I know that.

The Deputy is quite right to say that when we sort out the children's services, there will be adequate services for the adults or the younger adults. One house will be left for adult respite services and we will have a children's respite facility. The capital plan is being launched in the next two or three weeks. Cavan is in the capital plan because of the advocacy that has gone on. We will await its publication to see that through. On special schools, the Deputy knows as well as I do that I do not have the remit f…

----or Castleblayney provides phenomenal after-school services. They have been part and parcel of where the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has looked in expanding the access and inclusion model. They are also the reason we have included the alternative respite piece in the budget, whereby children can be facilitated after school as opposed to having to do an overnight. We have that in Castleblayney. They are models and we need to have a suite of measures available when it comes t…

The CDNTs in community healthcare west provide support, care and therapy to children and their families across Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. I will first address the Deputy’s comment to the effect that it is an empty building. Currently, the list of staff includes: one children's disability network manager, CDNM; one grade 5 administrator; two grade 3 clerical officers; 2.3 senior occupational therapists, OTs; one staff-grade OT; one OT assistant; one physio assistant; 2.8 senior physios; one staff-grade physio; 1.8 …

Both of us, being from the same constituency, have an acute awareness of what is happening this morning in Tuam. I do not find it acceptable in any way that any parent or anybody would be told to go to Instagram to find their solutions. The family forums that are being set up are an opportunity for the HSE or the lead agency to work with and inform the parents and to break down the barrier, demystify it and ensure there is proper transparency around the staffing levels and what families can accept. The Deputy asked…

I could not agree more with the Deputy. That is why we are getting it done and why we are using a trial basis in Galway, Waterford and Donegal to see if, by freeing up the panels, we can get those ten posts that are required in Tuam filled, along with all the other CDNTs. The progressing disability services, PDS, programme has been rolled out for the past two years in Galway with a caseload of 700. I know the people on the ground are working so hard on it, but looking at the staffing levels and taking out administr…

The Government is fully aware of the importance of providing assessments under the assessment of need process as set out by the Disability Act 2005. I affirm my commitment to working to address these waiting lists. I also acknowledge that there are significant challenges that families are experiencing as a result of the current backlog, not just in Deputy Smyth's area but throughout the country. The High Court judgment delivered in March 2022 directed that the preliminary team assessment, PTA, approach did not fulf…

That is why funding has been secured in budget after budget to ensure we can address it. Only yesterday, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, the Department and I had a meeting about AONs to ensure it is a priority, a focus and that it is actually getting the attention it requires. At the back of all of this, it is important to understand there are only so many therapists in the country. That is our problem. We are trying to fill our CDNTs. We are trying to ensure we are having assessments and that we are also delivering…

I certainly will look at that CDNT in Carlow the Deputy identified with one room being used. I have to question how many staff are on that team and how it is being operationalised. I will go back again to what we set up within the Department since I transferred over. We have put a specific workforce planning group in place in the Department where we are looking at all available options and not reinventing too many of the wheels. I see that Ms Edel Quinn in CHO 1 has a complete campaign around coming home for Christ…

The assessment hubs were one of the items the HSE delivered on time for me. I compliment the HSE and thank it for actually addressing it. It is important to say it is a big part of our PDS roadmap. It is not the silver bullet. It will not solve it, but it is putting a structure and shape to it. At present, a combination of AON administrative and assessment hubs have been established in each CHO, with each CHO developing an approach to the establishment of a hub based on the unique circumstances that apply in the CH…

Deputy Murnane O'Connor asked specifically about Carlow, hence I brought in the answer. An AON administrative hub providing a centralised location application e-mail database, while spreading AONs across CHOs and the lead operations, is in place in Larkin House, Larkin's Cross, Barntown, Wexford. There are four assessment officers, AOs, of which three positions have been filled, four liaison officers, LOs, of which two have been temporarily assigned to an AO role to address the needs in Waterford, New Ross and Wexf…

The responsibility does not all lie with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth or with the HSE; there is responsibility here as well within the Department of Education. To be quite honest, when we look at the increase since the inception of the Act in its entirety, some part of it may be because the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act itself has not been fully enacted. It may be due to the fact that we do not have enough NEPS psychologists. I acknowledge that t…

One of the overarching goals of the zero tolerance strategy to address domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is ensuring that everyone who needs a refuge space will get one. I am committed to working with my Government colleagues and those in the sector to achieve this. In line with the priority this Government is attaching to tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, we have committed to doubling the number of refuge spaces over the lifetime of the strategy, bringing it to 280 by the end of 2026. T…

I am informed by Tusla that a number of interagency meetings have been held since 2022 to explore how to progress the development of a refuge in Cavan-Monaghan. Some steps have been taken through engagement with two county councils to identify a suitable site. A site at Cootehill in the ownership of Cavan County Council has initially been proposed for consideration. The Tearmann Domestic Abuse Service, which is based in Monaghan and provides services in both counties, recently merged with Safe Ireland. This allows …

I thank Senator Ruane for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, who regrets she cannot be here due to another commitment. As the Senator will be aware, the migration and asylum pact is a set of regulations and policies that aims to create a fairer, efficient and more sustainable migration and asylum process for the EU. The pact, proposed in September 2020, is designed to manage and normalise migration for the long term, thereby providing certainty, clarity a…

I will bring that question to the Minister. The Senator raised it in both her contributions. I will read the closing part of the statement from the Department. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, I again thank the Senator for raising this matter. Negotiations are progressing at pace and I am informed that the Spanish Presidency of the Council would like to have agreement on the final text by the end of the Presidency term, which falls in December. The Department of Justice supports the measures in the pact a…

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly. I thank the Senator for the opportunity to address the issue of the review and updating of the Dentists Act 1985. The practice of dentistry is underpinned by a range of Acts, of which the Dentists Act 1985 is only one. The Department of Health plays an active role in developing and amending relevant legislation to align with best international practice. The Minister for Health is committed to reviewing and updating the Dentists Act 1985.…

I will read the Minister's closing statement and then add my own remarks. I have listened to colleagues across the Chamber and have taken on board the points they have made. I can assure them that ensuring the continued protection of the public and high oral healthcare standards is a priority for the Minister for Health. The Minister is committed to reviewing and updating the Dentists Act 1985. As part of implementation of the national oral health policy additional resources have been allocated within the Departmen…

I thank the Chair and the Senator. When I was in opposition myself, I had a vested interest with three children. I have used the whole array. I have done structured childcare and I have had the childminders. I like the flexibility of a home away from home. I liked the idea that it was not a controlled environment. That is why I am delighted that the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, aims to publish draft childminding regulations early next year for the purpose of public consultation. To me, that public consultation is the…

In my final contribution before I read the closing speech, I want to say that I could not have returned to work or be in the role I am in without the support of a childminder. To me, it is very important that we get this right so that we can support more women in the workforce, more women who need flexibility, and who might even get into politics because we have unsociable hours. Great care is needed in ensuring that we get the regulations right. The national action plan for childminding was itself underpinned by e…