Again, I thank the Senator. As I have said, I have shared the draft national drugs strategy with the joint committee. I will also take the report into account before finalising the strategy because it is important. This is about everybody working together. The draft strategy has also been published on the Department of Health website. As I mentioned earlier, I have now decided to carry out a public consultation because that is important. That public consultation will start soon. I will inform everyone about that. I…

I thank Senator Costello for highlighting and raising these serious concerns. As the Senator has said, things are changing and trends are changing the whole time. I see it within the drugs strategy section of the Department. First of all, it was really important that the Senator highlighted this. I will give an update on the response to the use of nitrous oxide and the ongoing development of our national drug strategy including its focus on prevention and education for young people of the use of drugs. That is part…

In response to the Senator, I reiterate this is a start. It is a very serious issue. An allocation of €1.5 million has been made by the Department of Health for a three-year drug and alcohol prevention and education programme. First of all we must get the awareness and the education out there, get it to the families and get it to the people who are using it to show the dangers of that. This aims to strengthen the prevention and highlight the relative harm, especially for younger people. I have published the draft o…

I thank the Senator.

I thank Senator Joe Conway. I thought his opening statement was absolutely excellent. I welcome the Senator's friends who are here today. I felt everybody who spoke on the motion was really passionate about it. I have a family member who had shingles and I have friends who had shingles. I saw what they went through. I realise how important this motion is. As previous speakers have said, we are not going to oppose the motion. I felt the opening statements were excellent. The Government has noted the motion. There wa…

It was me.

I did.

I welcome the Government’s work to escalate infrastructure delivery. Ireland is experiencing strong population growth, a rise in economic activity and increasing demand for public services. These are positive developments but they place pressure on our transport, utilities and regional infrastructure. Therefore, we must ensure essential projects are delivered efficiently. I welcome the infrastructure plan introduced by the Minister, which will strengthen the planning process, improve procurement and support better …

I thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising this really important issue today. As she knows, I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, who cannot be here. The Senator has highlighted a really important issue. The Government is committed to improving cancer care, ensuring better prevention and maintaining improvements in cancer survival rates and timely access to treatments. As the Senator said, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Ireland. Almost …

What the Senator said is important for women waiting on this surgery. I assure her that the Department and HSE are working on reducing waiting times for this surgery. While immediate reconstruction can avoid a second hospital procedure - I think that is more important - delayed reconstruction allows for more time for decision making and can ensure that necessary cancer therapies are not delayed. Successive national cancer strategies have delivered a continued improvement in the outcomes for cancer patients. Since t…

I thank the Senator for raising this issue which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill today. It is an important topic, as the Senator said. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a rare disease affecting fewer than 200 people in Ireland. The Minister met with families of children with DMD in July 2025 and spoke at Muscular Dystrophy Ireland's national conference in December 2025. The State acknowledges the importance of access to medicines and is aware of the plight of patients with DMD…

The Senator is right. It is important we get a timeline. There have been a lot of meetings, as the Senator heard from my response. The Minister is absolutely committed. I assure the Senator she appreciates the importance of ensuring patients with Duchenne in Ireland have access to the latest treatment. As a Minister of State in the Department of Health, I am very appreciative of this too and I do understand. The HSE has sole statutory responsibility for making decisions about which medicines are reimbursed. The Gov…

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise is a model 3 hospital, providing acute care services, with 71 beds. As we know, it serves the populations of Laois, Kildare, Carlow and north Tipperary. As the Senator said, the hospital does not provide supervised detoxification beds and at present, there are no proposals for this. I will speak to officials to look at this and keep it under consideration. As the Senator noted, I received a draft of the national drugs strateg…

Providing access to high-quality drug and alcohol services is a key priority of mine and the Department, and I am focused on the whole country. The Department of Health is finalising a audit of drug and alcohol services. This will support our new health regions in their planning. This is what we are working on at the moment, namely, funding and delivery of drug and alcohol services. It will highlight those areas and groups that are unequal. This is what I am really focused on. I can assure the Senator that it is my…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Child Care (Amendment) Bill before the House today. This is very important and timely legislation. I commend my colleague the Minister, Deputy Foley, for her work in bringing it forward. Her commitment to strengthening the child welfare and protection system has ensured this Bill reflects the realities of modern practice and the needs of children and families in Ireland today. This Bill is a significant revision of the Child Care Act 1991, which has been a key feature of ou…

First of all, I want to thank all the Deputies for their contributions on this important motion this evening. These are vitally important services, and the Government has taken action to reform, reorganise and invest in the services for people facing into a mental health crisis. There is still much work to do to build supports up to where we know they need to be today. As my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, highlighted earlier, this work covers both our hospital-based supports and our community-base…

I thank the Deputy for raising this really important topic. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister. The Government acknowledges many patients are waiting too long for care, but we are committed to improving access to hospital care and reducing waiting times for patients, including through the multi-annual action plan approach. Building on the progress made to date, we will continue to focus on reducing waiting times for scheduled care in our hospitals through a range of measures, including service reforms and i…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I assure him the Government is committed to providing access to the best care for the people of Ireland. We are clear that no matter where the facilities are located, everyone should have access to adequate and appropriate care based on their needs. Through the delivery of this programme, we are increasing capacity to meet short- and long-term needs, but the surgical hubs and elective treatment centres together will form a national network. These facilities will …

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter in the House this evening. The Minister for Health shares his concerns about the protection of older adults against influenza. For those in recommended groups, the influenza vaccine reduces the risk of serious illness and death from flu. Ensuring high vaccine coverage is a priority in order to reduce severe illness from influenza, RSV and Covid-19 over the winter period. Ireland’s immunisation programme is based on the advice of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee…

Certainly, I will get those answers for the Deputy. I am pleased to note that in this flu season, the uptake rate for the vaccine among adults aged 60 and older was 66%, and for fair deal residents it was 83%, which is high. This is very positive and has been a factor in ensuring hospital and trolley numbers for flu this year are lower than previous years. It is important that we protect ourselves and each other from infection during the winter season by availing of the flu vaccine when it is offered. The introduct…