I wish to make clear that there are two different times. One is for assessment, which is the six to eight weeks, but the other, critically - and this might be the situation for the family the Deputy is involved with - is the waiting time for therapy, which is five months. Having looked at this, I do not believe that this is an acceptable amount of time for a child to wait when it is therapeutic intervention in the case of sexual assault. I have instructed the Department to work directly with the HSE to find ways to…

I thank the Deputy for her kind words. It is good to hear that the Department and my team have tried to help, so I thank her for that. With regard to the paper records, I take the Deputy's point. The current patient management system in St. Louise's unit uses dedicated charts which are separate to CHI at Crumlin medical charts, due to the very sensitive information involved, coupled with electronic records which are held on a secure server with controlled access, for reasons we all appreciate. It has not been possi…

I can give a one-minute or two-minute response if that is helpful.

I thank the Deputy for her question. I sincerely regret, as we all do, that patients can experience a long waiting time for hospital appointments and treatment. I am very conscious of the burden this places on patients and their families. No situation is harder than when it is children who need hospital care. It is recognised that prior to the Covid outbreak, many adults and children were already waiting too long for appointments and procedures. Unfortunately, as we know, the pandemic and, more recently, the cybera…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." We are here today to introduce the CervicalCheck Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2021 to Dáil Éireann. I begin by thanking my colleagues, the other Deputies, for facilitating the Second Stage debate at this early date. While this is a technical amendment, I acknowledge the profound impact the CervicalCheck debacle has had on women and families who have been affected. It will take some time to restore the loss of trust but I am very confident in the management team at Cer…

I thank all colleagues across the House for their contributions on the Bill. It has been a useful and important session so far. I welcome the broad support that has been indicated for the Bill and for the extension of time. I join colleagues across the House in welcoming Vicky Phelan back from the United States. I acknowledge, as I and many of us have before, the huge contribution she has made to this issue from the start. I have listened carefully to the speakers and will consider the issues raised. I will revert …

I think there is broad agreement on accepting the section. As to the point made by Deputy Cullinane, I agree that, ultimately, this is a choice for women. It is a choice for the women and families involved as to whether they want to go to the tribunal or to the courts. There is an onus on all of us, as Oireachtas Members, to make the tribunal as advantageous as possible. The tribunal that has been set up broadly reflects what the House agreed to in the 2019 Act. The recurrence issue was then as it is now, as was th…

I beg your pardon. I will address the last point very quickly.

Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle. It concerns eligibility. I am very sympathetic to expanding eligibility. An opinion was given some time ago in favour of allowing the current groups to have access to the tribunal. However, I think there is a case to be made for the expansion of that. Indeed, the memo that I brought to the Cabinet on Tuesday addressed exactly that issue. It is something we can look at

I did not realise the Deputy had copied and pasted my own amendment. It looked very familiar. Indeed, she will be aware that when I tabled the amendment, the then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, told me that the powers were already provided for in the High Court and at the tribunal, because it replicates the procedures in the court. I checked that myself and received exactly the same advice that it is covered. I am satisfied that the tribunal already has exactly the powers that the Deputy is calling for in the …

I thank both Deputies for their comments. On Deputy Smith's remarks on the amendment, the powers are contained in the Act. The 2019 Act essentially states the procedures, powers and running of the High Court are transferred to the tribunal. That is how this power is brought across. It is already in the Act. I do not believe it would be wise to complicate the Act, which has been legally and constitutionally proofed, by inserting in the Bill duplications of its powers. If the Deputy is asking me again whether I am sa…

I think we are-----

I am very happy to respond. I am not trying to dismiss what the Deputy is saying at all. The Bill before us is to extend the time. The Deputy has asked me very reasonably whether we will consider extending the eligibility criteria and I am just saying we will. She is making the point there is time sensitivity and urgency. I accept that. It is not a matter for the Bill before us today, however. The Bill before us is simply about timing. On the Deputy's question as to whether we will consider eligibility, the answer …

On Deputy Cullinane's point first, I will get him an answer on that. It is important to note that significant costs have been incurred and most of these are fixed costs relating to the premises. The running costs are much lower. By extending the tribunal for six months, we are not doubling or near doubling the costs and the facility we have will be available for a long time to come for other uses as well. On Deputy Smith's amendment, the tribunal is currently required to submit its annual report for every financial…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. To be honest, I was simply told that it was statements. It was not something that I had requested at all, as we do question-and-answer sessions all of the time. I cannot do it today because doing such a session requires a tremendous amount of preparation and there is a great amount of data that I need to have available for colleagues but I fully appreciate where they are coming from. Can I suggest that we proceed with statements today, as agreed, and I can work with colleagues to …

The point made by Deputy Shortall is disappointing and I do not accept her final comment. I am not treating the House like anything. I have come into the House week after week to speak with all Deputies in good faith, to engage with questions and answers and I am offering to do so. The order of the House was not arranged by me but by the Business Committee and I have come here as requested to go through statements. I have offered multiple alternatives to that, as I recognise that Deputies have an important job to d…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I will be sharing time with the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan. It is fair to say at this point that our vaccine programme has been an enormous success. Uptake has been phenomenal and it is something we should all be immensely proud of as a society. It has not been plain sailing, as colleagues will know, and I know many Members have had concerns in the past, just as I have had, at different stages through this programme. Earlier on in our roll-out programme, we faced some real …

For July.

I thank colleagues right across the House for their time and for the questions, ideas and challenges they put to me. It has been really useful to listen to the various ideas, concerns and issues raised. I have about ten minutes. I took notes throughout the session. Given that we are a little ahead of ourselves, the Acting Chairman might indulge me a little at the end if I run out of time. It is up to him. I have tried to group the issues raised. I will not get to every specific one but I want to try to address the …

I will get figures on the Pfizer vaccines for the Deputy but we have sufficient numbers coming in to be able to open up vaccinations next week for the 30 to 34 age group. I will address now the issue for those aged 60 to 69, which has been raised by many Deputies. I have also spoken to people in this group, some of whom have contacted my constituency office. We all hear the frustration and the very urgent desire and, indeed, demand of people aged between 60 and 69, and many other people as well who have had one dos…