That has never been said before.

As Deputy McAuliffe knows, CHO 9 also covers my area. The children's disability network teams in CHO 9 were fully established in late September 2021, with 12 CDNTs in place across the CHO. There are currently 283 posts assigned across the CDNTs in CHO 9. This is the whole-time equivalent allocation for the area. Figures up to last month indicate approximately 194 posts were filled across the CDNTs. While funding has been allocated to fill vacancies, the vacancy rate throughout the CHO is 33%. At present, there are …

I thank Deputy McAuliffe. He is absolutely right that it is deeply concerning. It is deeply concerning for me as a constituency Deputy to know these figures. On Monday we had a good discussion at the Cabinet committee on health about the issue and longer term solutions for greater recruitment of staff, particularly opening up more places in third level institutions on courses to do with occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and psychology. As Deputy McAuliffe knows, my colleague the Minis…

I thank the Deputies. I understand the very real focus this issue has for so many Deputies. The numbers that Deputy Ó Cathasaigh requested for his CHO are deeply concerning. Of 192 positions that are provided 111 are filled at present with 81 unfilled. This is a 42% vacancy rate. It is even higher than what we discussed earlier and it is deeply disturbing. It is having a very real impact on children and on their parents and their level of worry. I agree with Deputy McAuliffe in that I do not like relying on the pri…

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, tries to ensure the best outcome for children, families, individuals and communities by listening to feedback and complaints through its Tell Us portal, which is available to all. In 2021, there were 598 complaints, in 2022, there were 749 and in 2023 to date, there have been 201 complaints. To note, in 2021, Tusla received 73,000 referrals and in 2022, it received 82,000 referrals. Tusla provides this data publicly in its annual reports, including a breakdown of the number and c…

Absolutely. In the first instance, with Tusla appearing before the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, of which Deputy Funchion is Chair, soon-----

-----there will perhaps be an opportunity to explore this matter directly with its representatives in more detail. I am certainly happy. As the Deputy knows, I have a quarterly meeting with Tusla. Perhaps I could raise that specific issue with HIQA at the next quarterly meeting and continue that discussion. It is positive to see that some of these complaints are being resolved at a local basis. Obviously, there are times when complaints need to be elevated further. Of course, in a situation where even at the end of…

It is very important that people feel free to make those complaints. As the Deputy knows, whenever there is an issue in terms of the engagement of Tusla with the relationship between a parent and child, it does create an element of stress. The fact that there are a growing number of complaints means that people feel that even if they have an issue, they need not worry about retaliation or whatever. They should feel the systems are robust enough to allow them to make a complaint and get their issue sorted. The Deput…

As the Deputy knows, the ECCE programme provides free universal preschool care to children in the eligible age range. The programme is provided for three hours per day, five days per week over 38 weeks each year. The programme year runs from the end of August to the following June in line with the primary school year. Data provided by Pobal, which administrates the ECCE programme on behalf of my Department, shows that of the services offering the ECCE programme at the end of the 2021-22 programme year, 44 did not c…

I would like to have more time because there is a good bit in there. In last year's budget, we put in place €250 million in core funding. The purpose of this new money is to support services to allow them to pay their staff better and deal with a wider range of financial issues they encounter. All services, including ECCE-only services, receive that money. I know that small sessional services have flagged concerns about how much they benefitted from core funding. We saw that even the small services received an extr…

We discussed this issue ourselves yesterday. I recognise that there are delays and that these delays are ongoing. There is a backlog. In order to address that backlog, we have taken a number of steps within the Department to automate the processing of the significant number of invoices on hand. About 800 invoices come in on a weekly basis. Most importantly, additional staff are being put in place to address this issue. Within my Department, 13 staff have been reallocated. There are also five additional staff from a…

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the House on funding to LGBT+ groups. Ireland has become a proud, progressive and modern State that supports and cherishes all people equally. We have made great strides in recent decades to promote equality and respond to the changing needs of a diverse population. I am here today to discuss the funding provided to LGBT+ groups in 2021 and 2022. The LGBTI+ community service fund supports groups working to promote inclusion, protect rights and improve quality of life and well-b…

There were 25 other virements.

The Senator speaks of the importance of the virement process. It is great to see she has a good knowledge of its importance. Of the 26 virements my Department has undertaken in the past three years, the 26 times when we took money from one place where it was unspent and moved it to the others, why is this the only one she is asking me about?

Perhaps the Senator will do so but she and I both know the reason and it is the unspoken assertion that I have done something dodgy here and looked to channel money into LGBT+ groups. The Senator spoke very eloquently on International Women's Day about the fact she has a voice here to raise issues that maybe others do not want to hear spoken about. I, too, have a voice too and I will not allow an assertion like this to be put against me.

I acknowledge the central role of the survivors affected by the Shannon report, who advocated for their right to be heard and for the harm that was done to them to be acknowledged. It is through their tireless activism that we have a report that is a testament to the truth as they have told us all along. I have had extensive and valuable engagements with Mick Finnegan since becoming Minister and I remain available to him and any other survivor. While we have spoken of the bravery of survivors in this case, it shoul…

I will speak about the work being done in my Department since this Government took office in 2020 and why I have confidence in this Government. We are making significant strides across all areas of the Department, responding to major challenges throughout. We are in the midst of the largest humanitarian crisis the State has ever faced and one year into the war it is easy to forget that. However, since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, my Department has accommodated more than 80,000 people, coming from a base wher…

I am happy to be back in the House for a final debate on this important legislation, the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022. The Bill will improve workers' rights in five key ways. It introduces the right to request flexible working for carers and parents, so that mothers, fathers and carers can better balance their family life, work and caring responsibilities. It introduces the right to request remote working for all workers, recognising the benefits of remote working including less commutin…

Bearing in mind the warnings of the Ceann Comhairle, I will not respond to some of the general points, particularly about women in the workplace. I was going to outline the measures the Government has taken but I recognise we are only speaking about amendments, so I will control those remarks. Regarding Deputy Sherlock's question, that issue is dealt with in amendment grouping two, but he asked a question so I will address it now. The legislation provides for a rate to be set for domestic violence leave. We had a g…

The process is set out in section 7 of the Bill. There is consultation, following which the Minister makes a determination on the rate, bearing in mind various criteria and amendments to the criteria we have just discussed. Another criterion is examining international comparisons. Deputy Sherlock referenced several international comparisons but there are not many because Ireland will be one of the first countries, certainly in Europe, to introduce paid domestic violence leave, which is to be welcomed. The issue of …