There is no doubt that when people get through the emergency department at UHL, the care and treatment they receive up the house and in their journey through UHL in the main is very good and very high quality.

That needs to be acknowledged and put on the record. Very often, the political narrative around UHL dismisses the very fine work that is going on there at all levels by porters, nurses, doctors, senior house officers, consultants and those at administration level. Of course, there have been some very unfortunate high-profile individual cases which have been in the news. They should never have happened but unfortunately they did happen. However, in the main people get great treatment and care at UHL. I do not agree …

I have outlined the significant investment and the significant progress that the Government has made over recent years, particularly since Fianna Fáil returned to government in 2020, by almost doubling the operational budget, increasing the workforce by well over 1,000 and increasing bed capacity. There has been a robust response. The Deputy said there has not been a robust response. I would argue that he is wrong. When Sinn Féin people discuss UHL, I never hear what their proposals are. The Deputy has not outlined…

Sorry, I have the floor. Sinn Féin describes the problem and provides a commentary on the problem, which is fine and we are all well able to do that. What would Sinn Féin do differently? How would it resource it differently?

Sinn Féin has never outlined a detailed proposal.

It will not take An Coimisiún Pleanála two years to reach a decision on the second 96-unit block.

The delivery time for decisions through An Coimisiún Pleanála has drastically fallen, thankfully.

I passed UHL recently; it is a massive building site.

There is huge investment going on there.

A lot has been done and I accept that more needs to be done. It is incumbent on everybody to point out the positives of it as well.

There are challenges there, but there are plenty of positives.

On behalf of the Minister for Health, I thank Deputy McAuliffe for raising this important matter. Addressing waiting lists is a high priority for the Government and substantial investment has been made to address waiting lists across a range of acute and community health services. A previous review of audiology services, published by the Health Service Executive in 2011 as the national audiology review group report, identified shortcomings including access issues, poor information flow, inadequate staffing and unac…

If the Deputy passes on the details to me, I will absolutely convey them to the Minister for Health and the HSE. I will also be conveying to the Minister and the HSE the urgency the Deputy has articulated. As I outlined in my initial contribution, the HSE has partaken in a process as to how it intends to address this issue. It is at a cross-roads now in terms of coming out of a tender process and appointing providers who will deal with the demand within our community. It is very important, particularly for younger …

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this matter with respect to dog-breeding establishments and the number of exports internationally. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has asked me to take this matter on his behalf. The Dog Breeding Establishments Act provides a regulatory framework for the licensing, monitoring and inspection of dog-breeding establishments by local authorities and where a serious and immediate threat exists to public health or animal health and welfare for the closure of such es…

I absolutely agree with the Deputy that more needs to be done in this area. The whole area of dog breeding is a huge industry at the moment. The 2019 Act was a very progressive start but we must revisit it and probably update it. I have always been a huge advocate for animal welfare. We must always strive to continue to do more to promote a better culture of animal welfare, whether it is for dogs, cats, horses or whatever. I want to acknowledge the hundreds of animal welfare groups around the country. They do recei…

I am happy to address Dáil Éireann on the final piece of business for this term. I thank the two Deputies who we have just heard from and also acknowledge former Deputy Patricia Ryan. All three were involved in introducing this Private Member's Bill in December 2023. The Bill addresses a topical issue in the administration of a fair system of justice and one which has the potential to contribute to more efficient use of prison capacity, while ensuring that the rights of victims are upheld. The stated purpose of the…

I thank the Deputy very much for his contribution. I know he has a great interest in this area. He has partaken in discussions on youth diversion before. At the core of our democratic model is the idea that no policy or proposal is above criticism and that the exchange of ideas that takes place here ensures that new policy and legislation reflects the needs of our people. With that in mind, I thank the Deputies for bringing forward their proposed amendments and for their contributions. I assure them that I have lis…

I thank the Senator for giving me this opportunity to speak on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health, and outline the progress being made by the Government in this area. The promotion of physical activity for health is a priority under the Healthy Ireland framework, Ireland’s national strategy for improving the health and well-being of the population. This was evidenced by the publication of the national physical activity plan in 2016. Substantial progress has been made in the implementation of the 60 act…

As the Senator mentioned older adults, I will outline what my colleague, the Minister for Health, has been doing to make physical activity opportunities available to this group. Physical activity for older adults is promoted by Age and Opportunity, a national development organisation working to enable the best possible quality of life for this population group. This organisation is a key stakeholder for Healthy Ireland and is supported by the HSE and Sport Ireland. Age and Opportunity has a number of dedicated phys…

The Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Deputy Naughton, thanks the Senator for raising this important issue, and I am responding on her behalf. The HSE provides specialist disability services, including day services and rehabilitative training, to people with disabilities who require such services. While day service funding does not include transport, some transport supports are provided by the HSE and funded agencies on a discretionary basis, and a variety of transport solutions are pursued in d…