Guím Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan shona ar gach bean in Éirinn agus ar fud an domhain. Is mian liom aitheantas a thabhairt do mhná le róil ceannaireachta mar tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach go mbeadh mná ina n-eiseamláirí do na glúnta níos óige. I wish all women in Ireland and around the world a very happy International Women's Day. I want to acknowledge women in leadership roles. Whether it is political or in business, it is equally important because women must be role models for younger generations to emulate. I espe…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — the State signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2007 and ratified the Convention in 2018, but has yet to ratify the Optional Protocol; — more than one in eight people over the age of 15 provide care, with approximately 500,000 family carers in the State, and that the majority experience barriers accessing respite services; — the commitment in the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future to update the National Carers' S…

First of all, I thank all of the Deputies who spoke this evening on this motion, and for the various issues they raised. A number of Deputies talked about the Government not opposing this motion but a lot of what it calls for is for the Government to implement its own programme for Government. A lot of the items identified are in the programme, and they have not been addressed as yet. The optional protocol has not been ratified, and I know the Minister has talked about an interdepartmental group now being establish…

Has the capital plan for the respite centre in Cavan, which will cater for children, been launched and what is the timeframe for delivery of this service?

As the Minister of State has said, there is currently one respite house between two counties catering for adults and children on alternative weeks only. That is entirely insufficient and has been for years. The respite people are getting is in most cases insufficient. There are many on waiting lists who are not getting any. I have even spoken to people who have not applied at all even though they need it or know they will need it in the future but they feel it is pointless because they hear of others who have been …

We also need to avoid the situation that happens on occasion when an emergency case is going into the respite house and nobody else is actually allowed to use it, so they cancel at the last minute. I am also aware of certain cases, such as, for example, one woman who knows she has an operation coming up in March and who needs respite care for her son. However, because it is the children's week and he is an adult, she is being told there is no possibility. There are situations for which we need to find solutions now…

I ask the Minister of State about anecdotal evidence of a 60% vacancy rate in Cavan's CDNT. Will she give an update on the vacancy rate both within Cavan and Monaghan CDNTs? I did not make reference to this in the previous question because I did not expect to reach this question today.

Just this week, I became aware that the manager in the Cavan CDNT is on maternity leave. Is she going to be replaced? The lady who is currently covering the position is based in Navan but that may just be temporary. We really need a full-time manager in the service. A parent was in contact with me yesterday - and she is not alone in this situation - who was equally angry and upset and really at her wits' end. She has three children with additional needs but one of them was referred to the CDNT by CAMHS. Her son was…

The child was referred to CAMHS for an ADHD assessment but CAMHS said the child is autistic and would need the services of the CDNT. There was more to the story beforehand but I will not go back on it again. I have other parents waiting for services. Another parent who was waiting for services and who has not received any is trying to put together enough funding to get a private assessment done for her child because she just feels she has to do this. To do that she needs some sort of form or referral from the CDNT …

A WRC pay agreement was reached in late 2023 where an 8% pay award was given to employees of section 10, 39 and 56 agencies. I have been informed that the HSE plans to outsource the management of the dispersal of the funds to the section 39 organisations and that the contract will be given to KOSI, the same company that managed the pandemic payment. That we are two years on and there are still employers that have not received that payment does not augur well for the payment of these funds. Why is a national pay dea…

Yes, that would be right.

I commend my party colleague Deputy Ward on bringing forward the Bill and welcome all the families and parents in the Gallery for the debate. I come from County Cavan which, unfortunately, has a very high suicide rate. Cavan is among three counties that have double the national average of suicides and many of them, unfortunately, are adolescents who had engaged with CAMHS. According to parents, there are umpteen problems with CAMHS and how CAMHS teams work. Parents are regularly waiting months for an initial appoin…

We have heard a lot of talk in the past few months about the new deposit return scheme. The scheme is welcome and the vast majority realise it is important because people want to do the right thing. However, the company, Re-Turn, tasked with rolling out the scheme did not do the right thing by disabled people. In 2018, Ireland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Article 4(3) of that convention states that consultation with disabled people and their representative organisations, di…

There are two parts here. There are people who cannot, due to mobility or lack of transport or due to a disability or age, return what they have bought online, and there are the machines themselves. One suggestion is a scheme worked out with the shop that delivers to incorporate a collection where a receipt could be issued. When they come next time to deliver the shopping, they can collect and give a receipt.

They can use that as a coupon online on their next shop. Another suggestion was that a register of those who cannot return their bottles and cans could be drawn up, a regular collection organised, a receipt issued and the people would be able to submit that receipt to Revenue for reimbursement, similar to how receipts for petrol and diesel under the disabled driver and disabled passenger scheme are submitted and refunded. I think that one can be resolved by Re-Turn working with the various shops. There is precedent…

I wish to be associated with the expressions of sympathy to Deputy Collins and his family on the sad passing of his nephew. I commend the Rural Independents on bringing forward this motion. Rural health services are under major pressure from a stretched and ageing workforce and from demographic changes. The Government has abandoned local communities. It has underfunded the health service, making it more difficult to deliver reform and improve local health services. When there is a situation when more than two out o…

It is Swanlinbar in County Cavan. I have sent the details to the Minister of State's office on the back of last week's Questions on Policy or Legislation.

I think it has been forwarded to the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly's, office as well. This motion also makes reference to the extreme shortage of carers for older people and disabled people. A woman in County Cavan, named Marilyn O'Connor, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease approximately two years ago and the condition has progressed quite rapidly in recent months. She felt compelled to chain herself to HSE headquarters in Monaghan. She fought for a care package. She was finally allocated a sufficient …

We cannot really because the Taoiseach is out of time.

This motion outlines the stark statistics pertaining to the long waiting lists for children who require orthopaedic surgery. Behind every statistic is a child from a toddler to a teen, who is waiting in pain when they should be enjoying their lives. As a parent, I would do anything for my children, and the parents here are doing everything they can for their children but it is like banging their heads off a brick wall. They are watching helplessly while their children endure pain and are unable to live their best l…