I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. This is eating disorder week. Last year, 504 people were referred to eating disorder teams. When the clinical programme was put in place in 2018, there was an assumption, judging by the correspondence and data the teams had, that approximately 60 people would be referred to eating disorder teams. That number was, in fact, 504, which was an increase of 120%. I met yesterday with Dr. Michelle Clifford, who is the clinical director for eating disorders-----

-----in the country. We had a good meeting. I also met representatives from Bodywhys. Last year, 44 new clinical staff were hired into eating disorder teams. There were originally three teams and they have now been populated. We had three new teams last year and we are populating them.

It is slow but progress is being made. To have 44 new clinical people in the eating disorder teams all over the country is very welcome.

I thank Deputies for the opportunity to speak to some of the key issues and to address some of the points made in the course of this debate. The 2022 waiting list action plan is delivering targeted investment of €350 million to get many more people treated as quickly as possible. At the same time, we are reforming and investing in our public health service to eradicate the gap between demand and permanent capacity. As the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, said earlier, we are not trying to reset to where we were b…

I welcome the opportunity today to restate the Government’s commitment, as well as my own personal commitment, to the continued development of mental health services and supports. It is important that we have the opportunity to revisit and debate what happened in south Kerry child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, together with the broader reforms which are under way in the area of child and youth mental health. This includes the significant enhancement of specialist eating disorder services. It is almo…

If the Cathaoirleach selects that Commencement matter, I will be here.

The Senator is doing fine.

Hear, hear.

I thank all the Senators who contributed and all of those who have stayed to the very end, which is much appreciated. It is one of the most serious issues that we are all dealing with. There was a common denominator running through many of the presentations and I will try to deal with that. I was struck by the point made by Senator Keogan, who said she was not able to read the report. I do not think I will ever forget that Sunday evening when I got the report. I had to drive to my office in Dungarvan, approximately…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The e-mental health project was launched by the Tánaiste in mid-2020. Two main elements were identified for development as part of the Castlerea hub: a CAMHS Connect telehealth service and CAMHS day hospital. In addition, a psychiatry of later life day hospital was also identified. Work was progressed by the HSE through 2020, including capital works and initial recruitment of staff. This involved expenditure in the region of €400,000 for refurbishment and €400,000 for staf…

The Deputy is missing the point. Funding was not stopped. In 2020, €800,000 was allocated by my predecessor, former Deputy Daly, and the Tánaiste to develop the Castlerea hub. In 2021, we moved very quickly to put in place €1.4 million to allocate staff. It takes a while to put staff in place. This Castlerea hub is a fantastic hub and I am delighted to say I secured funding in this year's budget to continue the roll-out of telehealth hubs. We are going to see a further one in Cork and a further one in Limerick this…

I thank the Deputy for his question. The current budget for home care support for this year is €666 million, with 5 million extra home care hours being provided. Last year, we delivered 2.9 million more hours on the previous year to 55,000 people. If the Deputy sends me the specifics on the case to which he referred, we will look into it. The difficulty that we are facing currently is that although we have the funding, there are approximately 5,000 people waiting for supports because there are challenges with staff…

I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue. It is not the first time she has taken to her feet to raise this. A key Government priority is to protect the education of all students, including student nurses and midwives. Clinical placements account for 50% of the overall education programme requirements for student nurses and midwives and supporting students to undertake clinical placement remains a key priority for the Government. In early 2021 the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, directed a longer term re…

To reiterate, on 26 January 2022, just under a month ago, the Department issued the sanction to the HSE regarding these additional supports and requested that payment be prioritised. Yesterday the Department was informed by the HSE that it is finalising a memo to be issued to services to provide for payment. The Department has, once again, emphasised to the HSE the importance of expediting these payments. The Senator is quite right. It is exactly as she said. They are student nurses and they have been guaranteed th…

I thank the Senator for the opportunity to address the House on this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. As the Senator will be aware, the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital is the designated site for the National Centre for Inherited Metabolic Disorders for adults. This centre provides assessment and treatment to adults with inherited metabolic disorders. It is also responsible for the diagnosis and management of these patients. Inherited metabolic di…

The Senator is absolutely correct. As he will have heard in my earlier response, it is anticipated the number of patients presenting will increase by at least 100 per annum over the next five years, so we have to build capacity. There are currently 12.5 whole-time equivalents in the adult metabolic service at the Mater hospital and that figure will increase to 15.6, or an additional three posts. That is welcome and recruitment should be commenced as a matter of priority. The recruitment of the additional staff agre…

I thank the Senator for the opportunity to speak to the House on the important topic of building a more positive outlook for women's health. That this Oireachtas has finally placed such an emphasis on women's health is a positive outcome. It is great to hear the different voices in both Houses all supporting one another. My Department is committed to improving women's health. Since the establishment of the women's health task force in 2019, we have engaged with women all over Ireland. We have listened to what they …

I thank the Senator very much. I agree with her; that is why the food banks were mentioned. Like she said, the likes of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul are important. My understanding is that free contraception will commence in August as planned. I will touch on one point that was not raised but that comes under my remit, which is perinatal mental health supports. We currently have six main hubs across the country. All 13 spoke sites now have mental health midwives in place under the model of care for specialist…

I thank the Deputy for the question. I was speaking with the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, about this issue yesterday and last week he visited Cappagh, Tallaght and Crumlin. He spoke with Children's Health Ireland. He has made provisions within the budget for the issue the Deputy raised. I will get her a substantive answer from the Minister and revert to her.

I thank the Deputy for the question. We have discussed this matter several times in the past three and a half weeks. Six of the 35 recommendations in the Maskey report have been implemented, with 13 currently being implemented. Having read the report, the Deputy will know that some of the recommendations can be implemented straight away but others will take time. The HSE has committed to implementing them all as quickly as possible. I have sought fortnightly updates from the HSE on progress. I will continue to do t…