Questions

226. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware that the Cork-based HSE-funded voluntary organisation (details supplied) which supports more than 2,800 children and adults with intellectual disabilities and autism across Cork city and county, spent a combined total of €11.33 million on agency staff during 2024 and 2025; if she will outline the analysis her Depar…

227. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware that an analysis of all 71 HIQA inspection reports into Cork disability residential centres published in 2024 found that just two centres were fully compliant with regulations, with Cork centres overall assessed as 59% compliant, 26% substantially compliant, and 15% not compliant; if she will outline the engagement…

228. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will confirm the specific plans that are in place to address the HSE Roadmap for Service Improvement Q2 2025 projection that approximately 23,903 assessments of need could be due for completion by the end of 2025, with 16,593 already overdue at the end of Quarter 2 2025; if she will outline whether sufficient resources are …

229. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide details on the number of senior health and social care professional whole-time equivalent posts allocated to deliver therapy services across special schools nationally; if she is aware that of the 136.3 senior HSCP whole-time equivalents allocated for onsite service provision across 82 special schools, only 88.…

230. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will confirm whether the Service Improvement Function of the National Children's Disability Services Team, which was responsible for working directly with individual Children's Disability Network Teams to drive service improvements, has been stepped down and its funding withdrawn; if so, when this decision was made, the ass…

231. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide details on the number of the up to 6,500 clinical assessments funded through the Assessment of Need Targeted Waitlist Initiative under Budget 2026 have been delivered to date; the number of those assessments that have been allocated to families in the HSE South West region covering Cork and Kerry; the projected…

232. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children living in emergency accommodation or in homeless families' accommodation who are currently awaiting their first contact from a Children's Disability Network Team or awaiting an assessment of need; if she is aware that the number of homeless children in the State rose from 4,510 in January 2025 to 5,188 in De…

233. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of social workers recruited by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, in each of the past five years; if she is aware that Tusla's own Chief Executive has stated that at least 500 new social workers need to be recruited annually to keep pace with demand, while only 143 were appointed in 2024; the portion of the €6 million …

234. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the way in which the Health Service Executive is addressing the clear gap in service provision for adults with severe autism who transition out of children’s services, particularly in cases where families are left without adequate supports; if she accepts that the failure to provide appropriate residential or high-support placements is pla…

235. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the date on which the last organisational capability review was carried out in respect of Tusla; if she will provide a schedule recommendations arising from the review; the number implemented to date; and the independent body that carried out the organisational capability review. [38101/26]

236. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities. [38121/26]

237. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans to increase employment opportunities for autistic people. [38122/26]

238. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to confirm the staffing of Trim CDNT; the number of positions; the number that are filled; and the number that are being actively recruited. [38135/26]

239. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the funding allocated to CDNTs in CHO 9 in 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38191/26]

240. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the funding allocated to CDNTs in CHO 9 per year from 2019 to 2025, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38193/26]

241. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she will provide details on the number of children currently waiting for a psychology assessment through primary care and Children's Disability Network Teams in the HSE South West region covering Cork and Kerry; if she is aware that Cork and Kerry had the highest regional psychology waiting list in the country with 6,216 children awaiting assessment as o…

242. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the progress to date on Action 13 of the HSE Position Paper on FASD Prevention, published in September 2022 (details supplied); the specific measures undertaken to date; the current status of implementation; the timelines for any outstanding elements due to be completed within five years of publication; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37948/26]

243. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Health if there has been engagement by the corporate pharmaceutical unit in the HSE with the manufacturers of miglustat with regard to juvenile Batten disease; if such medication can be reimbursed for an individual with the life limiting condition on compassionate grounds; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37963/26]

244. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health when a child will receive a bed in a Dublin hospital (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37968/26]

245. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if emergency respite care will be granted to a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37984/26]

246. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Health the current position with regard to the recruitment of a consultant ophthalmologist in south Tipperary, given the ongoing failures to recruit the urgent measures that will now be taken to address the ever growing waiting lists; the proposals in place to resolve this as a matter of urgency; the number of children now waiting to see an ophthalmologist in south Ti…

247. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health if she will urgently expedite an appointment for surgery for a person (details supplied); the reason this surgery has been cancelled on three occasions; and if she will ensure there will be no further cancellations in this case. [38008/26]

248. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Health following the Pans Pandas event in Brussels (details supplied), if she will commit to meet families in Ireland affected by Pans Pandas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38026/26]

249. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Health if she will urgently enact section 12 of the Assisted Human Reproductive Act 2024. [38039/26]

250. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Health the current waiting times for children's dental care; the steps her Department is taking to address resourcing and capacity issues in the HSE Dental Service and the challenges in the recruitment and retention of clinical staff; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38043/26]