I agree with that, with one caveat, which is that we have a long-term plan. The Deputy will be aware that as part of the waiting list action plan, the chief clinical officer, Dr. Colm Henry, is leading out on 37 new models of care. The Deputy and I have discussed the need for record investment in capacity, which is happening. However, I think we are also probably in agreement about the need for modernisation of pathways for patients closer to the home and in the community. People should be going into the hospitals …

I express my sympathy again to all those who lost friends, family and other loved ones during the pandemic, including the many who were residents of nursing homes. Since the start of the pandemic, the national response has continuously evolved to take account of emerging evidence and lessons nationally and internationally. Throughout, there has been a specific focus on older people, including those in nursing homes, and ensuring that the best possible protections are in place. Significant supports were put in place…

The relatives of those who died deserve the truth. Ultimately, that is what they are seeking and they have every right to it. We have to deal with the reality in this country of what happens when public inquiries are set up. What tends to happen is that everyone involved goes and gets lawyers. People go straight to the High Court and get injunctions stating they cannot be questioned and have their good name damaged. One ends up with a very legalistic process. That is why we have had things like tribunals in the pas…

I recognise the ongoing advocacy from the Deputies on this issue. I ask Deputy O'Dowd to reflect on a charge he has made here today. I do not think it is worthy of him. I take that charge very seriously and I ask him to-----

I thank the Deputy. Like him and all of us, I take all of these lives seriously, regardless of anyone's age or anybody's background. That has nothing to do with it. I have met the families from Dealgan House and I have committed, and am happy to reiterate that commitment, to assist them in seeking answers to what happened to their loved ones. They have every right to that. The difficulty we all face as legislators, in this one example, is that we all know there are multiple ongoing court cases. A voluntary process …

I thank the Deputy for his question. To recognise their unique role during the pandemic, the Government announced the recognition payment for eligible healthcare workers. Eligibility guidelines are required. Those guidelines, as they apply to the HSE and section 39 organisations, are on the HSE website. I am happy that more than 124,000 workers have been paid. We are fast-tracking those who remain to be paid, including workers in the Defence Forces, the fire brigade, prison nurses and others, the majority of whom a…

It is being done organisation by organisation and, therefore, there is nothing that any individual has to do. The HSE is engaging directly with the section 39 organisations. It has service level agreements in place with a great many of them. Through them, it is engaging with the organisations. The HSE is providing them with the criteria and identifying the organisations that qualify. Those organisations are then identifying the workers who qualify.

I acknowledge that when we are trying to make a payment, which is a €1,000 tax-free payment that does make a difference to people, there is no amount that could fully recognise the work that people have done. However, it is a recognition and it is good by international standards, compared to what other European countries have done. There is no doubt that there are going to be workers who do not meet the criteria as set out but who deserve it. There is no doubt that there will be people who have actively helped pati…

I thank the Deputy for his ongoing advocacy in getting the Bill across the line as quickly as possible. The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022 passed Second Stage in the Dáil in March, as he will be aware, and was referred to the Oireachtas Select Committee on Health for Committee Stage. The legislation encompasses the regulation, for the first time in this country, of a wide range of assisted human reproduction, AHR, practices. It is important legislation. The published Bill provides for domestic altru…

I wish to make two points. The first is that in terms of what we want to amend, we have talked about surrogacy looking into the future, but there is also an issue about retrospective recognition, and parental recognition in respect of surrogacy arrangements undertaken prior to this Bill. That is something we have to do. I want that brought in, if at all possible, through Committee Stage amendments. There are children and parents out there today to whom we will, and must, provide that certainty around parentage. Thi…

I thank both Deputies. I am more than happy to meet representatives of the AHR professional group. They are having important meetings with the officials at the moment. It is a technical matter, clinically and legislatively, and they are working through that. I gather they are having a good engagement. Of course, I am very happy to meet representatives of that group. In response to Deputy Murnane O'Connor, we are taking this on and moving it as quickly as we possibly can. I am advised that Ireland will be leading th…

I join Deputy Danny Healy-Rae in acknowledging the extraordinary work that Kerry Parents and Friends Association provides. It provides critical services to adults with intellectual disabilities in the Deputy’s constituency, including day services, residential services, respite and outreach services. I am advised that the association has identified funding challenges to the HSE due to the changing service user needs, specifically the additional home supports that they are providing. I understand the association is c…

I assure the Deputy, on my behalf, on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, who has responsibility for disabilities, and on behalf of the Government, the work the association in Kerry does is acknowledged and hugely appreciated. Over €13 million of funding from the Government is provided to the association for the fantastic work that it does. On top of that, it was one of the first section 39 organisations in the country to benefit from increased funding for FEMPI reversal or de facto FEMPI pay reversal…

With regard to the funding for this winter, there is a service level agreement in place between the association and the HSE. This will be used with this section 39 organisation and all the others to determine their portion of the €60 million to €65 million provided just for the disability sector. That is a very significant amount. Broadly, the organisations will be able to use that money as they see fit to deal with energy costs. Of course, there will be guidance around that but that is the mechanism that is being …

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The HSE public dental service provides care for children up to 16 years of age. It includes emergency care, a fissure sealant programme and care for orthodontics. There have, as the Deputy correctly said, been significant delays in the provision of these services. These were significant before Covid-19 arrived and, as with many other patient services, Covid has made them worse. It is not acceptable that children and their families are facing these long waiting periods for…

While we need to keep going, what has been done this year? A number of community healthcare organisations, CHOs, have already run recruitment initiatives to fill the vacancies that exist. Vacancies equivalent to approximately 72 whole-time equivalent staff have been filled so far this year. That is very welcome progress. The HSE dental service recently held a recruitment event. It invited dentists who are registered or entitled to be registered with the Dental Council of Ireland. I am delighted to say that the even…

I thank the Deputy. I agree with all he has said. There are several layers to what we are doing. One is prevention. The programme we are now bringing in for children from birth up to seven years of age is really exciting. The second layer is building additional capacity in our public health service, which we have discussed, and the third is modernisation and reform. This is why we are introducing clinical leaders to the system, which we have not had before, to help with regard to models of care for children and adu…

I ask that the Deputy bear with me for just one second. I apologise.

I thank the Deputy.

The timelines will be worked through once we see the options. As we discussed earlier, families, some of whom I have met, have very reasonable and important questions. Essentially, they want to know what happened. In some cases, their loved ones died during the first Covid surge and they were faced with unimaginable difficulties in desperately trying to find out what was going on when not able to access the nursing home. All of the nursing homes came under enormous pressure but it was particularly bad in certain ho…