I thank Senator McCormack for raising this issue today, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. I wish to update the House on the delivery of pre-hospital emergency care in County Laois and the vital pre-hospital emergency response role delivered by our National Ambulance Service, NAS. The National Ambulance Service serves the Laois-Offaly region from four bases located in Portlaoise, Edenderry, Birr and Tullamore. All four bases are staffed by a highly skilled workforce of …

Yes, but I will come back.

I again thank Senator McCormack for raising this important matter. In my opening reply I outlined the commitment of this Government, with significant additional funding for the National Ambulance Service in 2025. I will bring the particular point the Senator has raised in respect of Laois to the attention of my colleague, Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, the Department and the National Ambulance Service. I will ask them - no doubt they will have looked in on this debate - to take on board what the Sena…

I thank Senator Scahill for raising this issue today. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne, my colleague in the Department. I will give a general response and then address specifically the areas in Roscommon, Cloonfad and Lowberry Cross, that were raised. I would suggest that Senator Scahill writes directly to the Minister on those particular villages and make specific reference to them. I have no doubt the Minister and the Department will revert…

I thank Senator Scahill again for raising this important matter. As he stated, he will follow this up with the Minister, Deputy Browne, and his office. The Senator made specific reference to Cloonfad and Lowberry Cross. I will bring that matter to the attention of the Minister and his officials. On a general note, I reiterate the Department's commitment to the promotion and development of rural communities in addition to the work of Uisce Éireann. More than €143 million of funding has been provided for the period 2…

I wish to begin by thanking everyone for taking part in this very important debate. I echo the Minister's opening remarks. She stated that she is awaiting the final report of the clinical audit into surgeries for DDH in the coming weeks before any conclusions can be drawn on the matter. The Minister has gone on record as saying she would welcome a debate once she has received the report and it is published. Obviously, confidentiality aspects will have to be taken into account, but it is important to have a really m…

I thank Senator Harmon for raising this Commencement matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. There are three public radiation therapy services that operate linear accelerator machines in Ireland. These are located in Galway, Cork and Dublin across the St. Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network. There are a total of 22 linear accelerators across three services: Galway has four machines, Cork has five machines and the Dublin network has 14 machines. The HSE also co…

I thank Senator Harmon, and she will be following up the Department of further and higher education. On the 0.5 rate, I am not precisely certain what the date is but it is perhaps something the Senator might follow up on directly with the Department. I will bring it to the attention of the officials and ask that they respond to the Senator on that point. I am assuming it is a relatively up-to-date because the figure we have quoted in terms of staffing is an up-to-date one. I thank Senator Harmon for her contributio…

All politics is local.

The Deputy might send the details to me.

We have had a debate for more than three hours with 38 contributions, which shows the significance of the issue for people. I thank everyone who has taken part in the debate. I will touch on a few general points and then I will try to address some of the points that were raised by Members. I want to reflect on the progress has been made since Uisce Éireann was established as Irish Water more than ten years ago. In that time much improvement has been made in the delivery of water services. Thousands of kilometres of…

I thank Deputy Lawless for raising this important issue. I will reply on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Browne. This matter has been raised by Oireachtas colleagues of the Deputy's from Mayo, notably the Minister of State, Deputy Alan Dillon, who is here. It is obviously a matter of huge concern for the public representatives and the people of Newport. Deputy Lawless will appreciate that the operation of the public water supply, together with operational issues locally, are matters for Uisce Éireann, which has stat…

I again thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As I have said, the Newport wastewater treatment plant is currently at preliminary business case stage 2. Uisce Éireann will develop a shortlist of solutions identifying preferred options and will calculate estimated costs. A significant amount of data gathering, surveys and assessments are required to support various consenting processes. A licence is required to carry out the surveys needed to develop the maritime model. Uisce Éireann applied to MARA in December 20…

I am pleased to contribute to this debate. I have watched it from the start. There have been many contributions. I say to Deputy Healy-Rae, if I may, that my wife has Kerry roots, albeit not quite first generation as her family is second generation. He would know the family.

To deal with the topic at hand. As the Minister, Deputy Browne, has stated, we are opposing this Bill because the introduction of the household water conservation charge is not in the programme for Government. It will not be introduced. That is categorical. By way of background, the legislation to implement water charges was contained in the Water Services Act 2014, which was repealed by the Water Services Act 2017. Therefore, there is no legal basis for the provision of water charges. They are the facts. Furthermo…

I thank the Deputies for raising this important issue on the provision of an ambulance base at Recess, County Galway. I know how important this issue is to them. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of Minister for Health. As the Deputies are aware, this Government has a consistent track record of investment in the National Ambulance Service, NAS, with significant increases in funding since 2019. Budget 2025 confirmed this Government’s commitment to continued investment in NAS, with an additional allocation of …

The update we have been given is that planning permission has been secured, which the Deputies already know. The design team is finalising a detailed design, including a fire safety certificate and a disability access certificate with a view to having a stage 2C report submitted to HSE local estates review in the coming weeks. Approval will be sought to proceed to issue tender documents. There were two specific questions. Deputies have been told the stage 2C report support will be submitted to HSE local estates for…

I thank Deputy Timmins for raising this in his role as TD for Wicklow. Under Housing for All, the Government has committed to delivering 47,600 new-build social homes and 3,500 social homes through long-term leasing in the period 2022 to 2026. Our clear focus is to increase the stock of social housing through new-build projects delivered by local authorities and approved housing bodies, AHBs. The number of new-build social homes in the pipeline continues to remain strong year on year, with new construction projects…

The Deputy made practical points and suggestions. I suggest that he follow up on his detailed proposals directly with the Minister, Deputy James Browne, and Minister of State, Deputy Cummins. In my own role in the Department, I am over housing for the elderly in the context of local authorities. I will respond to the Deputy's point about An Bord Pleanála. Under the new Planning and Development Act, An Bord Pleanála will have to meet statutory deadlines for the first time ever. That was not the case up to now, the D…

I thank the Senator for raising this matter and sharing her own personal story. It was very brave. I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. Successive national cancer strategies have delivered continuing improvements in our outcomes for cancer patients. The benefit of our strategic approach to cancer control is shown by the improvement in the number of patients living after receiving a cancer diagnosis, which currently is 220,000 compared with 150,000 when …