I can see the Deputy’s passion, and I do understand. It is important to reiterate our appreciation for the work carried out by all our healthcare workers throughout the pandemic, including those individuals who returned from retirement to help their colleagues and the public when they needed it most. I understand that. The temporary waiver of pension abatement was introduced at a time of great need. The normal rules of pension abatement are that waivers will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, for a limit…

The tariffs announced by the US Administration have caused concern and anxiety over the impact on Irish businesses and job creation across the country. The uncertainty in respect of sectors such as pharmaceuticals adds to this. While I know the Government has been preparing for this, it is regrettable that the US Administration made the announcements. Nobody wins from tariffs. However, it is important that the Government continues to analyse these measures and their impact on our trade along with the European Commi…

I thank Senator O'Reilly for raising this matter. Successful national cancer strategies have delivered continuing improvement in outcomes in Irish cancer patients. The benefit of our strategic approach cancer control is shown by the improvement in the number of patients living after having received a cancer diagnosis: more than 200,000 people now compared with 150,000 when the strategy was brought to Government in 2017. Significant funding has been provided to cancer services over a number of years. In budget 2025,…

I thank the Senator for her contribution on this matter. I acknowledge the efforts made by the NCCP and the HSE to improve compliance with radiation therapy targets of having at least 90% of patients beginning their treatment within 15 working days of being deemed fit for treatment. The most up-to-date figures, from January 2025, show compliance of 81% compared with last year's compliance of 73%. I know that we need to do more, I totally understand the concerns there and it is something we are working on. As I ment…

I worked with the Senator in this Chamber for many years. I welcome the opportunity to address the House on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, regarding his request for information on National Ambulance Service, NAS, response times and staffing for Cavan and Monaghan. The NAS serves Cavan and Monaghan from four ambulance bases, in Cavan, Virginia, Monaghan and Castleblayney, covering the entire area. All four bases are staffed by a highly skilled workforce of pre-hospital emergency care pra…

I know the Senator’s commitment and hard work and that he is very passionate about this. I concentrated in the first part of my opening statement on ambulance response performance and resourcing in the Cavan and Monaghan areas. I will now focus briefly on funding of services nationally. This Government has consistently committed to investing in the NAS in recent years. The total allocation for the NAS this year alone will be €285 million, representing a significant increase on the previous year. The allocation this…

Sexual health is a priority for this Government. Following expert advice, the second national sexual health strategy underwent an additional round of stakeholder consultation and feedback, which is now complete. The good news is that the strategy was approved to progress to design stage at the end of last week. Once design is completed, the strategy will be submitted for ministerial and Government approval, then launched. It will be launched quite soon. The strategy will be supported by an action plan that will map…

The rates of gonorrhoea and chlamydia had reduced slightly by the end of 2024 in comparison with the last two years. Better access to testing may be reducing onward infections. The national sexual health strategy supports positive sexual health information. It will have education, research, prevention and information, particularly on stigma. All this will be in the strategy.

The funding includes €200,000 for additional PrEP drugs and €350,000 for additional staffing in public STI clinics providing PrEP from July 2025. I understand the Deputy's concerns. As I said, this strategy is urgent for us. I assure him that hopefully in the next few weeks or maybe two or three months, I will definitely come back to him with this strategy. As he said, education and information are really important. Stigma is a big issue that we need to address. I will be delighted to work with the Deputy and do wh…

I thank Senator Fitzpatrick for raising this important issue. I totally agree with her. I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, about this. Substantial progress has been made in recent years to support women through their menopause journeys. A number of medicines are authorised for use in Ireland as hormone replacement therapy for the treatment of menopause. Budget 2025 announced the intention to fund the cost of HRT products prescribed to women to help manage the symptoms associated with all stages…

As I said, the HPRA has been notified by Xenon Pharmaceuticals of an expected return on 7 March. In relation to new HRT measures, the Minister for Health met the Irish Pharmacy Union on 11 February to discuss her objectives for expanding and reforming community pharmacy and to progress the HRT initiative in budget 2025. That is crucial. This was a constructive engagement and the Minister listened to issues raised by the IPU which committed to come back to her regarding the introduction of HRT measures. The IPU has …

I thank the Senator. I know how passionate she is about drugs policy. As she said, she has been working on this area for a long time and working with people in her community. Regarding the answers I do not get to today, I guarantee to her that I will meet her in the next few days and come back to her, if that is fair enough.

I am delighted to be talking to the Senator about this matter today. The strategic action plan 2023-24 marked a significant milestone in the implementation of the national drugs strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery. It contained 34 actions across six strategic priorities. These were to: strengthen the prevention of drug and alcohol use and the associated harms among children and young people; enhance access to and delivery of drug and alcohol services in our communities; develop integrated care pathways for…

Programme for Government 2025: Securing Ireland’s Future sets out the Government's commitment to a health-led approach to drug use. The key actions to support this commitment include assessing the outcomes of the national drug strategy; publication of a new strategy; diverting those found in possession of drugs for personal use to health services, which is a matter the Senator is passionate about; increasing funding for drug treatment services; and launching a major awareness campaign on the impact of drugs on soci…

I, too, am delighted to be here tonight. Like the Minister and Minister of State, we also have been listening to all the concerns. There are very serious concerns here that we are committed to working on over the next few years. Investment in cancer care was one of the concerns that was brought up. I assure Members the Government is committed to improving cancer care, ensuring better prevention, maintaining improvements in cancer survival rates, and timely access to treatments. That is really important. This includ…

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to address the issue of participation of dentists in the dental treatment services scheme. The scheme provides dental care, free of charge, to medical card holders aged 16 and over. Services are provided by private dentists and clinical dental technicians who hold a contract with the HSE to operate the scheme. Services available annually and on demand include an examination, two fillings, emergency extractions, and a scale and polish. More complex care, such as dentures and a …

I thank the Deputy. In all our areas there have been major challenges. I work with families regularly, so I do know the challenges. I have listened to and taken on board the points the Deputy has made. I can assure her that addressing access to dental care, including for adult medical card holders, is a top priority for the Minister and the rest of the Government. A substantial additional investment in oral healthcare services has been made in recent years, but we need to address the issues that arise. Fundamental …

I thank the Members of the House for their contributions this afternoon. I will respond on behalf of myself and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. While we all recognise that there are areas for service improvement, the passion with which we have discussed the issues is a clear testament to the fact that mental health is an important topic across all parties, and across all parts of government. Much has been said today about ensuring our mental health services are modern. It is important that our capital infrast…

The Minister for Health extends her deepest sympathies to all parents and families who have experienced the tragic death of a child. The most recent data on child deaths comes from the second report of the national paediatric mortality register conducted by the HSE's National Office of Clinical Audit, NOCA, which is built on early data collection work. While the report makes for very difficult reading, it provides important information which can be used to improve our services and to prevent potential avoidable dea…

I thank the Deputy. I offer my deepest sympathies and those of the Minister for Health to all parents and families who have experienced the tragic death of a child. Information on child deaths comes primarily from the national paediatric mortality register conducted by the HSE's National Office of Clinical Audit. The reporting provides vital information, which is used to improve our services and to prevent avoidable deaths. The Department of Health is committed to reducing deaths in children across all age groups a…