I acknowledge the Deputy's ongoing advocacy for Ennis Hospital to improve resources and, ultimately, services for his constituents. The medical assessment unit, MAU, pathway for 999 patients was introduced in Ennis Hospital on 9 January and Nenagh Hospital on 7 February. This pathway allows patients who meet agreed clinical criteria to be transported to an MAU rather than an emergency department. It is resulting in patients in the mid-west receiving treatment in a hospital closer to home. It is ensuring that patien…

I will correct what I said. The 51 WTEs are not a national but a regional deployment. It is just within the hospital group. Ennis Hospital will see an additional 20 WTEs just for this programme. It is a very significant increase in investment. The hospital group has been approved for more than €5 million in funding to essentially extend the opening hours, as the Deputy quite rightly said. This is part of an ongoing investment in Ennis Hospital. The Deputy will be very aware of the new €2 million minor injury unit t…

I very much welcome today's Private Members' Bill and the opportunity to discuss the very important topic of assisted human reproduction. I will begin by recognising the work of the two Senators sponsoring today's Bill, Senators Fiona O'Loughlin and Catherine Ardagh. Both Senators have worked tirelessly in advocating for these new services in women's healthcare, for new investment, and for urgent progress to be made in the provision of fertility treatments and services, including advanced treatments such as IVF. I …

I thank the Deputy very much for that. There has been and will continue to be ongoing investment in Ennis Hospital. We will need to see exactly what the final opening hours for the MAU will be. Local clinicians will gauge patient demand. If we are to have staff there at night, patients need to be coming in to warrant them being there. Otherwise, we would employ them during the day to provide patient services. At this point, the important thing is there is very significant investment in expanding the team at Ennis. …

We are looking for the timed amendment. It is that motion.

That seems to be the case.

I thank the Seanad for its support for this Bill and the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Bill. We have had an important week in the Seanad for healthcare legislation. What we have just done is make hospitals free for everybody. The only charges left will be for emergency departments and minor injury units. This change is very important for individual patients and their families. It means that people who are sick and people who may have cancer or other illnesses to deal with who may not be …

This is not the army council. We are in Parliament. Sinn Féin should have a little bit of respect for the Parliament.

I thank the Deputy very much for raising the question. We are acutely aware of the situation, particularly in counties Kerry and Cork, as the Deputy said. When it comes to CAMHS, which has the most acute situations, the issue is not funding. The issue is recruitment. We have many teams all over the country. Many posts have been sanctioned, including psychiatry posts, and all the additional supports the psychiatrist needs. The Deputy will see in the national service plan that we have put a very strong emphasis and p…

-----that the HSE can recruit into the posts to make sure we have the psychiatrists and the other clinical supports the clinicians need for various teams right across the country.

This is a technical amendment to update the reference to the "Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform" to the much catchier "Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform".

I thank Senators for the speedy passage of the Bill through Committee and Remaining Stages. It is an important Bill as we know. It provides for mandatory open disclosure for serious patient safety incidents. It also provides for the notification of those incidents to the relevant regulator. It extends HIQA's remit to private hospitals, which is very important. It also contains provisions supporting clinical audit, something on which we need to move from strength to strength to continually increase patient safety. A…

It is not the IRA Army Council in here. Other people can speak.

I am very pleased to introduce the Health (Amendment Bill) 2023 to the Seanad. This Bill means that adults will, for the first time in our Republic's history, have free access to inpatient hospital care. As colleagues will be aware, people in Ireland are currently charged €80 per night to use a public hospital, up to a total of €800 in one year, which would be a very large bill. Patients and their families have faced this bill when they are very sick, their ability to work might be compromised and their household i…

I thank the Senators for their support. It is great to see. I assure Senator Hoey, who suggested that this might be the only time she and her good Labour Party colleagues would ever support a Government Bill, that we will be back in this House tomorrow morning with the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Bill 2019. If memory serves correct, we will be in a good place in terms of having that supported through the House too. I have no doubt there are many Bills which Senator Hoey and those Senat…

I welcome the opportunity today to contribute to Dáil statements on safe staffing in our hospitals. Safe, in hospital terms, means much more than numbers of staff - it refers to safety for both patients and staff. It refers to the environment in which patients are treated and where staff deliver care. Of course, maintaining adequate staffing levels is an important factor in making sure we have safe staffing in our hospitals. Safely staffing our hospitals is a top priority for the Government and for me. The Governme…

They all arrived at the same time.

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I thought I had 15 minutes. That is what I was told.

I will be briefer then. I am really pleased to introduce the Health (Amendment) Bill 2023 to the Dáil. The Bill means that adults will for the first time have free access to inpatient care in public hospitals. At the moment, people are charged €80 a night for a stay in a public hospital, up to a maximum of €800 a year. That is a very large bill for people to face. Many have to face it when they may be very sick and unable to work, or only able to do so part time, and are finding it harder to make ends meet. Last ye…