I move: Tuesday's business shall be: - Motion re Statement of Estimates for the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (without debate) - Motion re Sittings and Business of the Dáil (without debate) - Statements on School Transport 2023/2024 School Year ( not to exceed 147 minutes ) Tuesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Childcare Fees, selected by Sinn Féin. Wednesday's business shall be: - Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023 (Second Stage) (if not previously concluded, …

I will answer this question. The north inner city drug and alcohol task force plays an invaluable role in addressing drug problems in line with the national drugs strategy and in the north-east inner city. The decision to reconstitute the task force followed extensive consultation with former members of the task force and local stakeholders. I have been in this role for the past six months and from my point of view it is very important that we get this task force back up and running. We want to make sure we have ad…

I move: That, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, or in the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders, and unless the Dáil shall otherwise order, the following arrangements shall apply in relation to the sittings of the Dáil on 10th, 11th and 12th October, 2023: (1) ( a ) in relation to the times of sittings, the suspension of the sitting and the adjournment of the House— (i) the Dáil shall meet at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, and at 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday; (ii) subject…

The Ceann Comhairle is right.

I move: Tuesday's business shall be: - Motion re Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions (without debate) - Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023 - Motion for a Financial Resolution (without debate) - Statements and Questions and Answers on Children's Health Ireland Patient safety concerns and reviews in paediatric orthopaedic surgical services (statements for 137 mins, followed by 60 mins Q&A, followed by Ministerial response for 10 mins) Tuesday's private members' business…

I am sharing time with Deputy Durkan. I want to begin by acknowledging the anxiety that many young patients and their families will be feeling this week, particularly the young patients who are directly involved in these reviews and incidents, as well as their parents and their families. Openness, transparency and learning for patients and families must be at the heart of our health service. These families must continue to be our priority as we move forward with a response to what has happened. I also want to take …

The Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, unfortunately cannot attend this morning as he is at the United Nations. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and I will take some of his questions. Timely completion of the new national children’s hospital, NCH, is a Government priority. Everything is being done to ensure it is completed as soon as possible. It is 90% complete against contract value. Substantial completion is informed by the main contractor's, BAM, programme outlining how and when it will complete the last 1…

I reassure the Deputy that the Minister will come before the House next Tuesday regarding that issue. I reiterate the importance of the completion of the children's hospital. The NPHDB, which entered into the construction contract with BAM on behalf of the State, is doing everything it can to hold the contractor accountable for its delivery programme. There is continuous engagement between officials within the Department of Health, the HSE, the NPHDB and Children's Health Ireland. The Secretary General of the Depar…

I assure the Deputy this is an absolute priority for the Minister and the Government. As I said, there is continuous engagement between departmental officials, the HSE, the NPHDB and CHI. The Secretary General has written to BAM outlining his expectations around the completion date. We will keep the Deputy updated on this matter. It is an absolute priority.

I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister who, as the Deputy knows, cannot be here. It is important to acknowledge the vital role that section 39 and section 56 organisations and their staff play in our health and social care sectors. They continue to have a key role in providing services to people with disabilities, vulnerable children, older people and in other social care settings. The Government has a clear interest in ensuring the stability and sustainability of these services. The Department of Chil…

I reiterate that section 39 and section 56 organisations and their staff play a vital role in our healthcare and social care sectors. Officials in the Department and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth are waiting on the result of the ballot. Officials from both Departments remain available to re-engage with unions at any time in an effort to bring this matter to a resolution. It is also important to remember that these are private employers and, as such, the Government has no au…

I am at one with the Deputy that we need to ensure the stability and sustainability of this sector. It is important that this matter is brought to a resolution. As I said, the Departments are willing to re-engage with the unions at any point in this process. It is absolutely vital that these services continue. The Deputy has that assurance. There are mechanisms in place that need to be gone through. We need to wait for the result of the ballot on Monday and see where we are from there. However, our commitment to en…

The Government is fully committed to improving genetics services. A key ambition of the national strategy for accelerating genetics and genomic medicine in Ireland is to build an excellent national genetics service. In 2023, the Government allocated €2.7 million to support the first year of implementation of this strategy. This funding supported the creation of a national office and expansion of front-line staff. To improve national genetic testing, we must first build a strong evidence base. To date, genetic testi…

I also have the figures the Deputy listed in my supplementary response but the question was in relation to the disaggregated figures by age cohort. That is maintained by individual hospitals. It is not disaggregated by age cohort. The data are not currently available centrally to support decision-making. It is a new office. In 2022, funding of €1.34 million was provided for the initial establishment, for example, of the national perinatal genomic service. In December 2022, the national strategy for accelerating gen…

I will ask the Minister for Health to come back to Deputy Pringle directly-----

-----on that specific question. I have answered the parliamentary question. The main point is that this is a new office. It has to collate the data so that it is evidence-based. It is an expanding office and will be funded through budgets in order that we can have the data that will directly help patients on the ground, as per the Sláintecare model. It is a growing office that has to be developed.

The health service is currently experiencing its largest multi-annual capacity growth since the HSE was established. This is based off a number of multi-annual strategies. Since 2020, we have opened 1,019 acute beds nationally. This is expected to reach 1,204 acute beds by the end of 2023 - an additional 185 beds over the current position and well ahead of the 2018 capacity review target. The objective of the HSE's 2023 national service plan is to bring critical care capacity to 352 beds, an additional 94 beds sinc…

To reiterate, there is a significant amount happening in this space within the Department. We have had the largest expansion of the workforce since the inception of the HSE, with more than 21,000 WTEs added since 2020, while 1,019 acute beds have been opened nationally since 2020 and a total target of 1,204 beds will be delivered by the end of the year. Delivery is an absolute priority for the Government and I know the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, and his officials are exploring all available opportunities to improve…

I cannot accept the Deputy's statements regarding the work that is happening within the Department. There are, and always have been, challenges in the health system. People are living longer and there is increased demand, which is fantastic. We need to be able to meet those demands and that will require extra funding through the budgetary process. The Minister will address the Dáil next Tuesday on the issue of scoliosis. He has given that commitment. He had to travel to the United Nations and could not be here but …

The HSE National Quality and Patient Safety Directorate has reviewed the interim Cass report and how it applies to clinical pathways in Ireland. Based on the recommendations of the report, the HSE has identified the need to develop an updated and integrated model of care for transgender services, informed by the best evidence-based clinical care for individuals who express gender incongruence or dysphoria. The HSE is establishing a team to lead the development of an updated model of care for the treatment of gender…