I thank colleagues for taking the time to contribute to the debate. I listened very carefully to the debate and there are some common themes. In spite of the fact that there are differences of views, there is actually an awful lot on which we are broadly in agreement, if not on all the detail then certainly on the main themes. One of the most important is what our collective ambition is for healthcare in our country. We are united on that. We are agreed that we are looking to provide universal healthcare in our cou…

Budget 2024 provides an additional €2 billion for healthcare, including €808 million in core funding, €1.032 billion in non-core funding and €156 million in capital funding. The total health budget for 2024 is €22.5 billion. The €808 million increase in core funding comprises a combination of €708 million to maintain existing services and €100 million for new developments. Funding to maintain existing services includes funding for inflation, rising patient demand, workforce measures including the public-only consul…

I will talk to the HSE today and ask it to revert to the Department, which will revert directly to the Deputy. He can rest assured that everything that needs to be done will be done to make sure that full cancer services and treatments continue.

I thank the Deputy and recognise his ongoing work in this area in ensuring we have new medicines, particularly for rare diseases. I met with the industry representatives' group and made a point that I think is well known, which is that funding for new developments in healthcare is a matter for the budget and is an ongoing conversation. No decisions have been made but there is a lot of pressure there. Notwithstanding that, in this year's spend, there is about €100 million in spending on new medicines that have come …

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue on an ongoing basis. We have done a lot of work since she and I last discussed it. The fees paid to dentists have increased by about 50%, as she and I have discussed previously, and at this point I really would like to see dentists provide services to medical card holders under the existing scheme. I have taken a look at, and am happy to share with Deputies, the amount the Government is paying versus other countries in western Europe, and at the incomes that are coming in. …

I will revert to Deputy Higgins with a note. The policy to which she referred is active. In the context of adding half a million people to State-funded GP care, it may be the case that there are some issues.

I thank the Acting Chair for his kind words and colleagues for raising the issue and their contributions. I have listened very carefully to what has been said. I want to start by again acknowledging the extraordinary distress, anger, fear and frustration that all of this is causing. There are 20 families directly involved. There are 20 boys, girls and young men and women, one of whom has passed away, affected by this. All of their families, and many other boys, girls and young men and women and their families, are …

I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Health pursuant to Standing Orders 95(3)( a ) and 181(1)

To respond to Deputy Verona Murphy, the 96-bed block, or the 97-bed block, as the team keeps reminding me when I go to Wexford to meet it, features prominently in this year's capital plan, as she will be aware. It is being advanced. A detailed design is being advanced and we will be seeking to proceed on a rapid-build basis.

I move: THAT provision be made in the Act giving effect to this Resolution, in the manner and to the extent specified in that Act, to provide for the charging, in accordance with regulations made under section 17 of the Act by the Minister for Health, of fees for a licence, for renewal of a licence or for a copy of a licence.

I want to start by acknowledging the intense distress and anxiety this whole episode is causing to the patients themselves involved in these reviews. These are girls and boys, young women and men, and, of course, their parents and families. These young people and families already have so much to deal with as regards their underlying medical conditions, and I am acutely aware, as I know all of us in this House are, of the very significant added stress and worry this situation has brought for them. I also offer my de…

We do. They are published.

Yes. They were published last week.

I thank the Deputy. I will be able to provide colleagues with a list of the current workforce and consultants across CHI. As colleagues will be aware, we have paediatric orthopaedic consultants who work across numerous sites, including Temple Street, Crumlin and Cappagh hospitals. There is also some activity for which Blackrock Clinic is used. There are various surgeons involved there. While I fully appreciate there are broader questions around paediatric orthopaedics, what initiated the issue at hand was spina bif…

It is an important question. It is not a short answer. The Deputy is referring to a number of different children across a number of different surgeries, several of which have been identified as serious patient safety incidents and others which have not. I might come back to Deputy Lawless and to colleagues in writing to ensure that there is a detailed response to this.

I thank the Deputy for his question. I note the CHI report states July and I believe it is November for the two patient safety incidents. I will check the exact timing but the process which will have been followed is that when those incidents were notified, the Department will have been notified. Importantly, I have also checked that the parents were followed up, close to when those serious patient safety incidents were notified.

No, I did not. As per the opening speech, we would be notified of perhaps 20 or 30 of these incidents in a typical year. We deal with them, the Department engages with the HSE, I am updated on them, and then I interact as appropriate.

There would have been communication between my Department and his Department previously rather than-----

I will check exactly when that was but the Deputy may understand that there is official communication. That is how I am informed and how the Taoiseach is informed. The Taoiseach and I spoke in detail about this last week but there was previous communication in August, and, potentially, before that with his officials and his Department.

I believe the exact date when I was informed was 4 August.