I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: “Dáil Éireann resolves that the Autism Spectrum Disorder Bill 2017 [ Seanad ] be deemed to be read a second time this day twelve months to allow time for development and implementation of a national Autism Innovation Strategy, in line with commitments under the Programme for Government.” I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I welcome the opportunity to participate in today's debate on issues of support for persons with autism and t…

That was changed.

Absolutely not. Closest to home and closest to the school is part of the rules and regulations of the HSE.

Let us call that what it is: a lack of action on the part of the SENO in that particular area. That should not be happening.

To be honest, if the Government had brought in this Bill in 2017, I and other Deputies in this House would have supported it. It is disingenuous to say we do not want to support it because we do.

I will split my time. I will spend eight minutes delivering the Minister's speech and I will then take two minutes to address some of the issues that have arisen. I thank all of those who have contributed to this evening's debate. As the Minister said in his opening remarks, access to high-quality healthcare when it is needed must be available to every girl, boy, woman and man if we are to be true to the vision of universal healthcare. It is pleasing to hear voices from all sides expressing their strong support. A …

I am delighted to have the opportunity to answer this question. I will break it down as quickly as I can. The first €50 million is for the existing level of services. Another €55 million is for new developments. These new developments will be made up of a suite of measures in different areas. I want to talk about therapy posts and administrative work. Approximately €9 million has been left aside for that. That is, by and large, for therapy posts and administrative work. It seeks to ensure we can add to each of the …

The disability capacity review was written in 2018. Since then, €530 million has been allocated to the disability sector and €240 million has been invested in new developments. Given the difference between €240 million and €350 million, the Deputy can see exactly what we are short. This gives the House a guideline as to what my framework document is aiming for by, I hope, the end of this year or early next year. Another line in the budget was the transitioning of 144 people as part of decongregation, which will add…

I am not waiting for the HSE service plan next March to tell me what its priorities are. I am outlining on the floor of the Dáil right now what the priorities are. I am indicating to the various CHO managers that they should start planning now and not to wait until next March. I am telling the HSE that we always need to be planning. I do not have a multi-annual budget. If I had one element of the disability capacity review that I could wish for, I would love to have multi-annual budgets for respite services, PA hou…

I thank the Deputy for raising the question and for the opportunity to answer it. In August 2020, additional Sláintecare funding of €7.8 million was provided to the HSE to address the issue of overdue assessments of need. The funding was provided on a once-off and strictly time-bound basis to eliminate all assessments of need overdue by 30 June 2020. While the number of overdue assessments of need stood at 6,558 in June 2020, through a combination of different measures, by the end of September 2021, approximately 6…

Let us be very clear. In budget 2021, I secured 100 therapy posts and halfway through the year, because of the way the progressing disability services model, PDS, was rolling out, I was fortunate, along with the Minister, to secure an additional 85 therapists posts. Coming out of budget 2022, we have secured 190 therapist and administrative staff. They will be added to the 91 teams and we are adding the administrative staff. The purpose of the administrative staff is I have speech and language and occupational ther…

I am a stickler for timelines. Key performance indicators will be set. Let there be no doubt about this. I will know exactly how many are on each team. I will know what the caseload is and I will meet with HSE officials on a monthly basis, with each of the CHOs and out of that, I will have the team leads and they will tell me exactly what they are delivering in respect of occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, psychology and behavioural therapy. I will monitor them on a month-by-month bas…

I thank Senator Byrne for raising this issue today, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I will read the statement but I have my own opinions, which I will add at the end if that is okay.

I compliment the Senator on her understanding of the value of the nurses we are speaking about and the impact they have on patients. I know this is an issue close to her heart and one she has raised on previous occasions. I also understand how important it is to the people of the mid-west that such services are available when needed and that they are adequately resourced and staffed. In this regard, the Government and Department of Health are fully committed to improving patient services and having patient-centred …

The Minister, in his prepared concluding statement, reiterates that the Government, along with the Department of Health, is fully committed to improving services and having patient-centred care in Limerick and throughout the country. This was reflected with the significant funding allocated to improving our health services in budget 2022. University Limerick Hospitals Group is fully cognisant of the need for additional resources within the neurological services. That is why it continues to develop the service and i…

I thank the Deputy for raising this question this evening and welcome the opportunity to address the House on the issue. Irish Sign Language is a matter of significant importance to me. I will put on the record that I met with families and with ISL interpreters. I have engaged with users of ISL and know how important it is to them that they can use ISL when accessing key services. There are an estimated 5,000 deaf people in Ireland. An additional 40,000 people rely on ISL to communicate. The Irish Sign Language Act…

Yet again, I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Anybody who is listing to the debate this evening might not realise the relevance of the Irish Sign Language Act that was signed into law 2017 and the commencement order that we brought forward in December 2020. It was not just one Department, however. It was a whole-of-government approach across all Departments and all public bodies. The Deputy referenced the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. To me, that is only a new…

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and compliment him on the videos he has produced in the past number of weeks. They are simple and snappy. I also thank him for his comments on the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and his Department and the work he has put in for the past number of months to support all our parties that have made this happen. There has been a step change in the past number of days. The programme for Government commits to: Establish [a dedicated] agency, Childcare Ireland, to assist in the expansi…

Well-being has to be at the core of anything we do with the childcare model. We have the well-being of our children at the centre, along with the well-being of the staff, and the well-being of the families. It has to be embedded in the community. The Deputy mentioned disadvantaged areas. It is not embedded within our county development plan in rural Ireland. The city and county childcare committees researched whether they are too close to each other. We should have community childcare facilities in every parish and…

This is the second time I have had to reply about ambulance service in the House. The last time I replied to Deputy Ó Cuív and his colleagues. I am glad to report that they have since received their ambulance in Connemara. We have, therefore, made a little progress on ambulances. I am going to read a script on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I will convey everything the Deputy said to the Minister. The Deputy might not have realised that I happen to know where Duhallow is. He had me down…