The Deputy might send me on that letter.

I made most of my comments in the opening piece. I would like to begin by thanking everyone who has been here today. I know for a fact that were Deputy Verona Murphy not in the Chair, she would have been sitting over there and would have stood up and spoken as well. It is no surprise to me who spoke here today because everybody who did so constantly raises issues about mental health with me. It is probably in sharp contrast to what we saw last Tuesday week, when there was a big affray on the Order of Business when …

I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for the question. I was delighted to work with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, and the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, to secure 2,068 whole-time equivalent staff out of budget 2024. The service plan was signed off in recent weeks by the HSE board and by the Cabinet last week. We are working through the figures to allocate where the staff will go. This is across all elements of health. There are 2,068 whole-time equivalents funded for this year who will b…

I thank Deputy Wynne for her question. I am familiar with Cahercalla community hospital and Dr. Michael Harty, who used to sit on that side of the House in the previous Dáil. I visited the hospital and will meet Dr. Harty again in the next few weeks. The Deputy is correct, in that 3.5% of all nursing homes in Ireland are voluntary not-for-profits. They do not have the same economies of scale or the necessary capital to be HIQA compliant. I allocated €10 million in recent months to support such nursing homes in carr…

I thank Deputy Ward, once again, for initiating the Bill. I also thank my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, for opening the debate. We are talking about youth mental health tonight and regulation of CAMHS. However, the contribution from Deputy O'Donoghue was so telling, and it especially appealed to males to reach out and ask for support. In 2022, we lost 411 people in this country to suicide, and 331 of them were male. It is a huge issue that men especially do not reach out for help. We know that …

What is the name of the organisation to which the Deputy referred?

That is-----

Can I object? Deputy McGrath is not saying anything in relation to the Bill-----

That person is not here to defend themselves.

I dissociate myself from the comments.

Safeguards.

High.

I thank the Deputies for their participation in the debate. As the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, outlined yesterday, the measures being introduced as part of this legislation will remove barriers to accessing the rent a room scheme, support further vaccination programmes and help to strengthen Ireland's visibility on our medicine supply chain. The first measure is an important step to meeting Government's Housing for All goals, by ensuring that people eligible to receive the rent a room relief can avail of the exempti…

I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Health pursuant to Standing Orders 95(3)( a ) and 181(1).

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "recognises that: — access to effective and sustainable general practice services is a cornerstone of the delivery of healthcare; — the Government, recognising the importance of general practice and acknowledging the challenges faced in some areas to maintain sustainable general practice services, has significantly increased investment in general practice in recent years; — expenditure on general practice has increased fr…

Will the Deputy confirm the area?

Yes, okay.

You are heckling now.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important question. He is quite right. Currently, we have 52 beds operational, and 21 beds closed. The reason they are closed is due to a safe staffing issue. However, what we have been doing is investing more in community teams. We have taken up, where necessary, private capacity, and I am monitoring the waiting list week on week regarding inpatient supports for young people. Whether it is the unit in Merlin Park University Hospital in Galway, Éist Linn in Cork, or Linn Dara in …

I thank the Deputy for her question and for her continued advocacy for improved mental health services. As she knows, I visited Arden House in Wexford last year. I need to point out that we have two CAMHS teams in Wexford. The one in Arden House is currently not running a waiting list. I met the team-----