Absolutely.

Exactly. It is important for us to understand what we are talking about and where some of the gaps in the service are. This model represents international best practice and has been highlighted by the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, as a way to improve response times and NAS performance generally. Using this model does mean that non-serious or non-life-threatening calls will sometimes experience a longer wait for an ambulance. The wait times for lower-acuity calls have presented a particular challen…

I assure the House that the Government is committed to the strategic reform of the National Ambulance Service. I will take on board everything the Deputy has said. Let us have action and meet with the HSE and CHO 4 to see what plans they have to ensure that there are not repeated instances of what the Deputy has spoken about today. I know that Deputy MacSharry was also originally to be a contributor to this so perhaps we should have a meeting with CHO 1. We found it beneficial when we had a cross-party meeting rega…

I am delighted to outline that, following yesterday's announcement, the overall budget for disability services in 2022 will reach €2.3 billion. I am also pleased to detail a package of €105 million provided for our disability services in 2022. To clear up any confusion over what this consists of, I am happy to provide a clear breakdown of this figure. A sum of €50 million will be provided to support existing levels of services, ELS, which takes into consideration demographics, changing needs, pay awards, non-pay in…

My Department supports people with disabilities through a range of initiatives, and particular priority is given to removing barriers to, and supporting people in, active participation in public life, politics and policymaking. I watched the meeting of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters, which had an active conversation on the subject. It continued to the Make Way Day conversation. I am currently advancing the preparation of the assisted decision-making (capacity) (amendment) Bill, which will provide for an …

The Deputy mentioned the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Its ratification in 2018 marked an important milestone in the process of strengthening the rights of people with disabilities. The Deputy spoke about electoral reform. Dr. Vivian Rath produced a document. He has the lived experience and he was able to bring people with him to inform our committee meetings of the barriers to understanding. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and…

That is a fantastic question. I ask him to consider my voice within a three-party government. I would like to think I have a significant advocacy role for persons with disability. The Taoiseach put me working with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman. It would not be possible to have two more open-minded people within that Department who are strong advocates for inclusion and equality for persons with disability. I would like to think that our leaders and our parties have disabilities at the centre of their agenda at all …

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important question. He is quite correct in saying this is part of our commitments in the programme for Government.

I thank the Deputy again. There are three elements to this, with the first being the securing of funding last year in the budget. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, was successful in doing that and the funding ensures we can recruit staff to work on the decision support services. That is in train and the funding, which was in excess of €3 million, was secured. That work is under way to ensure we deliver on the target of having a decision support service in place by June to July of next year. The next element is the leg…

I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to speak on budgetary matters. My budget is not finalised at this moment in time. I am still in negotiation with the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, for my fair share for disability. The Deputy is correct; intervention has to be the priority. There is no point in clearing an assessment of needs waiting list if I cannot deliver on intervention. I need more money for therapists. I need to build on the 100 therapists I got last year and the 85 earlier this year. I…

I thank Deputy Funchion for bringing forward this Private Members' motion. I was on the children's committee of which Deputy Funchion was also a member and I know how dedicated she is to this area. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and I are equally committed to it. I thank our childcare workers and providers for their commitment and work throughout the pandemic. I welcome the opportunity to debate this motion on the early care sector. I will be supporting the amendment put forward by the Minister. I will explain why.…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue today. I am replying on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. We care, society cares and the Government cares. The continued development of specialist services for eating disorders, including improved access and shorter waiting lists, remain a key priority for the Government, the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, Deputy Butler, the Department and the HSE. In response to the growth in the number of cases presenting to mental health services, …

The continued development of a special service for eating disorders, including improved access and shorter waiting lists, remains a key priority for the Government, the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, the Department of Health and the HSE. As stated, €3.94 million is available to the national clinical programme for eating disorders and will enable further investment in specialist posts throughout the year. Only last night, the Minister of State acknowledged in the House that there is a fundamental flaw with r…

Hear, hear.

I thank Senator Conway for raising this matter. We have spoken about it previously and I fully agree with everything he has said. I will address the Senator's concerns under the three categories he raised, namely, the plan, the vaccination centres and the costings. In 2009, the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, recommended the HPV vaccination for all 12- and 13-year-old girls to reduce their risk of developing cervical cancer when they are adults. In September 2010, the HPV vaccination programme was i…

Just before I came to the House today, I met the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, because I was taking this Commencement matter and the issue raised is a serious one. I have two girls and I have inquired about the cost of getting the vaccine. Senator Conway is correct; it is between €400 and €600. I want my daughters vaccinated but, like many other parents, I would like to bridge the gap and bring the current vaccination rate of 73% or 80% up to 100%. We must ensure we make the vaccine available free o…

Yes. That is the hope.

That is a personal attack.

The main point I want to address is the Opposition's claim that children with additional needs are forced to wait an average of 19 months for an assessment of need, despite the legal right of three months. As I have said in the House a number of times, one of my priorities on assuming ministerial responsibility for disability was to remedy the number of overdue assessments of need for children across the country. At the end of June 2020, the backlog had risen to approximately 6,500 children. Having successfully sec…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter tonight. I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. I do not know what context the Deputy has or how much he knows, so I will read out the script that has been prepared but I do so while very conscious that there are two families watching us tonight, those of the parents of Kate and Theo, whom the Deputy is representing in raising this Topical Issue matter. I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter regarding the availability of, and reim…