Ireland signed up to the directive and we committed to stepping up to join the international effort to support those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine. As one can see for the contributions from my colleagues here today, there has been a vast amount of time and effort spent working on Ireland's response to the horrific conflict in Ukraine. We are nearly three months into this horrendous war and, while the daily pictures of people leaving their homes in droves to seek safe haven elsewhere have somewhat dissipated, the …

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. As the Deputy will be aware, I am keenly aware of the critical importance of respite for loved ones and families of those with a disability and I am deeply committed to expanding the respite service, both in terms of quantity of hours and in terms of locations throughout the country. Basically, let me explain it to Deputy Tully like this. When I did the budget in 2021, because of the cost involved my ambition was that I would provide one respite house in each com…

I thank the Deputy. I will have a conversation outside of the House about what the Deputy is saying, but she is correct. The structure and the design of the houses I have come across perhaps do not address the needs, the challenging behaviour needs or the emergency cases that I would normally have come across. I saw a really good house design recently in Swords. The Talbot Group is changed with the delivery of the care there. I describe it as the house with two front doors. One front door caters for four or five ch…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue matter. If memory serves me correctly, this is our fourth time to have a Topical Issue debate on this and it is normally on a Thursday night and it is normally No. 4. In saying that, I thank Deputy Pringle for raising this important issue for discussion and his continued work and advocacy on such issues in Donegal. I welcome the report by the chief inspector of social services in HIQA into the governance and safeguarding in HSE-designated centres for peop…

We all agree that the safety and protection of vulnerable people is paramount and continue to strive to work together for this objective. If one of the reasons why the Brandon report was not published was industrial relations or human resources issues because of the identification of a particular layer in HSE management, well HIQA has done it now. The chief inspector has indicated that there is an inspection programme in the CHO to verify the implementation of the HSE improvement plan and to confirm where the actio…

No, because the Acting Chairman let me go.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to return to the House to correct the record of the Dáil. When responding to a Topical Issue debate raised by Deputy Gannon which was taken on 17 February 2022, I indicated from my script that the unlicensed product Cariban is considered to be a food supplement in Ireland. This was incorrect. The Department of Health officials have since been advised by the Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA, that it would not be appropriate to classify Cariban as a food supplemen…

There is no doubt there was a vacuum in disability services. We are reinstating respite services for adults and children. The question is really about respite for older people. I do not have an answer for the Deputy. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, to provide an answer later. I spoke to her last night about home care support in Galway and how many were on a waiting list for home care support. She told me 51 people are awaiting home care support. I will address the respite issue with the Minister of…

I saw the correspondence again this week and I am assured a meeting will be set up with Deputies Carroll MacNeill and Devlin, the family and the HSE to resolve this. We need consistency and a standard operating procedure for all, regardless of where in the country they live. We need access to universal care, which is the same in Galway as it would be in the Deputy's area. That will be addressed.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am aware it is taking a long time to recruit to those posts. I have been in contact with the HSE. It is re-advertising some of those positions. It is a failure within the HSE that it takes so long, approximately 40 weeks, to fill a post. We are all addressing it across Government.

I thank the Deputy for raising the question today and for giving me the opportunity to bring the House up to speed on it. I met earlier this week with the Minister of State, Deputy English, on the matter and I will be meeting with the school principal, Maria, before the end of May to discuss the issue and to have a positive outcome with her.

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins. These speaking notes are his. However, I will, as a former banker, answer some of the Senator's questions at the end. I thank Senator Hoey for raising this important issue, which has recently been brought to the Minister of State's attention. The loans available to GEM students are private arrangements between the relevant lenders and the students applying for such loans. Notwithstanding this, the Department has been made aware of rep…

The Government is looking into the matter. The loan's withdrawal was not of the Government's doing; it was sprung upon the Government, and now the Government is dealing with the matter as quickly as it can. The Minister of State has made it clear that he is in talks with the bank. The Senator is right, in that the risk attached to this loan is minimal. That is why the bank is prepared to delay for four years, with no repayments. It will suspend interest for those four years as well. There is a market to recruit int…

I thank the Senator for the opportunity to address the House on this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I fully understand how important University Hospital of Limerick, UHL, is to the people of the mid-west and, indeed, that it is adequately resourced and staffed. In that regard, this Government, along with the Department of Health, is fully committed to improving patient services and having patient-centred care in Limerick. That commitment is reflected in the unprecedented level…

I again thank the Senator. I am all for a decisive and independent external review. I am all for leaving the vested interests of the HSE, management, the Department of Health and the hospital group outside the door. That is absolutely my position. However, that does not solve the issue for the 111 people on trolleys today. I believe there must be triaging of the issue. I compliment the management within the hospital group for what it has done with the facilities at Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's hospitals. I also com…

I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. The Government has long recognised the particular disadvantages the Traveller community faces, and the importance of implementing specific strategies and policies to address these disadvantages. The Government’s approach to improving the lives of the Traveller community is outlined in the national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy. This is a cross-departmental initiative that contains …

I again thank the Senator. I appreciate that she is not doing this on her own behalf but on behalf of the Traveller community. When I leave here today I will ask Deputy Butler to meet the Senator to discuss this matter. As she recognised, I am not Deputy Butler so I am not in charge of the entire brief but I will facilitate a meeting between her and the Senator to address the actions that have been laid out.

I thank the Deputy. The matter he submitted in writing related to the lack of short-term and long-term respite services in east Cork but, regrettably, my prepared response focuses entirely on disability services.

The Deputy's question related specifically to the Owenacurra centre. It would show my ignorance if I did not understand what the Owenacurra centre is. I do understand what it is; it provides respite in respect of mental health supports. My prepared contribution relates to a totally different matter, so it would be disrespectful of me not to acknowledge the Deputy's questions about the Owenacurra site. I understand it exactly and everything he has raised. I do not have a prepared answer to hand, but I will take on b…

I certainly will. As Minister of State with responsibility for mental health respite, this is one of Deputy Butler's priorities, so I will certainly convey the Deputy's points to her. Respite is also a priority for me within disability services. For me to stand here and tell the Deputy I know of a house that is closed because we cannot staff it is extraordinary. We have to question why we cannot staff it. I know there are shortages everywhere else but sometimes we have to look at the wages and what we pay people wh…