I thank the Deputy for his question. He has highlighted this in the context of the difficulty in new GP practices opening in his area. The region has had very significant population growth but not a corresponding rise in the number of GPs available for either GMS or private patients and I acknowledge that. I also acknowledge the efforts the Deputy is trying to highlight as to what we can do to support GPs to expand their existing practices and to open new practices. That is a very fair question because everybody in…

The supports for newly establishing GPs are an important part of the strategic review of general practice, as surveys by the Irish College of General Practitioners have shown that concerns about the costs and risks of opening new practices are important considerations. Essentially, it is a matter of establishing a business and that is a challenging thing to do. Whatever about new practices, however, we also have to think about how existing practices, which might make it easier for a new GP rather than having to est…

Exactly, and it is a totally practical suggestion. We want to enable GPs to have their practice as quickly as possible. I have no view as to where they should practice necessarily. Of course, we would like to employ them into the HSE, but private practice is also so important. Whatever we can do to enable more GPs, it has come up again and again in this House, correctly, and I can point out all the new GPs that have been registered by the Medical Council, all of that work to clear the backlog of people looking to r…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 136 together. Improving access to healthcare in our hospitals is an absolute priority for me. As the Deputy knows, we have very good outcomes in our healthcare system. Our challenge is making sure we have access as quickly as possible. That is the focus, on making sure we are using our resources in the best way possible. We are focusing on a public healthcare system in which everybody has timely access to high-quality scheduled care where and when they need it. I refer to th…

I agree. That is what we are trying to do. On the primary care centres, we have 181 at the moment, with eight under construction and 21 more in early planning stages. However, if people do not use them and if they are not used for outpatient procedures to relieve pressures on hospitals, we are going to keep having the same conversation. There is an excellent outpatient centre in Merlin Park right beside UHG. It is one of the few that is being used on a three-session per day basis. Good work has been done in that pr…

I agree. As I said, we have 181 primary care centres, with eight under construction and 20 more at early planning stages for precisely that. Regarding the Deputy's constituent who could not get surgery, let us count up the different things we have said here. It was said that they cannot get theatre time for her. There is a theatre utilisation project. I would very much like to know the nature of her procedure and to test this case against theatre utilisation across the hospital. The Deputy says that we need a new h…

I completely agree with the Deputy. They are a phenomenal asset and support and a major part of our health infrastructure. We need to think about them more as a fundamental part of our health infrastructure. Community pharmacies are right where people live. Some 85% of the population is within 5 km of a pharmacy. They are embedded in their communities. They are the first, and often easiest, place to go for trusted advice and practical support for patients. Of course, pharmacists are medicines experts, but their rol…

I am sorry but I do not have that figure. I will get it and come back to the Deputy, if he will forgive me. As part of the community pharmacy agreement, the Irish Pharmacy Union has agreed to support the HSE health and well-being campaigns. The Deputy has highlighted three of them. Following a consultation between the pharmacy union and the HSE, three campaigns were agreed for activation across the community pharmacy network. The Deputy has outlined them. Of course, I would like them to be doing even more, recognis…

As the Deputy highlights, this is done through consultation and agreement between the pharmacy union and the HSE. My own Department engages regularly with the pharmacy union. I will ask my officials and the HSE about the nature of that engagement because I am not party to those detailed discussions. I will get a much better answer and provide it to the Deputy. The important point is that there is a measure of consultation and agreement in relation to it. Pharmacists are very excited about this expanded role and abo…

I thank the Deputy and the Committee on Health for their work on oral health and I welcome their report. I have read it and it aligns with many of the frustrations being brought to me. I understand the frustrations of families and individuals who are experiencing this with the current service. To be really clear, the current position on dental services is not good enough. Too many people cannot get timely care and too many of those are children. We have to do two things at the same time. We have to take practical s…

We are committed to updating the Dentists Act 1985, but we have spoken separately about the practicalities of some of those individual cases, some of which relate to legislative reform and some of which relate to completely different things. The Deputy is correct in relation to the need for a new dentists Act, but there is also a lot of policy development needed to underpin that. A recognition of the length of time that it would take in real terms has led to an agreement with the Dental Council to bring forward int…

I will point out that the fees were increased by an order of 40% in that scheme. While I appreciate what the Deputy is saying, the fees were also increased by 40% and there is more complexity. I attended the dental association's conference. There is more complexity to the full range of practice that many dentists are engaged in and the other routes of practice, including aesthetics. I do not just mean aesthetic dentistry, which is important and was well defended at the dental association conference by its president…

I thank the Deputy. I reaffirm that the Government is committed to investing in Navan hospital. Since 2020, the number of whole-time equivalent staff has increased by 17.5%. During the same period, the budget increased by 51%. Under the acute hospital bed expansion plan, a total of 46 new and replacement beds will be delivered at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan by 2031, which includes 31 beds delivered between 2021 and 2024 and another 15 beds between 2025 and 2028. A new minor injuries unit is planned for Navan hospi…

On the HIQA report, of the 43 actions in the compliance plan, I understand 18 have been completed and the rest are under way. It is important to highlight that. I want to look at the region in a very interesting way because it is a region that will have a new surgical hub opening shortly. It is a region where we are planning an elective hospital, in Connolly. It is a region where the hospitals are geographically concentrated. I am not yet convinced what all of the different pathways are and what the different speci…

Of course the HIQA report needs to be implemented. Where there are issues within the control of the hospital, the HSE is required to deliver sustained improvement. Where risks relate to the broader intersection of the region, that is what I am trying to work out at the moment. On 17 February, I met the regional executive officer and regional clinical director for the HSE Dublin and North East region and the integrated area healthcare manager for Louth and Meath to discuss the overall demand profile for the region, …

In the short time that I have, I will say that dermal fillers are regulated as medical devices. There are rules to ensure that devices placed on the market are safe and perform as intended. That means a dermal filler must have a CE mark before it can be legally sold anywhere in the EU. It is important to be clear about what current EU legislation does not do. While it regulates the product, it does not regulate who can administer it. The Government recognises there is a need to strengthen regulation in this area. T…

I thank the Deputy for raising this again. I was very pleased to have the opportunity to meet many of the people with Friedreich's ataxia whom he brought to the Dáil. I want to highlight to Deputies that, importantly, our drugs budget has increased significantly this year, being well up at 9%. This is what the Department expected it to be. We made provision in the overall budget for a 7% uplift, and we are now at a 9% increase. We will make decisions more quickly. We are working on the reimbursement process more qu…

That is wrong.

I thank Deputy Burke for his question. It is certainly true to say that we have had enormous success with the RSV vaccination programme for infants, which significantly reduced infection, mortality and very severe illness for infants. I can confirm that we have sought a health technology assessment, HTA, for RSV immunisation by HIQA. The outcome of that will inform the policy decision that I make as to the most appropriate RSV immunisation strategy for infants but also for adults aged 65 and older. That HTA is due …

I thank Deputy Neville. He highlights an important thing, which is the practicality of setting up and extending GP practices. The State supports GP practices to the tune of approximately €1 billion per year. However, we need more. In the Deputy's area, where there has been particularly concentrated population growth at a quick pace, more GP practices are needed. I will discuss the idea of a refundable tax credit with the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance. We need to look at every creative way to expand GP care. We …