I am raising the issue of gaps in home care provision because it is having a detrimental effect on the everyday lives of people, whether elderly or disabled. I am contacted regularly by family members of older people and disabled people who have been approved hours that are not being filled. This is where a home care package has been put in place, the person has been assessed and the hours required are approved, but they are not being filled. This happens regularly. For example, I was talking last week to a young m…

People are living longer and their care needs are going to increase, and we will have more people with neurological conditions. Rather than having them go into homes, we prefer to see people make the choice to stay in their own homes and receive the care they need. It is recognised that they need the care, and they have been assessed and approved for the hours, but those hours are just not being filled. There is a crisis in the home care sector. A further recruitment campaign is needed, as well as proper training f…

Yesterday morning, I attended a hustings event organised by Family Carers Ireland. It laid out its asks of political parties going into this general election and what it wants to see included in every party's manifesto. At the top of that list was the abolition of the carer's allowance means test. It was going on what carers themselves were asking for. The room was full of carers and many carers joined us online too because they are not in a position to leave their homes and come to an event such as that. The feeli…

Will the Minister consider undertaking a stakeholder review of the progressing disability services model in light of the fact that it does not work on many fronts?

The progressing disabilities model is not working on many fronts. There were 91 CDNTs established before the end of 2021. According to the HSE census from a year ago, only one of those teams was fully staffed. A number were close but quite a number had vacancy rates up to 70%. A team cannot function with a vacancy rate of 70% or even 50% or 30%. Many children have no access to their CDNTs. They wait years for any sort of assessment or service. Two parents' representatives on the national steering group for progress…

We have been hearing about a recruitment campaign for quite some time. The progressing disability model was drawn up in 2013 or 2014, I think. At that time, workforce planning was not done and we now do not have sufficient therapists. I acknowledge it will take time to educate enough therapists but there is no guarantee they will work in disability services. There are many other areas they could work in and many are leaving and going to work in other countries where they can do their jobs. I feel sorry for therapis…

Will the Minister address the reasons for the delays in accessing augmentative and alternative devices through children's disability network teams? What actions can or will be taken to speed up the process?

I thank the Minister. As an example, I was recently contacted by a parent whose eldest son is autistic and whose younger son has just been diagnosed as autistic. She is familiar with the needs of her children and describes her younger son as pre-verbal. He needs support now. She has contacted the CDNT about getting him the support he needs prior to him starting school, because it is going to make such a difference. She keeps being put off and told she needs to take this course or another course, that those courses …

The Minister has mentioned AsIAm and the pilot programme. Adam Harris and another young person were before the committee last week and they referenced the delay in accessing devices for children who need them and that their organisation would be rolling out a pilot programme. That is fantastic. The organisation does fantastic work. I also commend CAPS in my area for the fantastic work it does. A point made to me by a person in CAPS is the HSE is frequently referring children to it for supports and services, yet the…

I have been contacted by the principal, staff members and parents of students at St. Mary's Boys' National School in Belturbet, County Cavan. They are reaching out to me and to other representatives in the area as they require immediate assistance with a situation in the school. It is a senior boys' school. Pupils attend from second to sixth class. The school currently has an enrolment of 77, with an increase of five this school year, eight last year and eight the year before, evidencing a rise in enrolment over th…

I know the Minister of State is giving a reply on behalf of the Minister for Education but the reply just outlines the process, which I am aware of. The school appealed the decision and was turned down. That is what I am raising here. The appeal the school made in October was turned down last week as a result of the school being one pupil short despite it being known that there are three pupils waiting to come in. That is why I am bringing this up here. I am asking the Minister to go back to the Department, to disc…

Yes.

Yes.

This day last week, I attended a protest at Cavan General Hospital. That protest was held by workers from across the hospital, including nurses, clerical workers, porters and healthcare assistants. They were represented by three unions, which were Fórsa, SIPTU and the INMO. The demonstration was held as the first step in opposition to the pay and numbers strategy introduced by the HSE in the summer and the fact that all positions which were unfilled as of 31 December 2023 are now declared obsolete or, in the words …

Is the Bill opposed?

Since this is a Private Members' Bill, Second Stage must, under Standing Orders, be taken in Private Members' time.

Thank you, Deputy.

As there are only 30 seconds left, the next question will be taken tomorrow.

Will the Minister report on the number of social and affordable houses that have been completed in Cavan and Monaghan under this Government's mandate? Will he detail how he plans to enable local authorities to accelerate the provision of housing in Cavan and Monaghan considering that the Housing Commission recently reported the need for additional local housing of between 12,000 and 15,000 houses by 2050? I think it was something between 900 and 1,100 in Monaghan.

Could the Minister provide me with a bit more detail on affordable housing and how that was delivered? At my last meeting with Cavan County Council, my understanding was that it had not delivered any affordable housing? Does that mean it was done through the approved housing bodies or was it done by the council? I am not being critical of approved housing bodies, which do excellent work. We have quite a significant number of people on the housing list or in receipt of housing supports. More than 1,900 people in Cav…