We will fact-check that for the Taoiseach.

He is not. It will be the Minister of State from the Waterford constituency.

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recalls that the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026, the third such strategy, was launched in 2017 with a then-estimated cost of €140 million additional current expenditure by 2026; notes that: — the Government has only properly funded the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 in two of the last five years and has not revised the funding requirements in light of inflation, unpredicted demographic changes, or the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic; — only one of the 23 objectives of the National…

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Sometimes you have to own your own failures. I am looking at the countermotion from the Government. Not only does the Government not own its own failures, but in a breathtaking and very arrogant and deliberate way, it actually misrepresents what has been said by all those healthcare professionals who have come out very strongly with regard to the lack of funding for the national cancer strategy and, indeed, the Irish Cancer Society. In its countermotion, the Government states that there has been an "improvement in …

It is not agreed.

I think I have five minutes. Is that correct?

I move: That Dáil Éireann: acknowledges that: — the survey of the career intentions of graduates of the four-year General Practice training programme, carried out by the Irish College of General Practitioners in mid-2023, showed that over two thirds (78.4 per cent) of recent graduates saw their future career in Ireland; — General Practice is a vital part of our health service and needs to be supported and developed to ensure that patients have alternative care pathways to hospitals and Emergency Departments; and — …

Hear, hear.

I thank all the speakers who supported the motion. I also acknowledge that the Government is not opposing the motion but I ask the Minister of State present and the Cabinet to go much further and deliver on the recommendations. As my colleague an Teachta Conway-Walsh said, in reality, given the news today, we need a general election and we need to give the people the opportunity to vote for the Government they want and a Government that will actually deal with the many challenges we have in our health service. I ha…

Hear, hear.

I have a grá for carers - I imagine everybody in this House does - because of the work they do. A number of weeks ago I was asked to visit the home of a person who was being cared for and there was an issue that they were asking me to assist with. The carer was present in the house. What struck me was that the carer was an older lady who was looking after her husband, and she had great difficulty lifting her husband from the bed, yet that is what she had to do every day. If we look at the tasks that carers do to lo…

The first question is with regard to the Minister's plans to reduce waiting lists for access to children's healthcare. In recent weeks, we have had some lengthy debates on children with scoliosis and spina bifida and this week we have discussed mental health services and child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. My question is specifically on the overall children's health waiting lists. What plans does the Minister have in place to reduce the number of children waiting and the length of time they are wait…

People will be wary of promises made, such as those that were made to children with scoliosis. I accept, however, the Minister's statement that this is a target and that everything needs to be done to ensure we reach it. It is the Sláintecare goal and we have to implement it. There are still far too many children waiting beyond the Sláintecare targets. There are 9,910 children on inpatient waiting lists, of whom 72% have been waiting more than 12 weeks. There are 79,241 children on outpatient lists, of whom 74% hav…

We all accept - I certainly do - that each and every hospital should comply with data sharing. It is very important for the health system generally and for clinicians to have data across all hospitals. It is also important for policy and the wider health services in terms of the Department, the HSE and the political system. I agree with that. The difficulty with pausing capital investment is that patients suffer. At the end of the day, it is not the hospital manager who will suffer if that occurs. What will happen …

Earlier this week, I raised with the Taoiseach and, I think, the Minister the issue of some healthcare professionals and allied professionals who are receiving letters about their annual leave prospects informing them these will be constrained because of the recruitment embargo. As the Minister knows, I am not a supporter of this embargo. How long will it last, what are the current ceilings for recruitment of staff for 2024 and how will they impact on service provision for this year?

This is the first time the Minister, or anyone in Government, has accepted that this pause, or what many would call an embargo, is, as he puts it, causing real pressures in hospitals. Every time we have raised this until now, we have received a completely different response, which is to say there is nothing to see here and it is not having an impact. I raised these precise issues in recent months. Indeed, when the freeze was first put in place, I contacted hospital managers and chief officers across the State to ge…

I do not see it is a case of either-or. We should always challenge the healthcare system. We should always challenge those at the top in the system to achieve greater productivity and to ensure we are getting value for money and efficiencies. That should go without saying. My understanding is - the Minister often boasts about it and I accept it is an achievement - that the net increase in staff in each of the past three years was, on average, approximately 6,000, give or take. This year it will be much less than th…

Last week, we had a debate in this Chamber on the need for improved services for children with scoliosis and spina bifida. During the course of that debate and in the lead-up to it, I met many of their parents and the children themselves and heard many heartbreaking stories. Today, we are talking about young children and young adults who have mental health difficulties and challenges and whose parents are telling us of their experiences. They are, again, experiences of a lack of services, a lack of opportunities, l…