Has there been engagement with the third level institutions? Is it a case that the Department will have to provide the funding to those institutions to enable them to provide the refunds? When will that process commence?

I refer to the PhD students who will get the additional €500 as part of their stipend. When is that likely to be paid? Is provision made for that in 2022?

Additional money has been made available in the budget to give further support to private nursing homes. However, there is concern that the Department has not engaged regarding when this money will be made available. As the Tánaiste is aware, 16 nursing homes have closed since January. We need to get people out of hospital and into step-down facilities and there is an urgent need for that additional support to be given. There has been a significant increase in costs in the past two years, along with the current inc…

I wish to discuss the need for additional supports for private nursing homes. As the Minister of State is aware, 16 private nursing homes have closed over the past 12 months alone. There are more than 30,000 residents between public and private nursing homes. Approximately 7,000 of them are in public nursing homes, with in excess of 23,000 in private ones. The cost base of each nursing home varies, but the average for a public nursing home is approximately €1,650 per bed per week whereas the average for a private n…

I thank the Minister of State. I very much appreciate the work Deputy Butler has done since she became Minister of State to ensure funding is available. The current pressure means that nursing homes would like if the Department came forward with proposals at the earliest possible date. We are discussing the opening of four new nursing homes, but 16 have closed. The major change that is coming is that there are currently 760,000 people aged over 65 years but within eight years that figure will be 1 million, an incre…

I welcome the Bill. It is very timely. In particular when there is a significant growth in jobs in this country, it is important that we have people who are able to fill the jobs. An amazing change has occurred in the past ten years in terms of the unemployment levels coming down and employers now finding that there is a shortage of workers, and therefore we must respond accordingly. It is important as well that we provide protection for people who were born here, who have gone through the education process and who…

I thank the Minister for the reply. I tabled Question No. 88 also on this matter. I refer in particular to the large number of children left without transport in a particular area such as Glenville in my constituency. My concern about that area was that these were children who wanted to go to school in Fermoy. The school authorities from Fermoy attended the primary school and advised that Glenville was a feeder school for them but now we find that more than 20 children have been left without school transport to Fer…

I ask that formal recognition be given to teachers working in the Cork Life Centre, that funding be provided by the Department for the payment of teachers at the centre, and that the Minister make a statement on the matter.

I accept that major progress has been made on the provision of funding to the centre. The centre lost eight teachers in June who had an average of six years' experience. At any one time there are 55 students in the centre. These are students who have dropped out of school. I worked with the Blackpool Glen Farranree Community Youth Training Centre where we had full funding. We had more than 50 young people who had dropped out of school, many of whom were referred to us by the Garda Síochána. When a research project …

Could we give serious consideration to increasing the funding for the centre?

I fully understand where the Minister is coming from. My colleague Deputy O'Sullivan has raised the matter with the Minister by way of a Topical Issue debate. Both of us are very concerned about this. We have 55 children there who are being looked after in a very caring way. They are getting education they might not otherwise get. Again, I go back to the facility of which I was chair of the board for some years in Blackpool, which has 50 children at any one time. We had full funding and support. The facility is sti…

Are staff from the early years sector eligible to work on the summer programme and will the Minister of State make a statement on the matter?

I thank both the Minister and the Minister of State for making funding available at such an early date. It will allow for long-term planning and help to ensure the full programme for the summer will be planned out with people involved in it. The issue with early years sector employees, however, is that they are paid for 38 weeks of the year and must sign on during the summer. It is important that we allow them to participate in this programme and that they are included. They have a huge contribution to make. It is …

I presume there will be engagement with people who are working in the early years school sector in order that they will be made aware that they can become more involved in it. The other issue is whether the Minister of State's Department is setting targets for trying to increase the number of schools that are participating, while also increasing the number of young people, students and children who will benefit from it.

I welcome the Bill and thank the Minister of State and her Department for the work done in progressing it. It is important that regulation and legislation be kept up to date at all times. This is the third or fourth Bill we have dealt with regarding registration. The CORU figures for 2017 to 2021, which include social workers, medical scientists and physiotherapists, are interesting. The number registered has increased from 12,574 in 2017 to more than 22,866 in 2021. There has been a significant change in the numbe…

I thank the Minister of State for bringing forward this Bill. While there has been a drop in the cost of insurance, I am wondering if the cost of insurance could have come down more in view of the fact that the average PIAB award has decreased by 42% to €13,525. We have not seen the same decrease in insurance costs. It is something that we need to get a far better response on from the insurance industry. In fairness, Departments over years have brought forward legislation to assist in making the process cheaper to …

I thank the Ministers for being here this evening for this debate on the budget. I welcome the fact that there is now over €23 billion being set aside in the health budget for 2023. It is extremely important that we continue to grow and develop our healthcare services and that we try to identify the areas where additional funding is required. We have done this in the budget, in the sense that €443 million has been set aside for dealing with waiting lists. It is extremely important that we use that money effectively…

This question may have been drafted before the announcement. When will the extension of parent's benefit from five to seven weeks take effect? How many parents have availed of parent's benefit to date? Will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

I thank the Minister. I am aware that the extension has only come into place since 1 July. I presume there is budgetary planning in respect of this. Does the Department have any idea of the numbers it expects to benefit from this scheme between now and 31 December? With regard to ongoing planning, what is proposed to adequately plan for 2023 and 2024 to make sure there is adequate funding for the benefit if there is a further increase in numbers again?

The Minister will be aware that it is now a very challenging time for young families around the pressures of work and perhaps people do not take the time immediately after their child is born. Will the Department be looking at the issue of caring and childcare in the budget in the context of forward planning? It is an extremely important area. I very much welcome the extension in the parent's benefits because it is important for parents that they can get this time after a child is born, and particularly in the firs…