I thank the Ceann Comhairle for that and I thank my colleague, Deputy Kenny, for raising this issue of funding of the local authority veterinary service. I know how important these services are in our local areas and the work they do. The FSAI is the competent authority with overall responsibility for the enforcement of food safety legislation in Ireland. Enforcement is managed through service contracts between the FSAI and a number of official agencies, including the local authorities, as the Deputy said. Local au…

I again thank the Deputy for raising the issue of funding for local authority veterinary services. As I said, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, and the County and City Management Association, CCMA, have been engaging for some time on the official food controls carried out by the local authority veterinary service under service contracts with the FSAI. It is accepted that the service model required review and the FSAI and CCMA, on behalf of the local authorities, have been in discussion over a new model to…

I am taking this Topical Issue matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, who is unavailable and sends her apologies. The LEADER programme is an EU-funded programme that has been in operation since 1991. It has supported thousands of community-led projects in Ireland and throughout the EU since it was introduced. The current LEADER programme 2014-20 will come to an end this year.  Under that seven-year programme, €168.7 million was allocated for project approvals to the local action groups, LAGs, that deli…

I thank the Deputy again for raising this important issue. I join him in recognising the value of the work LEADER companies and their staff have done over the years. That work has made a huge difference to rural and urban life in our country. The LEADER programme continues to play an important role in the development and enhancement of rural areas by providing critical funding to rural economies and supporting rural communities to continue to develop their own local-led, bottom-up, tailored and place-based approach…

I thank the Acting Chairman. It is great to be back in the House and to address the Seanad in this august Chamber. I address the House in respect of the Health (Amendment) Bill 2020, which concluded its passage through the Dáil earlier today. I welcome the support received in that House for the core principle of the Bill, which is to protect and safeguard the people of Ireland from the spread of Covid-19. There was support expressed in the Dáil today for the main purpose of the Bill, but there were wide-ranging vie…

I thank all of the Senators for their contributions. There was considerable discussion and the House has heard many views. It is a very difficult and dangerous time. I hope that we can come to a resolution. Senator Byrne talked about issues affecting the retail sector such as it not being possible to buy socks in a shop while socks are on sale in large supermarkets. I have heard many retailers and businesses expressing their concern at the unfairness of this. The situation to which the Senator was referring is evol…

The regulation needs to be implemented. I accept that is an issue. Senator McDowell has very strong views and an understanding of the law. I appreciate his views. He has said that the Bill was badly drafted and that he has great difficulties with it. I have to take that on board. He talked about questions as to who was the householder and whether a son would not be deemed to be an occupier and so on. He rightly articulated these issues. The provisions do not cover all circumstances but aim to simplify prosecution. …

I appreciate where Senators are coming from regarding the amendments. I really do not think I can accept amendments because we would have to recall the Dáil and I do not think we can do that at present.

I thank Senators for their views and their amendment but I must oppose it. As a Member of the Oireachtas, I understand the motivation behind this amendment. However, we are living in exceptionally challenging and unprecedented times. As I said in my earlier speech, the Government is battling Covid on a number of fronts, including enforcement. The ability of the Government to make regulations reflecting its decisions on public health measures is vital if we are to succeed. Right now, we are at level 5 of the Governm…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of the provision of the ambulance base located at the Carlow health services complex at St. Dympna's Hospital in Carlow town. The National Ambulance Service is the statutory pre-hospital emergency and intermediate care provider. It seeks to serve the needs of patients and the public as part of an integrated health system through the provision of high-quality, safe and patient-centred services. Carlow ambulance base is an integral part of the ambulance service and has four em…

I thank Deputy Murnane O'Connor for raising the issue of the ambulance base location in Carlow. The ambulance base in Carlow is an integral part of the National Ambulance Service. The capital spend is prioritised by the National Ambulance Service and I have been dealing with this situation over the years. Normally the National Ambulance Service has a say over county boundaries and it has a certain model that works. Works costing €50,000 were carried out at the ambulance base to make it fit for purpose, and I thank …

I thank Deputy Tóibín for raising this issue and giving me the opportunity on behalf of the Minister to update the House on this very important matter. Patricia Carrick's story is indeed harrowing and I will raise many of the issues involved in it with the Minister. A cancer diagnosed in the period of time after a negative screening test and before the next screening test is known as an interval cancer, which unfortunately are an inevitable occurrence in population-based screening programmes. Audit of interval canc…

I reiterate that the Minister supports the future direction within the national screening programme as set out in the expert reference group's reports. The Deputy outlined a few views, which I will relay to the Minister and the Department. The publication of these reports represents another important milestone in implementing the Scally report and the ongoing work to improve public confidence in our cancer screening services. As we all know, screening saves lives and it is important that we have high-quality and su…

I welcome the opportunity to update the House on the opportunities that budget 2021 will provide for the improvement of health and well-being for our citizens. I would like to acknowledge the support of the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, and my fellow Ministers of State, Deputies Butler and Rabbitte, in securing additional resources for health in particular for services for those who need them most. As stated in our programme for Government, the State has a role to play in promoting good physical and mental …

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, on a point of information, which figures is the Deputy looking for? Those on mental health or those on Covid?

I thank the Deputy.

I thank the Deputies throughout the House for their contributions in this vital debate on the Government's response to Covid-19, including the plan for living with Covid-19, Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021. Our overall goal is to reopen our society and economy as safely as possible. This is a challenge facing governments the world over. We have seen the statistics from the WHO in recent days that worldwide case numbers have passed 33 million and worldwide deaths have exceeded 1 million. In many parts of the world…

I want to begin by welcoming the raising of this very important topic by Deputy Ó Cuív. The programme for Government promises to honour our long-standing commitment to the introduction of minimum unit pricing of alcohol products in consultation with Northern Ireland. As Minister of State with responsibility for this issue, I want to assure the House from the outset that there is no ambiguity whatsoever on the importance of this issue or on the need to see progress with the implementation of the Act. As the Deputy r…

Early analysis of the introduction of minimum unit pricing in Scotland shows that the policy is successful in targeting harmful drinking. Scotland introduced minimum pricing in May 2018. Subsequent to its introduction, alcohol consumption figures there were at their lowest rate for 25 years. We have an alcohol issue in this country. Alcohol consumption in Ireland almost trebled over the four decades between 1960 and 2000, from 4.9 l to 12.1 l of pure alcohol per capita aged over 15 years. That dramatic rise came ab…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. In preparing for and responding to Covid-19 and to fully align with public health guidance as recommended by NPHET, the HSE and its partner service providers put in place a range of measures. These included the prioritisation of vital residential and home support services, while curtailing or closing certain services, such as day services as well as certain clinical supports, in order to prioritise essential public health services at community healthcare organisa…