Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

I totally agree with the Deputy and I think we will get there with Galway and Cork much more quickly. I would like to discuss with all Deputies options around Dublin because clearly we have the option in relation to Connolly hospital. The Deputy may have noticed that we put in some high-dependency unit, HDU, beds in advance because that is really going to be an important enabler. We did that in th…

I thank the Deputy for his ongoing engagement on this. As he knows as well as I do, this makes a huge difference to families around the country. Much progress has been made now. The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 was signed into law by the President in July 2024. I have a difficulty with a definitive timeline as to the complete commencement of the AHR legislation as there are a numb…

The Deputy is a practical person, as am I. If a court case is before the Supreme Court, then there is a court case before the Supreme Court and there is nothing I can do about that. I would be in breach of my own responsibility not to cross over in the separation of powers were I to do anything other that wait for the outcome of that. I do not have any discretion in relation to that. As for people…

I agree with the Deputy. Indeed, this is something I have been involved with in different ways since working in the Department of children and since advancing the Children and Family Relationships Act, as I did when I worked in the Department of justice in 2013. I have been working on this for a really long time and I share the Deputy's frustration. I want to see people having access to families w…

The Dublin North and East region, which includes Cavan and Monaghan, has benefited from recent investment, with 12 additional paramedics in 2025 and a further 12 scheduled for this year. Six additional emergency medical technicians are planned for Cavan. This will help to preserve front-line ambulances for emergency calls. I highlight this because the National Ambulance Service is focused on addre…

It is difficult to answer in light of some of the circumstances involved. The Deputy raised an individual case where somebody identified a specific reason. While I acknowledge that, in other cases it is not clear whether a patient, for example - it is awful to speak about it in this way - was going to die irrespective. I can understand the clinical constraints in providing broad data when dealing …

I appreciate that the Deputy may find it difficult to see that we cannot fill posts but I assure her that it is true. Of last year's posts, there were 180, and 134 have been filled. I would like it to be 180 filled. This year we have provision for 263, which is obviously a considerable increase on last year, so the direction of travel in terms of our investment is very clear. This is not unique to…

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I thank the Deputy for his question. He has highlighted this in the context of the difficulty in new GP practices opening in his area. The region has had very significant population growth but not a corresponding rise in the number of GPs available for either GMS or private patients and I acknowledge that. I also acknowledge the efforts the Deputy is trying to highlight as to what we can do to sup…

The supports for newly establishing GPs are an important part of the strategic review of general practice, as surveys by the Irish College of General Practitioners have shown that concerns about the costs and risks of opening new practices are important considerations. Essentially, it is a matter of establishing a business and that is a challenging thing to do. Whatever about new practices, howev…

Exactly, and it is a totally practical suggestion. We want to enable GPs to have their practice as quickly as possible. I have no view as to where they should practice necessarily. Of course, we would like to employ them into the HSE, but private practice is also so important. Whatever we can do to enable more GPs, it has come up again and again in this House, correctly, and I can point out all th…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 136 together. Improving access to healthcare in our hospitals is an absolute priority for me. As the Deputy knows, we have very good outcomes in our healthcare system. Our challenge is making sure we have access as quickly as possible. That is the focus, on making sure we are using our resources in the best way possible. We are focusing on a public healthc…

I agree. That is what we are trying to do. On the primary care centres, we have 181 at the moment, with eight under construction and 21 more in early planning stages. However, if people do not use them and if they are not used for outpatient procedures to relieve pressures on hospitals, we are going to keep having the same conversation. There is an excellent outpatient centre in Merlin Park right …

I agree. As I said, we have 181 primary care centres, with eight under construction and 20 more at early planning stages for precisely that. Regarding the Deputy's constituent who could not get surgery, let us count up the different things we have said here. It was said that they cannot get theatre time for her. There is a theatre utilisation project. I would very much like to know the nature of…

I completely agree with the Deputy. They are a phenomenal asset and support and a major part of our health infrastructure. We need to think about them more as a fundamental part of our health infrastructure. Community pharmacies are right where people live. Some 85% of the population is within 5 km of a pharmacy. They are embedded in their communities. They are the first, and often easiest, place …

I am sorry but I do not have that figure. I will get it and come back to the Deputy, if he will forgive me. As part of the community pharmacy agreement, the Irish Pharmacy Union has agreed to support the HSE health and well-being campaigns. The Deputy has highlighted three of them. Following a consultation between the pharmacy union and the HSE, three campaigns were agreed for activation across th…

As the Deputy highlights, this is done through consultation and agreement between the pharmacy union and the HSE. My own Department engages regularly with the pharmacy union. I will ask my officials and the HSE about the nature of that engagement because I am not party to those detailed discussions. I will get a much better answer and provide it to the Deputy. The important point is that there is …

I thank the Deputy and the Committee on Health for their work on oral health and I welcome their report. I have read it and it aligns with many of the frustrations being brought to me. I understand the frustrations of families and individuals who are experiencing this with the current service. To be really clear, the current position on dental services is not good enough. Too many people cannot ge…

We are committed to updating the Dentists Act 1985, but we have spoken separately about the practicalities of some of those individual cases, some of which relate to legislative reform and some of which relate to completely different things. The Deputy is correct in relation to the need for a new dentists Act, but there is also a lot of policy development needed to underpin that. A recognition of…

I will point out that the fees were increased by an order of 40% in that scheme. While I appreciate what the Deputy is saying, the fees were also increased by 40% and there is more complexity. I attended the dental association's conference. There is more complexity to the full range of practice that many dentists are engaged in and the other routes of practice, including aesthetics. I do not just …

I thank the Deputy. I reaffirm that the Government is committed to investing in Navan hospital. Since 2020, the number of whole-time equivalent staff has increased by 17.5%. During the same period, the budget increased by 51%. Under the acute hospital bed expansion plan, a total of 46 new and replacement beds will be delivered at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan by 2031, which includes 31 beds deliver…

On the HIQA report, of the 43 actions in the compliance plan, I understand 18 have been completed and the rest are under way. It is important to highlight that. I want to look at the region in a very interesting way because it is a region that will have a new surgical hub opening shortly. It is a region where we are planning an elective hospital, in Connolly. It is a region where the hospitals are…

Of course the HIQA report needs to be implemented. Where there are issues within the control of the hospital, the HSE is required to deliver sustained improvement. Where risks relate to the broader intersection of the region, that is what I am trying to work out at the moment. On 17 February, I met the regional executive officer and regional clinical director for the HSE Dublin and North East reg…

In the short time that I have, I will say that dermal fillers are regulated as medical devices. There are rules to ensure that devices placed on the market are safe and perform as intended. That means a dermal filler must have a CE mark before it can be legally sold anywhere in the EU. It is important to be clear about what current EU legislation does not do. While it regulates the product, it do…

I thank the Deputy for raising this again. I was very pleased to have the opportunity to meet many of the people with Friedreich's ataxia whom he brought to the Dáil. I want to highlight to Deputies that, importantly, our drugs budget has increased significantly this year, being well up at 9%. This is what the Department expected it to be. We made provision in the overall budget for a 7% uplift, a…