I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I, too, acknowledge the role of carers, who are predominantly women, on International Women's Day. As already stated, I have a plan with the HSE on how to address the backlog relating to assessments of need. This will ensure the CDNTs can focus predominantly on the delivery of interventions. The Deputy is quite right in what she is saying. We have 707 vacancies. The funding is there to fill those posts. To be fair to the HSE, it has started to use international recruitmen…

I am aware of that. We are aiming to fill those.

I too want to begin by wishing all Members a happy International Women's Day. I am delighted that this morning the Government announced the decision to hold a referendum on gender equality, as recommended by the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality and the Joint Committee on Gender Equality. We can all agree that the Constitution's reference to "a woman's place in the home" is, at best, outdated and is long overdue for amendment. The decision to hold one or more referendums on this issue is in line with the progra…

I thank the Deputy for raising this question. I acknowledge the "RTÉ Investigates" programme last night, of which I was aware. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, and CORU will be meeting in the coming weeks to progress this matter. It was the work I did in meeting with families around the country as a Minister of State that put a spotlight on the hurt and pain this issue has caused. I look forward to working with the Minister to pursue the matter further.

I thank Deputy Whitmore for raising that. In fact, I have met with CORU three times over the past 18 months to address a number of issues of what we have covered here today. On the Deputy's primary question about assessment of needs, we have secured €11 million. We will be putting in assessment hubs so that we can clear that backlog as soon as possible.

I thank the Deputy for tabling this important Topical Issue matter. I would appreciate it if I could unpack it. If I am listening correctly, the Deputy's question is to do with the HSE and CDNTs, Holy Angels and preschool services; schools and educational psychologists and NEPS. Let me try to unpack it. With regard to Holy Angels and its receipt of €21,000, the centre is designated under special education in the Department of Education. The funding it received from my Department was a recognition of the service lev…

I am aware of the Deputy's involvement in Holy Angels and I have visited the centre. I again refer to the €11.5 million. That money must be spent to ensure children have a proper assessment of need. We have a Disability Act and we need to work within that. Children need timely intervention. It can no longer be words or lip service. We need action. The Deputy asked me a pertinent question on whether I have confidence in the HSE. My confidence in the HSE is shattered. What will restore my confidence is a pragmatic an…

I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to address the House on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly. I am aware this is an important issue for the people of Clare and the mid-west. The Senator referenced north Tipperary and I would say south Galway would also benefit.

I assure the Senator the Government remains fully committed to improving patient services and ensuring patient-centred care across the country. That commitment can be seen in the unprecedented level of new resources the Government has provided to the HSE over the past three years. This investment is benefiting a huge number of patients accessing care and will ensure hospitals can continue to develop the services they provide, including in the mid-west region. In the context of dialysis services at Ennis General Hos…

It would also be good from the point of view of patient-centred care. Receiving their care in the community and close to home, as opposed to being stuck in traffic trying to get to the hospital, would be good for patients. As already stated, the UL Hospitals Group has made progress recently in seeking to develop its dialysis services and extend them to Ennis. The group’s plan would see a comprehensive, locally available dialysis service providing a range of care to patients from across County Clare and beyond. This…

It is evident from the debate this evening that Members across the House share a commitment and motivation to ensure the ambulance service has the requisite support and resourcing to allow for the delivery of the best possible level of care for patients that is appropriate and timely. There is general consensus that this is achievable with an ambulance service that is appropriately resourced and structured to work as part of a wider system to meet national healthcare policy needs. I reiterate that the Government is…

I thank the Senator for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I will stick to the script. First, I acknowledge the hard work and commitment of all the staff in Bantry General Hospital. The hospital serves a unique, large, rural geographical area, from the peninsulas in the south west, to Clonakilty and Timoleague in the east. Although the hospital serves a population of approximately 60,000 people, during the summer months this figure can increase by 8…

I would like to reiterate that the Government, along with the Department of Health is committed to addressing workforce challenges across the health services to meet the growing needs of the population. We also need to make sure that sustainability model is in place when we look at rural areas. Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, this Government has overseen the largest ever expansion of our healthcare workforce. At present, there are almost 18,000 additional whole-time equivalents working in our health serv…

I thank the Senator for raising this Commencement matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, whose script I will read. If I have time I will also give my own opinion, which I would like to on this one. Person-centred care is an existing core value of the health service, where everyone living in Ireland and considered by the HSE to be ordinarily resident here is entitled to either full or limited eligibility for health services. Persons with full eligibility, those who hold medical cards, …

I did emphasise the word "may" and the reason I did so is that I have yet to see the word come into operation myself. The HSE also uses the word "discretion". I have yet to see the word in operation. When it comes to medical cards, they are two words that are held in the dictionary but not in operational circumstances. There should be a review for the self-employed within the medical card section. This will enable us to see how we can put into effect the idea of discretion within the medical card section for people…

I thank the Senator for raising this topic and for giving me the opportunity to engage with him on it. To put it in context, we are talking specifically of community healthcare organisation, CHO, 7, which covers the Senator's Kildare-Athy region, the surrounds of Maynooth and reaches as far as areas of Dublin. It is important for me to be honest and transparent with the Senator. I thank him for raising the issues of the two families. The Senator is after getting a script but I need to correct something on it. It st…

I will focus on that point because the Senator is correct. There are two different trains of thought on this. To be fair to the HSE, if a child is in need, for example, for occupational therapy, physiotherapy or speech and language therapy, the health needs will be met within the teams. If a child is P1 or P2, that priority listing of behavioural needs, he or she will be seen to because of that need and should not need a diagnosis to access it. However, a diagnosis is needed for education and for social welfare. Th…

I thank the Deputy for raising this two-pronged question this morning. Hopefully, on 1 March, I will be transferred. However, we have had a number of dates in the past so if the Deputy is writing it down I would write it in pencil. I hope it will happen on 1 March. That is a piece of work that is going on at the moment. Regarding the disability capacity review action plan implementation, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth will be doing the heavy lifting on that. We will be final…

The colour of the Government's money has already been shown in the previous budgets. While the disability capacity action plan has not been published, funding has been put in place. The years 2020, 2021 and 2022 saw significant investment in disability. What has been put into disability for the last two years is actually record-breaking and we have addressed the issues the Deputy raised, which needed the investment, including the respite piece and the PA piece. In the most recent budget, the PA piece was allocated …

I will start with the final question and work my way back. Deputy Ó Murchú referred to a ping-pong game. The HSE has a national access policy, NAP, which promotes an integrated approach between primary care, disability and mental health. It might not be done fairly or equally across all CHOs but there are some very good CHOs that are practising that model. In response to Deputy Murnane O'Connor, I accept there has been an unmet need in terms of the number of therapists. When I was appointed, only 3% of the overall …