Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

I thank Deputy Butterly. I thank Dignity4Patients and thank the men - overwhelmingly it is men - who collaborated with us and worked with us on this process. I thank Lorcan Staines who, I think the Deputy will see from the report, has adopted a most empathetic approach that is different from any language that has been used about this and about these men in the past. I thank him for his kindness an…

I thank the Deputy for his continued advocacy for all people with rare diseases. We are trying to change the system specifically to get better access for rare diseases and we are partnering with other countries to try to do that as quickly as possible. It is wrong that we are negotiating against each other as member states, in some cases, with pharmaceutical companies. We have not reached the bes…

I thank the Deputy for the amendments and the spirit in which they have been put forward. It is important to be able to have these discussions. I will deal with second one. The Deputy is quite right that ages of consent vary. Medical consent is 16, sexual activity is 17, consent under GDPR is 18, and that can lead to some complexity. It can lead to confusion on the part of young people seeking car…

If I had all of the money in the world, of course I would simply do these different things but I have to make choices between different things that the Oireachtas wants to spend money on. There are so many requests to spend money. There are never requests to find other things to do with them. Yes, if I had the money, of course, but that would also mean having to make choices around assisted human …

I move amendment No. 3: In page 4, lines 26 and 27, to delete “or medical device”. We have a number of Government amendments to the Bill which collectively remove a reference to a medical device or devices from the Bill. Our pharmacy regulators, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland and the Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA, have been able to confirm to me that none of the contraceptive…

I move amendment No. 4: In page 4, line 27, to delete “or medical devices”.

I move amendment No. 5: In page 4, line 32, to delete “or device or devices”.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 5, lines 8 to 10, to delete all words from and including “subsection (3A)—” in line 8 down to and including in line 10, and substitute “subsection (3A),”.

I move amendment No. 7: In page 5, lines 15 to 17, to delete all words from and including “subsection (3B)(a)—” in line 15 down to and including line 17, and substitute “subsection (3B)(a),”.

I thank the Deputy. I confess that we were not exactly clear on the nature of the contraceptives overall. Can I just clarify whether the Deputy is referring to progesterone only or combined, or simply the initial access in the pharmacy?

I have better clarity on that now. This Bill is the culmination of a couple of years of work begun by my predecessor on the provision of contraception through pharmacies. That work commenced with consideration of the matter by the expert clinical committee on contraception, which was convened by the HSE. The crucial thing about the recommendations is that we are so pleased to be able to extend the…

Like everything, it is better to start something and develop it rather than wait for something else. We are trying to start so much with pharmacists. It is important to remind everyone about the national condom distribution scheme too, which we are expanding to pharmacies on a phased basis. Obviously condoms are not prescription items and do not have to be covered by this legislation. Pharmacists …

I move amendment No. 10: In page 3, lines 8 and 9, to delete “medicines, products and devices” and substitute “medicines and products”.

I acknowledge the survivors here, both in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery and those who have joined us as a community in other ways. The apology offered today by the Taoiseach is an important acknowledgement by the State of the wrong done to young boys and young men within this State and not acknowledged or handled correctly in any way by the institutions of this State. For the survivors gather…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It is my view and his view that care in our public hospitals must be based on clinical need, not ability to pay. He will also be aware of - and shares - our commitment to ensuring full compliance with the terms of the public only consultant contract, POCC. The position regarding consultants on the POCC is unequivocal: they are not permitted to engage in …

As I said to the Deputy privately and am happy to say to him on the floor of the House, we did a productivity analysis in the Department of the actual activity being carried out in each of the four big maternity hospitals to try to determine what the level of private and public activity was. It certainly showed instances of type B contract holders going way beyond the 20% that would be implied in …

I could not agree more. I thank the health committee for its robust engagement. This is a shared project, making sure that this contract and structure that we have all agreed are implemented. I have concerns about the operation on a hospital by hospital basis, for example, how intensive care facilities might be used between private and public and what the reimbursement structure is. I do not have …

I agree that too many people are waiting too long to access primary care and community services. A total of 1.3 million patients were seen by primary care therapists in 2025, which is significant. There is no question, however, that there is rising demand and increasing complexity, particularly for children's services. This is placing sustained pressure on services nationally. As the Deputy has re…

I agree with the Deputy. As I look at the actual numbers on the lists, not only is there regional variation but there is variation by specialty as well. To be very transparent, if I look at the waiting lists from May 2025 to 2026, for example, there has been a reduction of nearly 7,000 people on the audiology list. There has been, however, an increase of nearly 3,000 people on the occupational the…

Of course the Deputy does.

We are trying to end the practice of the money moving from community to acute care and make sure that this does not happen. I will name some additional waiting list initiatives that are important. In budget 2025, we had base funding of €8 million for community-based waiting lists, particularly for psychology and audiology which had previously only received once-off funding. That is more embedded n…

I agree this is a very serious issue for paediatric trauma cases and potentially acquired brain injuries. In light of the recent series of cases and the position paper published by the faculty of paediatrics, the deputy chief medical officer has formally written to the HSE’s national director of public health seeking an initial public health report on e-scooter related injuries in children and you…

As the Deputy and I are in broad agreement on this issue, I will simply use this opportunity to reiterate the potential impact of an acquired brain injury on a child or a teenager. Acquiring a brain injury is a lifelong and potentially life-limiting condition. It can impact their ability to walk, to think, to speak, to eat. It is important that we say these things in the Dáil. The impact of an acq…

I have spoken to the Minister of State, Seán Canney, specifically on this in recent days and gave him a copy of the letter as to what is happening in relation to the public health assessment. I know that he, like the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is very exercised by this, as is the Minister for justice. Not one of us in this House wants to enable or perpetuate a situation where children are acquiring…

It is wonderful to have this conversation with Deputy Kyne in the Dáil because I recall visiting this hospital with Senator Kyne, as he was then, now Deputy Kyne, representing Galway and a continual advocate for University Hospital Galway. He and I were there in May 2025, when we launched the completed master plan, setting out a clear vision for a modern model 4 hospital serving Galway and the wes…