I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this very important issue, and for giving me an opportunity to address it. Since budget 2021, I have secured an additional €207 million in funding for home support. This year, the overall home support budget will be more than €700 million. I am probably the first Minister of State that has ever stood here who has the capacity to provide every home care hour that is needed in the country, but I do not have the staff to deliver it. This funding will enable the HSE to progress the…

I am committed to supporting people to age in place at home in their communities with the wrap-around supports, including the dementia-specific day care services, meals on wheels and home care. In order to bolster staff resources and reduce waiting times for allocation of service, Cork-Kerry community healthcare advertises on an ongoing basis for healthcare support assistants throughout the region. It has a rolling campaign ongoing at the moment. The rates of pay are quite attractive. The HSE rates start at €16.49 …

Hear, hear.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Regarding the case of the two boys, I take on board everything he said and will talk to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, regarding the issues he raised but I cannot comment on the case because I was not aware of it before I came in here. The Minister of State apologises for not being here. The Deputy is right that early intervention is key and one of the most important things we have for children who need those supports. With regard to the twin boys, the D…

In addition to the funding provided to enhance capacity to the CDNTs in recent years, the Government committed to providing an additional 136 posts in 2022 to facilitate the reinstatement of services in 104 special schools. The allocation for special schools located in Cork is 22 whole-time equivalents and the HSE is actively allocating posts here. Cork-Kerry community healthcare - and this might be important in respect of what the Deputy said about organising a pathway - will establish family forums in each CDNT f…

I have spoken with the Deputy across the floor of the Dáil many times about the closure of St. Brigid's Hospital in 2020. As he is aware, the building is more than 200 years old and the HIQA report deemed it was no longer fit for purpose. Issues were raised relating to health and safety, especially in terms of fire.

As the Deputy also knows, St. Brigid's Hospital in Carrick-on-Suir has now been reconfigured as a community healthcare network. There are seven new jobs involved. The hospital offers support to people with long-term illness, pain management and diabetes. The facility is working well, and it is still offering healthcare to the people of Carrick-on-Suir and the surrounding areas.

I will speak to that in closing.

I welcome the debate and support the amendment moved by the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. I believe in the delivery of fundamental public health services to the highest standard. The Sinn Féin motion was all about taking political aim. It is very personalised. It failed to take into account any of the significant investment in our health services and the policy measures already in train to increase capacity in our health service. Today, there are 137,220 whole-time equivalents working in public healthcare. As we stand…

University Hospital Waterford continues to perform better than the national average for patient experience times in the emergency department, ambulance turnaround times and maintaining a zero-trolley status for admitted patients, and all with a view to supporting a positive patient experience with 452 beds. This has been achieved through close co-operation between University Hospital Waterford, UPMC Whitfield Hospital and three private nursing homes to bring on stream additional capacity of more than 45 beds in the…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Some 56,000 people in Ireland currently receive home care. I thank all the home care workers the length and breadth of the country for the phenomenal work they do on a daily basis. I assume the Deputy is referring to the private providers.

Okay. The HSE tender is currently being renewed. It was meant to be in place on 1 January. I was informed yesterday that the new tender will not be in place until 1 March. The pay rates for home care workers working for the HSE start at €16.50 per hour plus mileage, which is much more than that paid by private providers. We want to ensure that we get this tender right. We also need to ensure that it will be stated in the tender, where home care is being provided through private providers, that the living wage will …

This might be my last time speaking in the Seanad as Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and older people with Senator Daly as Cathaoirleach. I thank him and all the other Members for the courtesy shown to me over the past two and a half years. I want to say a special word of thanks to the Cathaoirleach for the way he has magnified the importance of the Seanad.

The celebrations over the last few months have been very timely. I was honoured to see the portrait downstairs of Tras Honan who is a Waterford woman and is originally from County Clare. She was the first ever female Cathaoirleach of the Seanad and it is fitting to mark her achievement. I say well done to the Cathaoirleach on all of his work and all the support he got from Members. I am pleased to have this opportunity to address the House on the Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2022. The Bill was published on 24 …

Hear, hear.

Perinatal clinics.

I thank all the Senators for their contributions to the debate. The Bill allows us to maintain our support for the core principle of community rating, which is a long-established and well supported Government policy for the health insurance market, and ensure that the cost of insurance is shared across the insured population. The main purpose of the Bill is to update the amounts of risk equalisation credits paid to insurers and the stamp duty levies required to fund them. The amendments outlined in the Bill will en…

I thank Deputy Flaherty for raising this issue. Before I deal with the substantive issues raised, I wish to state categorically that when it comes to HIQA regulations I will never compromise. I will not apologise to anybody in the House for having regulations and standards in place. It is very important that we have oversight and that we have an organisation such as HIQA that can go into any long-term residential care facility to check that best practices and best supports are being provided to our older generation…

I thank the Deputy. On the funding of the private nursing homes, last year my budget was €1.4 billion. The private nursing homes received €1 billion of that €1.4 billion, supporting 18,000 people, whereas the HSE supports 4,500 people under fair deal. It must also be appreciated that residential HSE-run community nursing units and community hospitals are often staffed at a level that allows the delivery of more complex care where required. These facilities represent less than 20% of the fair deal scheme. The Deputy…

On behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, I thank Senator Chambers for the opportunity to address this issue in the House today. While I am not all over the detail of it, I have a prepared answer from the Minister who, as the Senator quite rightly said, is currently in Cabinet. I am aware the Senator has raised this issue on many occasions. As a colleague of hers for many years, I know she has continued to raise this issue and I am hoping there is something in the reply that might satisfy her. As the Se…