We are negotiating the consultant contract. Discussions are ongoing between the Department and the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO. With the greatest respect, I cannot get into the detail of those negotiations because they are ongoing. As the Deputy noted, various statements have been made. The public health doctors are considering a ballot, which I fully appreciate is their right. However, given the situation I am not in a position to get into details that are being worked out through these conversations in the Ho…

I thank the Deputy. I can commit to a doubling of the public health workforce in consultation with the public health doctors, and to the creation of the public health consultant contract. The Deputy is quite right. This is something they have been seeking for decades. There is a process under way between the Department and the IMO. For me to make the definitive statements the Deputy is looking for would not be respectful of the process which the doctors' representative group is going through with the Department. Wi…

I thank the Deputy. I recognise the importance of student nurses and midwives completing their essential clinical placements in a safe environment. I also recognise the potential hardship that might arise due to Covid-19 for students on placement, such as maintaining part-time employment, increased travel and additional accommodation costs. Student nurses and midwives are not paid for clinical placements in the first three years of their studies and this supernumerary status is critical for learning in complex envi…

I thank the Deputy. I fully agree that nursing students need support. He refers to the HCA wage which was paid during the first wave of the pandemic. The Deputy should bear in mind that when that happened the student nurses were essentially asked to move from education to work. They were working full-time. They stepped up when they were needed and did a fantastic job in a crisis. They were paid the HCA wage. That meant they were working as HCAs and their line managers in the hospitals deployed them as HCAs. It is v…

I thank the Deputy. Covid-19 has greatly increased pressures on the health service and staff have shown incredible strength and care in their duties. Several initiatives were undertaken to staff the necessary expansion of the workforce and these have facilitated an expansion of 4,292 whole-time equivalents from the end of February to the end of September of this year. While this increase was necessary to deal with the pandemic immediately, a larger and more permanent expansion of the workforce is necessary and is u…

As to whether the resources are enough, the budget provided for the biggest increase in health spending we have ever had. That would hold true even if one stripped out the Covid funding. What we are funding next year is very ambitious. We are funding the biggest increase in acute beds, ICU beds, community beds and workforce in a single year. I think we are pushing the limits of implementation, to be honest. We have sufficient resources in terms of funding in the budget. The real challenge now is that I, the Governm…

In terms of the figures in respect of the Be on Call for Ireland initiative, when one narrows down the number who applied to the number deemed to have the relevant qualification, then to those who answered the follow-up, then to those who went through the interview process and finally to those who successfully interviewed, one moves very quickly from a very large number to a far smaller number. I have discussed the matter with the HSE and heard its chief executive explaining on the record that when it moved through…

I will give the Deputy the short answer first. As of now, I am not aware of additional cost overruns, but that is not to say that there will not be any such overruns. With Covid, it is inevitable there will be some overruns but none have been agreed, arbitrated on and reported to the Department by the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, NPHDB. In fairness to the NPHDB, Members will remember there were quite significant additional asks by the contractor of which all Members became very aware. Mr. Fred Ba…

I do not think there will be any issue in that regard so long as there are no commercial sensitivity issues. I will arrange for that information to be provided to the Deputy. On the issue of timing, the board is continuing to engage with the main contractor to obtain an updated programme of works that is in line with its contractual commitments. As any delivery outside of the timelines agreed under the contract could potentially be a matter for dispute resolution, I want to be careful in respect of what I say here.…

I ask the Deputy to repeat that last bit.

I cannot quote all the Standing Orders, but I imagine that the Deputy's question is miles out of order, nonetheless-----

I will answer. I think it would be ruled out of order by the Chair, but I have no problem answering the question at all. My understanding is that it was not available and hence I was looking for it. It was a critical contract because it was moving away from what is still the existing GP contract. It was essentially adding to the existing GP contract but in an important way - in ways that were identified by Sláintecare. One of the most critical was to have GPs lead the chronic disease management within the community…

-----at the time.

I will revert on the other question.

Okay.

I acknowledge the Deputy's strong advocacy work for the local healthcare facilities in his constituency and for the people he represents. I am pleased to be able to inform the Deputy that the development of five new primary care centres in County Clare is being progressed and, when completed, will add to the existing centre at Westbury. I acknowledge the Deputy's work in continuing to advocate to ensure these critical projects happen as quickly as possible. The development at Station Road, Ennis is expected to be c…

In Kilrush, the HSE is currently awaiting price offers from potential developers. There is not much more to say until those offers come in at which point, they will be evaluated. In Ennistymon a site was advertised in May 2019 for a primary care centre development and priced offer applications from potential developers are currently under review. I am aware that an agreement for lease was issued for this site before being withdrawn. That the proposed centre has been re-advertised shows that the commitment remains t…

I confirm that these projects are going ahead. Rumours that they have been pulled or shelved are unsubstantiated. The services to go in is a matter that will be discussed with the HSE. Any input the Deputy may have would be very welcome. We try to have GPs in the primary care centres. Obviously, GPs are independent contractors and do not have to come in. There are generally ongoing negotiations to get local GPs to move in and then we put in primary healthcare teams as well. The exact configuration of what is needed…

I was delighted to see this question come in. I share the Deputy's view that this is a priority. Progressing women’s health is a priority for me and for this Government. We made a strong commitment to promoting women’s health in the programme for Government. I am pleased that budget 2021 provides a very significant investment to deliver on this commitment, something I have been pushing very hard for. I have allocated funding of €12 million to ensure a renewed impetus in the implementation of the national maternity …

It is not lost on me that two men are discussing the future of women's healthcare. It must be pushed and funded. I might be wrong, but I do not believe that if men had babies that Holles Street, the Coombe or the Rotunda or other maternity services around the country would have the same level of investment as they have now. They would be state-of-the-art, brand new, custom-built, beautiful buildings. They are not and that is not good enough. It is not good enough that when we discuss crisis after crisis here on wom…