David Cullinane

It is all Sinn Féin's fault. We have been in Government, not you. Own your own responsibilities.

The Minister is avoiding answering the questions for ordinary working families because he has no answers.

I want to raise an urgent issue that has arisen in relation to the Irish Coast Guard air search and rescue service. I met with crew representatives from across the State yesterday, including pilots and other crews, who raised serious safety issues and fatigue issues. This is down to 24-hour shifts where a greater portion of their shift is now being classed as "on standby" time. They are not on sta…

I welcome the Minister and the Minister of State. Men's health is not a topic which gets proper attention. There is a silent crisis in men's health which is devastating families and communities across the State. Both the Minister and the Minister of State are correct to appeal to men to look after their health, to seek support, to get checks and to make sure that if there is a difficulty they go t…

Hear, hear.

A lot of issues have been raised by my colleagues, particularly by Teachtaí Mac Lochlainn and McGuinness, in relation to quotas, an existential threat facing fishermen and European and State policy. I support all of that and all the points that they made. I wish to concentrate on infrastructure because it is important. The Minister visited Waterford recently. One of the points of the discussion w…

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

The people I give credit to for delivering enhanced cardiac services for Waterford are the people of Waterford, who several times took to the streets in their thousands and had to force this Government, kicking and screaming, to deliver those services.

Simon Harris's record as a Minister and a leader is not one of competence, vision or progress. When I think of Simon Harris, I think of broken promises to children with scoliosis and spina bifida, compounded by false hope and children left in pain. Under Simon Harris's watch, children with chronic conditions and disabilities have been failed and let down time and again. Under Simon Harris' leaders…

I raise with the Taoiseach again investment for Waterford Airport. It is something I have raised with him dozens of times. The airport's management has always made well-researched, very detailed propositions to Government on the need for the runway extension. Is the Taoiseach aware of a new consortium or investor that is prepared to put €30 million, it seems, on the table? Has he been briefed on t…

The Minister for Transport.

What is going on in the area of health? We are 24 hours on from the budget and it is impossible to know where any of the money announced in it will be spent. What is clear is that the vast majority of the additional funding announced yesterday for health is for existing levels of service. I spoke with senior officials in the Department of Health. They informed me that this is down to the Departmen…

-----and shame on the Government for not providing that detail.

76. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if she will consider an independent public inquiry into scandals at Children’s Health Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52528/25]

My first question relates to the need for a public inquiry into spinal surgeries for children with scoliosis and spina bifida at CHI. I note the Minister met Harvey Morrison Sherratt's family with the Tánaiste recently and it seems a commitment was given to an inquiry. Will the Minister inform the House as to what form that inquiry will take and what her view of the timeframe will be in the terms …

There are different models but it is important that this is an inquiry. That is what families are looking for. Obviously, there are different types of inquiries. We have seen in the past where inquiries were promised and they end up being reviews and investigations, very similar to the Nayagam review which is ongoing and still has not been published. This inquiry has to be comprehensive. It has es…

Part of the problem here is that we have had almost a decade of failure and broken promises, some of which it must be said were political promises, and in more recent times a lack of transparency from Children's Health Ireland. Those very same families the Minister has met, and those parents and advocates she would meet, have been screaming from the rooftops about governance failures at CHI for ma…

78. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if she is confident that sufficient capital funding has been provided for in the national development plan to deliver elective centres, 3,000 additional acute inpatient beds, digital transformation, and the entirety of health infrastructure commitments made by the Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52529/25]

Capital funding in health is really important. This capital allocation is one of the most important because it is linked to many of the big projects that are about reform of the health service. It is about more hospital beds and the 3,000 beds that were promised by the Minister's predecessor before the local elections last year. Elective hospitals have to be built, which is really important in fol…

I do not believe that is the biggest challenge at all. It is a challenge, of course, to get projects ready and obviously they have to go through planning processes and there are other processes as well. I met with senior officials in the Department before the last general election. What they set out to us was an ask of about €13.5 billion up to 2030. What was achieved was €9.5 billion. Even lookin…

Despite all of the best efforts of people who will work in this space, even if they get them to shovel-ready, I have already outlined and done the maths. I have met with the Department. I know the money simply is not there to do all of these projects. It is a case of who is right or who is wrong when it comes to the funding. I would accept that the Minister wants as much as possible to be done, as…

That is for 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., not 24-7.

101. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health her intentions regarding the provision of comprehensive endometriosis services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52532/25]