator’s concerns back to the Minister. He certainly has outlined with great coherence the fact that this geographically widespread area needs another family resource centre to fill the gap there.

I thank the Minister of State on behalf of the Department of children for that comprehensive response and the important role Tusla has in evaluating and adjudicating on applications for new family resource centres. I welcome the fact that the Minister intends to pursue additional family resource centres in line with the programme for Government commitment. I will engage with Tusla following this to see what the local community in Clifden and north Connemara can do in advocating and pushing for a family resource centre.

The Minister of State quite rightly spoke of the benefits and importance in his own role, as all public representatives have, in engaging with family resource centres on behalf of vulnerable families who come across his office or clinic. I will certainly engage with Tusla and see if we can progress this issue for the benefit of the people in Clifden and north Connemara.

Once again, I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue. It is reassuring that the past two budgets have allowed for 50 new family resource centres to be established. We always want more and I think we need to do more. All those invested in seeing supports put in place for communities most in need should see these recent developments in the family resource centre programme as very good news.

The funding and expansion of services that assist people living in areas of disadvantage remain a priority for the Minister, for the Government and for all the services as well. Again, we need to work to increase funding and to expand the capacity and network of family resource centres. The Minister has signalled her intention to continue to pursue the development of the family resource centre programme over the lifetime of the Government and in recognition of the very important work these centres do in their communities. Organisations considering applying for future programme membership under an open call would be well served by examining the criteria associated with the 2025 open call, which would give them a sense of the type of preparation that is required to give an application the best possible chance at assessment stage.

I thank the Senator again for his contribution.

We spoke here before during the introduction of our vacancy and dereliction Bill, and thankfully, some of the measures - quite a lot of the measures - outlined in our cross-party Bill have been adopted. I welcome the introduction of the grant schemes in the Department for living above the shop. It is something I feel very strongly about as I travel around the country and see the potential and the lights off in so many above-shop premises in our villages, towns and cities.

This grant scheme also adds to a suite of measures and supports for the renovation and restoration of older and historic buildings in our villages, towns and city centres. There is no doubt in my mind that these measures should have been embedded from the start in housing policy. They should have been core to it, we should have been looking to see what we have and do all in our power to prevent urban sprawl and the loss of good farming land out in the peripheries and into the countryside.

The Government put a timed delay on our cross-party group vacancy and dereliction Bill and a similar Bill ,which had been brought forward by the Green Party when we were in government, but I appreciate many of these measures have been introduced and it is very welcome to see that happen. We do not care who brings them in; I said that to the Minister of State the day we were here. They are an essential component that is missing to help animate and scale-up the restoration and renovation of these incredible buildings.

A measure that is one of the missing pieces of the jigsaw has been sought for many years by the Irish Green Building Council and the Vacant to Vibrant Building Alliance, which I think the Minister of State might have met, as well as by the architect and conservation profession more generally, namely, the establishment of a one-stop shop in every local authority to help project developers navigate their way through the legislative planning, regulatory and incentive matrix. This would ensure our councils become an enabling force to get these wonderful built heritage elements back into to productive use, to get families back living in our town centres and to help uplift those towns commercially and socially.

Since the establishment of the town centre first principles in 2021, which was based on a Scottish initiative, a suite of new roles has come into our local government system, such as architectural conservation officers, town centre first officers and vacancy officers. However, project proposers often find it tricky, to say the least, to navigate the system and there are varying interpretations from county to county regarding fire and access regulations, sometimes at the behest of the fire officer. Sometimes they have different interpretations of what can and cannot be done to a building. By establishing a network of one-stop-shops across the local government system, we can overcome and develop a consistency of approach and application, share best practice and, importantly, move these projects along.

There is also concern within the sector more widely that there is a shortage of relevant conservation skills, such as joinery, masonry and glazing, but also conservation architects. I am concerned that we may lose vernacular features on older buildings and building fabric that could be saved and, in the case of older shops and buildings, the loss of features such as shopfronts, sash windows, guttering and other features that are intrinsic to Irish town centres. The good grant schemes in the Minister of State's Department like the historic structures fund and built heritage investment schemes help in that regard. There is also a technical guidance document for restoration which was developed by the national built heritage service, which is most welcome.

I ask the Minister of State to give consideration to engaging with the CCMA, LGMA, local authority members and the Heritage Council to see if it is possible for us to establish these one-stop shops. As I said, we have a wide array of supports there and funding mechanisms are now in place but the missing piece of the jigsaw is the establishment of one-stop shops in our local authorities.

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter and giving me an opportunity to update the House. I assure the Senator that the Government absolutely recognises the importance of tackling vacancy and dereliction and we continue to be committed to addressing these issues through a range of measures and with the support of all key stakeholders, including our local authorities.

In particular, the Government has invested in the provision of dedicated vacant homes officers and town regeneration officers, working with local authorities specifically on vacancy and dereliction-related issues locally. These staff operate in conjunction with wider local authority teams that place an emphasis on town regeneration and bringing under-utilised buildings back into use. Networking and best practice initiatives for these staff and teams are provided my Department and the national town centre first office to support more effective service provision at a local level for citizens.

These local authority staff are key to enabling the public to access a wide range of funding streams now available in tackling vacancy and dereliction, such as the vacant property refurbishment grant, which provides up to €50,000 for the refurbishment of vacant properties for use as homes and up to €70,000 where the property is derelict.

This scheme has recently been expanded with a new vacant above-the-shop grant of up to €135,000 to support the bringing of above-the-shop vacant spaces into residential units where a commercial element is remaining at ground-floor level. An expert advice grant of up to €5,000 is also now available towards professional advice on the conversion of such former commercial floor spaces into residential units. That element - the €5,000 grant - speaks a lot to what the Senator has raised in regard to having the expert advice to ensure we are being delicate with these buildings in bringing them back into productive use. As the Senator rightly pointed out, we have a resource difficulty in expertise, and the thought within the Department is that this grant allows the person who is doing it the flexibility to be able to get that advice on board as they need it.

Support is also being provided through call 3 of the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, which consists of a €150 million revolving fund for our local authorities to acquire vacant or derelict properties and sites for reuse or sale. The fund is replenished from the proceeds received from the sale or reuse of properties, allowing a rolling fund for local authorities to tackle vacancy and dereliction.

We also have a compulsory purchase order, CPO, activation programme, which was launched by my Department in April 2023. This programme supports a proactive and systematic approach by local authorities to the reuse of vacant and derelict properties. It also includes guidance for local authorities to actively use their legislative powers, including under the Derelict Sites Act, to acquire vacant and derelict properties and to use CPO powers where engagement with the owners has been unsuccessful. Some local authorities are doing this to great effect, while other local authorities certainly need to step up their game in this space. That is one of the areas I focus on when I visit local authorities across the country.

There are obviously a few other elements such as the town centre first heritage revival scheme, THRIVE, and the commercial-to-residential exemption from planning, which I extended before Christmas up to the end of 2028. The latest data on that indicate that 3,500 homes up to the end of 2024 have been created with that exemption in place. I am bringing forward further exemptions from planning, all with the goal of streamlining our planning system and removing red tape from it so as to be able to free up planning resources within our local authorities.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I thank him for his comprehensive answer. I appreciate the conservation advice grants. They are very useful but they are very limited to the conservation element of it. That is why I think the one-stop shop, which involves having the interdisciplinary skills within the local authorities, is a really progressive approach. I again ask the Minister of State's Department to perhaps give it consideration. This is about heritage-led regeneration and I know the Department is now working to review and broaden the definition of dereliction. It is really important to get that right as well because we see many property owners making small interventions and then trying to not have properties classified as derelict.

Within the above-the-shop scheme, the idea of removing the element of commercial on the ground floor should be given consideration, given the flux that retail is in currently across the country, to allow premises and particularly small businesses to return those buildings to full occupancy. It has to be given consideration, given the state of retail in the country at the minute. Again, I ask the Minister of State to give consideration to the one-stop shop idea.

There are obviously pros and cons to what the Senator is suggesting in respect of removing commercial at ground-floor level. The commercial-to-residential exemption from planning does provide for that but the vacant above-the-shop grant does exactly that by providing for residential units above a commercial unit.

Sure.

That is what we are supporting from a Government perspective. We want the ground-floor retail to remain while utilising that underutilised space above the shop. It is a very significant intervention by the Government to provide up to €135,000 in grant support. There are obviously other schemes, like the repair and lease scheme, that have been used to good effect in areas, particularly in my own city and county of Waterford. The Senator mentioned the derelict property tax, which is progressing with the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Deputy Simon Harris. That is a particular focus for us because we now have many carrots across a whole suite of measures. I have said before in this House and the Dáil Chamber that my message is very clear to anybody who is sitting on vacant and derelict properties at a time of such housing need out there: it is simply unacceptable, and if you are not going to use the measures that have been introduced by the Government, then the stick is coming with the derelict property tax.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, to the floor this morning. We are living through an energy emergency not in theory but in reality, and the State knows it. Two years ago, the Government ran Exercise Cathal, a national simulation to test how Ireland would respond to major disruption in our gas supply. That exercise was not academic; there was a clear acknowledgment that the risk is real, that the consequences would be catastrophic for Ireland and that the Government knows lives and livelihoods will be lost. Ireland is dangerously exposed. The State has understood these risks for years. It knows the economic and societal impact of a future supply failure yet despite that knowledge, we continue to rely on a single point of gas supply. We still have no meaningful storage and we remain as vulnerable today as we were before these risks were ever formally identified. There is talk about a Gas Networks Ireland, GNI, liquefied natural gas, LNG, terminal but that is years away. That is just too long.

Since the war in Iran started on 28 February, just over six weeks ago, we have seen the cost of fuel and energy costs spiral out of everyone's reach. This is the most serious energy crisis we have faced since the 1970s. Energy costs remain too high for households and businesses alike and our energy security is completely fragile. At a time when decisive action is needed, what we see instead is complete delay. I will come to one specific delay. There is one project in this country that is capable of addressing both security and cost: the Shannon LNG terminal. This is not a speculative or early-stage proposal; it is the most advanced LNG project in Ireland. It has been in the planning system since 2021. It was refused but that refusal was based solely on Government policy - the so-called fracked gas policy, which has since been removed. That project went through the courts and succeeded. All judicial reviews are now complete. The legal position is very clear, the policy landscape has changed and every obstacle that was previously cited has now been addressed, but still no decision has been made.

The project has spent many years in the planning system, years that we simply do not have right now in the context of an energy emergency. What makes Shannon LNG so important right now is not just that it enhances security of supply but also that it can be delivered quickly and without cost to the taxpayer, which is what we all want. As a commercial terminal, it introduces competition into the Irish gas market. It is competition - not a monopoly, which is feared. It will lower prices, and that is one of the key points.

While the Government proposes the strategic gas emergency reserve, we must be honest about what that is. It is a State-led, non-commercial facility intended for use in emergencies only. It will require significant public subsidy. It is years away from delivery and it will not reduce energy prices for consumers. The strategic gas emergency reserve has a role and it can follow but it is not a substitute for the Shannon LNG project. The two are not in conflict and they are not complementary. One provides emergency backup and the other provides day-to-day competition, price reduction and security of supply.

Right now, however, we have neither. We are years away from the strategic gas emergency reserve and the one project that is shovel-ready to proceed, the one that is capable of delivering immediate benefits, remains stuck in limbo. The State has known the risks, tested the consequences and acknowledged a vulnerability but it has not acted. This is no longer a question of policy or law. Those issues have been resolved. It is now a question of the decision. How long must this process continue? I represent the people in this regard. I am conscious of the economic consequences for north Kerry. I am asking how long we must delay critical infrastructure while families and businesses continue to bear the cost of inaction. How long can we justify remaining dependent on a single supply route when the risks are so clearly understood? The time for analysis and delay is over. I call on An Coimisiún Pleanála to issue its decision on Shannon LNG without further delay and to bring clarity to a process that has gone on for far too long. This is critical national infrastructure. It is urgently needed and ready to proceed, and it must now be allowed to move forward.

I thank the Senator for raising this serious and indeed topical issue in the current climate. We are effectively in the middle of world war three and energy supplies and many other issues are coming to the forefront which we must deal with as a Government, not just in Ireland but across Europe and across the world.

In March 2025, the Government approved the development of a State-led strategic gas emergency reserve, SGER, in the form of a floating storage and regassification unit, FSRU. The delivery of a gas reserve is critical to Ireland’s energy security as we continue to transition to indigenous, clean renewable energy, and will also ensure compliance with EU standards and regulations. The Government position on the need for a State-operated strategic gas emergency reserve, in the form of a floating storage and regassification unit that will store liquified natural gas, LNG, has been very clear. The strategic gas emergency reserve is a priority project of a strategic nature required to mitigate the major consequences for our society and our economy that would arise if Ireland was to experience an interruption to our gas supplies via subsea interconnection. It is not intended for commercial use. The LNG will be held in reserve at the appropriate scale to maintain supplies for the duration of the disruption.

In identifying this as the optimal approach, the Department built upon the extensive review of security of Ireland’s gas and electricity systems which was approved by Government in the Energy Security in Ireland to 2030 plan in November 2023. The SGER will be owned and operated on behalf of the State by the transmission system operator, Gas Networks Ireland, GNI. Having assessed a range of options, the FRSU was recommended by GNI to meet the Government’s criteria and requirements to quickly develop a strategic and emergency gas reserve aligned with the Climate Act. The SGER will not increase gas demand and will be divested when no longer required, thereby avoiding the risk of fossil fuel lock-in or stranded fossil fuel assets. A policy, legislative, regulatory and operating framework for the SGER is now being progressed to give effect to the Government decision and direction. Any application for an alternative commercial LNG facility will be subject to the statutory planning, consenting and regulatory approvals by relevant bodies, and the appropriate provisions of the relevant legislation will apply.

The request for comment on LNG projects, and Shannon in particular, refers to a private project. This project is currently the subject of an active application for consideration before An Coimisiún Pleanála. Therefore, it would not be appropriate for the Minister to comment at this time.

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. We are in the depths of despair in relation to our energy and fuel costs right now. We have a planning project that is shovel-ready. It is at no cost to the Exchequer and will bring about a reduction in the price of fuel and energy costs to the people of this country. It has been going on. Basically what we are looking for here is a regular update on where it is. It has been going on for far too long in my area. It needs to be prioritised today. We need regular feedback on its progress to secure our energy needs for this country in a time of crisis. There is no justification for stalling this project. Everyone knows the cost of everything right now. We are in the midst of world war three, possibly. Let us avoid any further headaches in relation to the costs spiralling for everybody in this country. If we do not have emergency back-up of our fuel energy supply, it will get out of proportion altogether. I am asking for the Department just to check up on this and see where it is at, and to secure it. Let us get it over the line. It is a three-year construction job, not three months. The Germans have brought in 12 LNG terminals to secure their energy future. We cannot bring in one. It is very disappointing. I am calling for this to be prioritised with the Department and for it to be taken up the line to secure this for the future.

I thank Senator Kennelly for raising this very important issue. The Government position on the need for a State-operated strategic gas reserve in the form of floating storage and a regassification unit that will store liquified natural gas has been very clear. The strategic gas emergency reserve is a priority project of a strategic nature, required to mitigate the major consequences for our society and our economy that would arise if Ireland was to experience an interruption to our gas supplies via the subsea interconnection. As I said, it is not intended for commercial use. As the planning application for the Shannon LNG project currently with An Coimisiún Pleanála is a private project, the Minister for climate and the Department have no function. However, there are difficult, choppy waters ahead. The Government must have cool heads and we must all try to work together to navigate this very important issue and many other important issues we will face in the future. I thank the Senator again.

I want to raise the issue of obtaining an ankle-foot orthosis, AFO, brace for a child with cerebral palsy in Cavan. I was contacted by the mother of a four-year-old child who has cerebral palsy. Children grow very fast and muscle grows faster than bone. These braces become too tight and non-workable as a child grows, so they have to be replaced on a regular basis. The mother realised that she was outgrowing the brace last November so she contacted her CDNT and informed them of this. They referred the child for new braces to Ottobock, a company based in Cappagh Hospital that has an outreach clinic in Cavan. That referral was made in November. In January, she received correspondence that there was an appointment on 13 February, so already we have a two-and-a-half-month wait for this appointment. When the child attended the appointment, she met a very experienced person who measured her for the brace, and said if she could order it directly she would have it within a week. However, it could not be ordered directly because there is a requirement to get a purchase order from the HSE to cover the cost of the brace. She applied for the purchase order that day. It was granted last week, into the middle of April. We have a two-month delay in getting the purchase order. In the meantime, the child has outgrown the brace completely and can no longer wear it. She is trying to walk as best she can without the brace. Her mother and father have seen regression in her legs. Her physiotherapist has seen regression in her muscles and in her legs as well. Due to this delay, the child is suffering this regression. When the purchase order was granted and they contacted the mother, they wanted to order the brace straight away but the mother pointed out that two months had passed and the child had grown again since then. The brace may not fit so she needs another appointment. She has an appointment for this Friday to have the brace remeasured but they have informed her it could take three weeks after that before the brace is delivered. They are made here in Ireland but it will still take about three weeks. The mother is really worried. She has seen the regression in the child. She said that her daughter may now need to go for serial casting, although hopefully she will not. That would mean that she would have to go to Cappagh, get a cast on her leg, and go back the following week to get the cast off and see how much the leg has moved back into the correct position, and get another cast put on.

It is a procedure that would have been totally avoidable had the brace been ordered on time and given to the little girl to allow her to walk.

Now you might say that maybe this is just a once-off, but it is not because the mother had to wait three months last year for the same thing. This is the second time it has happened so it is likely happening to other children as well. I therefore want to highlight this. I ask for a much better procedure in having leg braces replaced. A mother should not have to wait months for an initial appointment, first of all. Okay, this mother allows time for that because when she realised that the child was growing out of the brace she notified the CDNT straight away to ensure that a new brace could be ordered, but there is no excuse for the two-month delay on a purchase order for something the child will need on an ongoing basis. When the mother tried to follow up on this to see who was responsible for this delay, she could not get an answer. She contacted Cavan General Hospital because she was told it was a matter for the paediatric department there. Everyone she talked to said, "No, it is not me, but I will try to find out who it is." She was passed from pillar to post, and it is not good enough, so I want to know what can be done about this situation.

I thank Senator Tully for raising this very important issue. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of my colleague the Minister for Health. I thank the Senator for the opportunity to address the House on this matter. As she has outlined, it is simply not good enough that somebody has to wait two months, going back and forward and back. Somebody should be able to make a decision there, so I thank her for highlighting this. I will bring it back to the Minister immediately.

I will outline in general terms the current position on the provision of aids and appliances. The HSE provides a wide range of aids and appliances free of charge to eligible people following assessment by a relevant health professional. These are provided through community services known as community-funded schemes and play a key role in assisting and supporting people to maintain everyday functioning and to remain living in their homes and local communities. A national list, including prescribing criteria, can be found on the HSE website.

Separately, under the long-term illness scheme, patients receive drugs, medicines and medical and surgical appliances directly related to the treatment of their illness free of charge. Under the drugs payment scheme, no individual pays more than €80 a month towards the cost of approved prescribed medicines and medical appliances. The DPS, as the Senator knows, is not means tested and is available to anyone ordinarily resident in Ireland. The DPS significantly reduces the cost burden for individuals with ongoing expenditure on medicines.

I turn to the specific issue raised by the Senator this morning. Officials from the Department have reached out to the HSE directly on this issue, and the latter is engaging with relevant personnel at a local level. As this matter is particular to the provision of specific service in a local area, it is a matter the HSE will need to investigate in further detail at local level. To that end, I invite Senator Tully to share any further detailed information regarding this case, if available, in order that Department officials can liaise with HSE colleagues to further investigate the matter.

Again, I thank the Senator for raising this issue and thank her in advance for any additional information she can share. Officials in the Department of Health will continue to engage with HSE officials on this matter and will be happy to provide the Senator with a further update should additional relevant information become available. There are people out there who are paid good money to deliver a service. For a parent or a child to have to wait two months and then, by the time they get the aid, for the child to have outgrown it is simply not good enough. I know the Minister will act with her officials to try to resolve this issue immediately. I thank the Senator for coming into the Seanad to raise it. She should not have to do so; it should have been sorted out on the ground and it was not.

I thank the Minister of State. I will certainly share the details with the Minister. I presume the Minister of State is talking about the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. The little girl's mother did reach out to the Minister for Health on this issue and did not receive a response. She reached out to primary care and she reached out to the hospital. She contacted everybody and was, as I said, sent around from one person to the other, and nobody knew or would take responsibility for what had happened. She does not know if this was just a slip-up by one person who missed something on their desk and did not sign off on it or whether there is a backlog in how the procedure operates, so she does not know if she is the only one. However, the fact that she had to wait three months last year as well indicates that the system is not working properly in the interest of the child or of any children. She therefore wants this highlighted. Obviously, she wants the brace for her own child as quickly as possible, but she made the point to me as well that there is no screening at birth for cerebral palsy. Her child has turned four. While she and her husband realised there were issues or there was something wrong, she did not get a diagnosis until her daughter was two. If the child had been screened at birth, this could have been picked up faster and supports put in place faster because, as she said, as soon as she was referred to someone to be diagnosed, they could immediately tell that there were issues and it was most likely cerebral palsy. It is a matter of even just having screening or a scan at birth for this condition as well.

I will send on the details but I hope I will receive a prompt reply from the Minister's office on this.

Just before we get the Minister of State back in, I want to welcome guests of Deputy Cormac Devlin, students from Loreto Primary School, Dalkey, who are in the Gallery. You are all very welcome. Tá fáilte romhaibh.

Again, I thank Senator Tully for raising this and the attention she has given to this important matter. As noted previously, given the particular nature of the matter at hand, it is necessary for the HSE to investigate this in further detail. If the Senator wants, I will raise it with the Minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. I will also raise it with her myself this evening when I meet her. If the Senator wants to send that information on to me as well, we will make sure that this gets dealt with as quickly as possible.

Again, I thank the Senator for raising this issue. If there are any blockages in the area, they need to be sorted out sooner rather than later.