I am raising this issue because of a report published in the last week, namely, the National Paediatric Mortality Register Annual Report 2025. It sets out the concerns about the lack of a centralised, universalised reporting system for reporting and analysing child deaths. This is hindering progress in addressing the root causes. What steps is the Minister of State taking to address this issue? The report covers the audit from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2023. It shows that deaths of children are higher in some a…

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. The recommendations are quite clear. Recommendation 1 is "The National Office of Clinical Audit (NOCA) must urgently progress the implementation of an electronic data collection system in order to allow for the timely submission of CYP mortality data to the NPMR". It is a clear recommendation. Recommendation 2 is that there would be a "detailed analysis of infection-related deaths". Recommendation 3 is that "NOCA should contribute to the evidence base required to inform …

I thank the Minister of State.

Cork North-Central is where more than €35 billion is coming from Apple into the Exchequer. I raise the issue of the north ring road, which is north of the city. In the past two years, not one brown cent has been made available for the development of the strategic plan for the northside of Cork city. Funding has been provided for the distributor road, which is also important. The Tánaiste mentioned the capital programme. I ask that the north ring road is not excluded in view of the fact that not one cent has been pr…

I thank the Acting Chairperson. I am here on behalf of the Minister for Education. I thank the Senator for the opportunity to update the House on this important matter. The State Examinations Commission, or the SEC, has responsibility for operational matters relating to State examinations. There is a reasonable accommodations at certificate examinations, RACE, scheme which facilitates access for candidates who would have difficulty in accessing examinations or communicating what they know to an examiner because of …

I think the Senator would acknowledge that the SEC in the past has taken on board the concerns of both parents and students and has developed a comprehensive scheme. It is important there is a review. As mentioned earlier, almost one in four candidates in the 2024 certificate examinations was provided with some form of reasonable accommodation within the RACE scheme to support them in accessing the State examinations, underlying the importance of the scheme. The SEC has affirmed that its review of the RACE scheme w…

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Education. I think Thomas Byrne was to take it but he is in the Dáil dealing with a number of matters. I thank the Senator for raising this matter. Before I address the specific issue raised, I will provide an outline of the extent of the school transport scheme. The school transport scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023-24 school year, over 163,800 children were transported daily to primar…

I understand the Senator's frustration. This was the response I was given by the Department of Education. In fairness to the Department, it is continuing to review the situation. From my experience, I know that one of the challenges in several areas is getting drivers. It is a challenge. By the way, the closing statement I have here refers to the Senator as a Deputy. I am sure this was someone looking to the future. I thank the Senator for the opportunity to update him on the ongoing work on the school transport 20…

I thank the Senator. I apologise that the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, is not available to do the reply. She has asked me to deal with it on her behalf. A priority for this Government is to ensure that all children have an appropriate school placement and that the necessary supports are provided to our schools to ensure the needs of children with special educational needs are met. It is important to remember that the vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream …

In October 2022, the Department wrote to all post-primary schools requesting each school begin planning to provide for up to four special classes to meet the needs of children progressing from primary school. Just last month, the Department issued a circular to all schools setting out new measures to support the forward planning of special education provision. Included in this circular was a reminder of the need for post-primary schools to continue with planning for this level of provision. As a result of this forw…

I thank the Senator. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister. I apologise that he could not be here today to take this Commencement matter. The carriage of munitions of war is prohibited on any civil aircraft in Irish sovereign territory or on an Irish-registered civil aircraft, wherever it may be operating, unless an exemption is granted by the Minister for Transport. This is implemented in Irish law through the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Orders 1973 and 19…

The legislation underpinning the carriage of munitions of war in civil aircraft was drafted in the 1970s, with amendments made in the 1980s. The context in which it was written pre-dates the significant growth seen in aviation in the following decades. As a result, it is deemed appropriate to update the legislation to ensure it is fit for purpose for the present day. The Minister for Transport has previously expressed a desire to put in place a system of random inspections of civil aircraft that have been granted e…

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I know she is very passionate about it and, in fact, has been instrumental in getting the changes about which she spoke. Unfortunately, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, is unavailable to take this Commencement matter and has asked me to take it on his behalf. I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to inform the House of the up-to-date position in respect of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024, the upcoming second amendment Bill and the setting up o…

I understand where the Senator is coming from. She has done a huge amount of work over a long number of years on this issue, which is important. It is also important that we cross all the t's and dot all the i's to make sure that there is no constitutional challenge. We are talking about retrospective orders, which are always a challenge in relation to anything that is done in the whole legal process. The Minister is determined to seek a way to speedily and appropriately resolve the predicaments and uncertainties f…

I thank the Deputy and welcome the opportunity to inform the House on the current position relating to naloxone. A strategic priority in the national drugs strategy is to develop integrated care pathways and harm-reduction responses for high-risk drug users, including people who are homeless, offenders, stimulant users, and injecting drug-users, in order to achieve better health outcomes and to reduce drug-induced deaths. The Health Research Board recently reported that 354 drug-induced deaths were recorded in 2021…

More than 2,000 people participated in overdose awareness and naloxone administration training in 2023. The work is ongoing in relation to having more people trained in its administration. Regarding availability, more than 6,000 units were given out last year, with 4,000 units distributed by July of this year. It is available where we believe there is a need for it. The international overdose awareness day on 30 August provided an opportunity to remember those who have died of drug overdoses and raise awareness of …

I thank all the speakers today for contributing their views on this matter. I reiterate what the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, said in respect of the value we place on all the staff working in our health service. These are the people working tirelessly daily to provide care to those most in need right across the country. The Members here went through each of the hospitals in their own local areas. I am very much familiar with the hospitals around the country and the challenges they face. As highlighted by the Minister…

There are 422 treatment centres around the country dealing with drug and alcohol addiction. Last year, over 13,000 people received treatment for drug addiction and 8,000 people received treatment for alcohol addiction. Additional funding has been allocated for this year. The case of Tabor Lodge only came to my attention in May 2024. I understand that the capital funding it requires will come in under the HSE budget but that is a decision for the HSE at local level.

I thank the Senator for raising the important matter of the emergency department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, and welcome the opportunity to update the House on it. The Government and the Minister for Health are committed to the ongoing development of hospitals, such as that in Drogheda. The Government has allocated significant resources to meet the needs of patients using the hospital. Staffing at the hospital has grown by 351 since January 2020, from 2,299 staff then to 2,650 staff in March 2024, …

I thank the Senator. It is important to recognise that Drogheda hospital is an extremely important hospital, serving the population of the north east. The Senator is correct that the population is increasing and will continue to increase. The staffing levels, as I have outlined, have increased. The budget has increased by more than 27% from approximately €200 million to €260 million. There are plans for new beds over the next three to four years. The target date is for 96 new beds to be delivered between March 2025…