Hear, hear.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I also acknowledge and thank him for his constant advocacy on behalf of the residents, families and staff of Lucan Lodge Nursing Home in the past few weeks. I am deeply concerned to learn that HIQA had to cancel the registration of Lucan Lodge Nursing Home. Following concerns for the care and welfare of residents, the chief inspector of HIQA has taken action to cancel its registration as a care provider. That happened on 17 May. The HSE is liaising with Lucan Lod…

The designated centre is a residential care setting operated by Passage Healthcare International (Ireland) Limited. Passage Healthcare has been in examinership but my understanding is that the receiver has removed the protection of examinership and that a liquidator will be appointed. As the Deputy knows, Passage Healthcare also operated Sally Park Nursing Home in Firhouse. Sally Park was deregistered in February 2024 due to non-compliance with regulations in a number of areas, particularly in the context of severa…

I do not disagree with the Deputy regarding the imbalance that exists. The situation at Lucan Lodge was compounded because the owners of the property are resident in America. An Irish provider that was registered with HIQA was providing the service. Any takeover would be complicated, especially when we are talking about receivership and examinership. I met again with my officials yesterday for an update on the situation. We are keeping a close eye on it. As stated, 19 residents and families made the voluntary decis…

I put on record the Deputy's constant advocacy regarding Clifden hospital which I was delighted to visit last year. We know there has been challenges in staffing so I will focus on that. Following a derogation I secured, I am pleased to inform the Deputy that HSE community healthcare west has now successfully recruited the required staff to safely reopen Clifden District Hospital. The hospital currently has seven beds available, of which five are occupied, and two are available to support University Hospital Galway…

As the Deputy knows, the HSE community healthcare west is committed to the new 40-bed community nursing unit in Clifden. The new CNU build will amalgamate the residential services currently in Clifden hospital and in St. Anne's. The new build will allow long-term care currently provided in St. Anne's and convalescent step-down care currently provided in Clifden hospital on the one site. The project is currently going through the planning process. Later on today, I am travelling to Roscommon to turn the sod on anoth…

To go back again to the complement of staff, when the beds closed, I sought a derogation in person to make sure, because of the moratorium, that we could have permanent whole-time equivalents there. It is very important for older people especially that they have continuity in the staff they are seeing. My understanding, and what I want to achieve, is that 48 of 90 community nursing units are being reconfigured and rebuilt to a very high standard. This investment is approximately €35 million. As I said, and I cannot…

It will be amalgamated into the new community nursing unit. The new facility will include the long-stay beds currently in the district hospital, but my understanding is there will be no loss of service that is currently available in the district hospital.

I thank the Deputy for her question. The Government has invested significantly in University Hospital Limerick, UHL. Since the start of 2020, staffing at the hospital has grown by more than 1,200, an increase greater than 40%, and more than 100 beds have been opened on the site. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, is also keenly aware of the increasing demands nationally on our emergency departments and UHL has not escaped this trend, with a 10% increase in attendances from January to May 2024 compared with the same per…

I will give a bit more information on mental health supports in the region. Since 2022, a total of 16.6 whole-time equivalents have been recruited across CAMHS in the mid-west. The number of CAMHS-registered consultant psychiatrists in the mid-west has increased to 6.2, up from 3.6. As the Deputy knows, we had challenges in that area due to retirements. I am glad to say we are back up to six there again. As I said, an additional CAMHS team is in development for the mid-west. We spoke previously about the challenges…

I want to touch on the dual diagnosis service which is due to commence in July 2024. Last year I announced the new model of care for dual diagnosis, something Deputy Gino Kenny has raised with me on several occasions. This is the treatment of people with a mental health diagnosis who also experience addiction. We have also been working with the Department of Justice on this. It is important that people with dual diagnosis whom we divert away from prison get the appropriate support. The dual diagnosis service is due…

I met that group last October and will meet it again shortly. We contacted it today. I was not in the House on Tuesday. Regarding anybody who wants to make a complaint against the HSE, it falls under "Your Service Your Say" but there is no doubt that many families have children with a dual diagnosis, be it autism, intellectual disabilities and mental health, where the pathway is not as clear as it should be. We are working on that. I had a round-table meeting with the HSE to see whether we can find clearer pathways…

For clarity, there is no embargo for newly trained graduate nurses into CAMHS. That is a fact. There are 130 staff currently being recruited across all CAMHS teams for youth mental health across the country. A preliminary notification was issued over the past two weeks to various CHOs across the country. There is a moratorium in place for certain posts, but not for consultants, graduate nurses or 130 dedicated staff members across several CAMHS teams. I put a geographical focus on that so that every part of the cou…

I thank Deputy Ward very much for his question. To reiterate what the Taoiseach said already, while there is a moratorium in some areas, as the Deputy is aware, there is no moratorium on consultants or newly recruited trained nurses. This year, 130 whole-time equivalents will be recruited into mental health services, with 80% of them predominantly going into CAMHS. There is no moratorium in this regard. This is recurring funding, which means it will be in place again next year. I met with the HSE and Department two…

I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of home care. Today, 56,000 people across the length and breadth of the country will receive home care. I am lucky to have a budget of €730 million from the Government to make sure that we can deliver as much home care as possible. In the four years since this Government came to power, 4.1 million extra hours of home care have been provided. Regarding Cork South-West and the Deputy's own area, the HSE has made changes. We saw the same changes made in Waterford over…

I want to say categorically that the investment into eating disorders over the past four years has been unbelievable.

Will the Deputy let me answer the question?

I will quite clearly answer the question if she does not interrupt me. I have to put it into context. When I took up this role four years ago, there was one eating disorder team in place. There are now 12 eating disorder teams. We need to get to 16. Eleven are completely in place and another is funded for this year. On the Deputy's specific questions about adults and eating disorder beds, 90% of all people with eating disorders are treated in the community. There are currently three dedicated beds in St. Vincent's …

What type of centre?

Is it a day centre?