I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to update the House on the four children’s disability network teams, CDNTs, in County Meath. Network 2, where the HSE is the lead agency, covers Kells, Oldcastle and north Meath, while network 6, also led by the HSE, covers Athboy, Dunboyne, Enfield, Summerhill and Trim. Enable Ireland is the lead agency for network 4, covering Ashbourne, Duleek, Dunshaughlin, Laytown, Bettystown and Ratoath, and network 5, covering Navan and Slane. CHO 8, similar to other parts of t…

Every figure I read out relates to filled positions. They are 248 posts that were filled over the past four years. The staff in whole-time equivalents is at 70% in County Meath. CHO 8 covers many counties, but in the Deputy's county it covers those four teams. That is the up-to-date situation with filled positions as we speak. Let us be clear; there is still a vacancy rate of 30%. I am not saying that by any manner of means it is perfect. There is still a long way to go. There is a large population of families ther…

Let me be very clear. The wording here is "Notwithstanding those challenges, staffing numbers across the four CDNTs now sits at 70.3 whole-time equivalents". It is not a percentage but whole-time equivalents. Are we training enough staff? In the past 12 months, I have set up a workforce planning group that I chair. All the lead agencies are part of it, along with the Department of higher education and the leads within the HSE, so that we can have that around-the-table conversation. Are we training enough? Are we en…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I will relay his points directly to the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, but it is important that I relay to the House that there is no embargo on the recruitment of neuroclinical nurse specialists. We have 17 such posts filled and are going at full throttle to ensure we fill all 28. There is no embargo on filling positions on the four community neuro teams around the country either. We are filling those posts as well.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, about it. It is important to point out that, under the programme for Government, Ireland now has a neuro strategy and that, for the first time, we have put clinical nurse specialists and community teams in place.

Yes, we have. We have funded them completely and there is no recruitment embargo on them.

I welcome the opportunity to outline the position on this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers. They are both very aware of the impact that decisions relating to changes in An Post operations have on communities and individuals in both rural and urban areas. An Post is a commercial State company with a mandate to act commercially and, as such, day-to-day operational matters, including decisions as regards the size, distribution and future of the network, ar…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. As I said, I am taking it on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Ryan. I have listened with interest to the points raised by the Deputy. As I indicated earlier, decisions relating to post offices are an operational matter for An Post and not a matter in which the Minister has a statutory function. The Deputy will appreciate that the Minister cannot intervene in matters which we as an Oireachtas have given An Post a statutory responsibility to fulfil. An Post has an i…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue for discussion and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for its having been selected. As Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, I am fully committed to the continued development and enhancement of our disability services, through the implementation of my Department’s Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-2026. As the Deputy will be aware, foetal alcohol spectrum disorder is a preventable neurodevelopmental condition. It is a group of disorders caused by p…

I will continue, with the Department of Health and the HSE, to advance progress on the provision of services for those living with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. I am also conscious, listening to the Deputy's contribution, that a lot of other agencies lean on the hub in Clare for support, including Tusla in Clare and a lot of other counties. I completely agree with the Deputy that the training the FASD Ireland provides needs to be rolled out and scaled to the front line of some of our organisations, including Tu…

I thank Deputy Smith for raising this important issue here today. The local HSE has made a proposal for a stand-alone respite centre for Cavan-Monaghan. It will support 50 families and be open 52 weeks of the year. Along with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, I am currently finalising the national respite plan, within which Cavan-Monaghan is a priority. Funding has been allocated for Clogher House under the capital plan for a new stand-alone purpose-built day service facility. I thank the Deputy, the Minister, Deputy …

I thank Deputy Tully and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism for sponsoring this evening's motion. I thank her, Senator Carrigy and all who participated in that valuable committee. I thank all of the participants who came before the committee, of whom there were many. I acknowledge the presence of AsIAm tonight and a lot of the families and participants who are watching this evening. I have noted the final report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism and wish to acknowledge the cross-party work of the co…

I thank everybody who participated in this evening's debate. I do not think it was a debate. To be quite honest, I think we are all on the same page. That is very important. When you have met one autistic person, you have met one autistic person. Let us understand the line. That is the baseline here. Perhaps every Department other than my own needs to understand that. When you have met one autistic person, you have met one autistic person. Before I go on, I will acknowledge the work of Niall Brunell in the Departme…

As Minister of State with responsibility for specialist disability services, I am pleased to be here to address the issues raised in this Private Members' motion on supporting people with disabilities and carers. The motion touches on a wide range of issues which span the remit of several Departments including mine and the Departments of Health; Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Social Protection; Education; and Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. I will do my best in my allocated …

Ireland fully ratified the UNCRPD in 2018, and the Government remains committed to continuously advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. Ratification of the optional protocol is a commitment in the programme for Government. The timeline for ratifying it was anticipated to follow the conclusion of Ireland's first review period before the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ireland submitted its first state report in November 2021 and we await a review date from the UN committee. The St…

I could not agree more. However, it is also important that we have domestic legislation which ensures the right process is in place. We have made commitments in that regard. We take our international agreements very seriously. That is why, under the stewardship of the Minister, the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022 was introduced. Under that legislation, we completely outlawed the archaic wardships system. In August 2023, we started the scoping exercise to which I referred, once the remit of …

The HSE informs me that planning permission has been submitted to Leitrim County Council for the development of a residential respite service in south Leitrim. It is a five-bed house that, if it works seven over seven, will add a capacity of approximately 1,800 bed nights into the system. That is very welcome and badly needed. Additionally, HSE disability services are currently working closely with the property management section of HSE estates north west in order to identify additional suitable premises in the sou…

Residential respite.

I do not have the update on 3 February. The Deputy might know about that better than I as to whether planning was granted. One would hope planning permission was granted because it will add 1,800 additional bed nights capacity in the south Leitrim area and that is badly needed. Funding is ring-fenced for that development. When I met the parents 21 months ago, we did not have a site, design or funding. Neither did we have feasibility work done on it. All that has been done now. I hope the local authority granted pla…

I completely agree. Real progress is being made and that is why on 14 December both the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, and I launched the Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-2026. It makes a commitment to 900 additional residential places and 500 as part of the decongregation programme during that time. The local authority has a huge role to play on that. It is something we need to tease out a little further, albeit perhaps not in this forum. If you are opening a new housing estate or there is a refurbishment deve…