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there was bed capacity and management of the hospital in the round. The considerable extra staff meant there was good management of the emergency department. Something happened in June, however, and the figures were the complete opposite. This is the nuance of hospital-by-hospital level experience … model 4 hospital to me, it has had a 35% increase in staff and a 59% increase in budget. Yet, it has an inconsistent performance in its accident and emergency department and its management of delayed transfers of care. All of these particular local nuances matter. The Mater

example just one dental practice currently takes clients under this scheme; — the budget for the scheme in the current year is €73 million, a reduction of €6 million from 2010; — the HSE emergency dental service is almost impossible to access; — the Treatment Benefit Scheme based on Pay Related … budget for the current scheme is €73 million this year. That is a reduction of €6 million on the allocation in 2010. There has been a reduction of almost 50% in the number of dental practices taking clients under the scheme. The HSE's emergency dental health service

many in the health service work, particularly in overcrowded emergency departments and under-staffed wards, is genuinely never credited. Unfortunately, that good work is often overshadowed by colossal waste and mismanagement across the HSE. Since 2020, the health budget has ballooned, but the return on that investment

Paul, Barnardos and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service are all dealing with this on the front line and the Taoiseach refuses to hear it. The Government has the resources to intervene and make a difference. Should the worst emerge in terms of tariffs, which I am very

Last week, the Irish Cancer Society launched its pre-budget submission, which highlighted that patients in the west and north west face the longest wait time between cancer diagnosis and commencement of appropriate treatment. Dr. Michael McCarthy, president of the Irish Society of Medical Oncology and a consultant … launched the master plan for the hospital in Galway. Among the proposals in the master plan are additional beds, a new accident and emergency unit, a new maternity and paediatrics facility, new laboratories and a new cancer centre. I understand that the preliminary business case

treatments. UHL has one of the busiest emergency departments in Ireland. Presentations totalled 87,194 in 2024. Between January and June this year, emergency department attendances at UHL were 9% higher than in the same period last year. Despite this, the daily average of patients counted on trolleys … reforms across health services in the region. There has been ongoing investment in additional capacity at UHL in recent years. UHL’s annual budget spend has increased from €265 million in 2019 to €507 million in 2024. A package of wide-ranging reform measures is also being implemented

10th May, 2023, then Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Neale Richmond T.D. convened a supermarket summit, an emergency meeting of the retail forum; — Minister of State Richmond gave supermarkets six weeks to bring down the cost of groceries, but failed … surging grocery prices reflect genuine input cost increases or price gouging; and — accounting transparency by large grocery retailers is essential to protect household budgets, restore consumer trust, and ensure fairness in one of the most critical markets for Irish consumers; and calls on the Government to: — introduce legislation

signals of underlying volatility. VAT is approximately €100 million behind profile, as I stated. Although modest in percentage terms, that may indicate emerging trends. Will the Minister elaborate on what the Department interprets as the trend in VAT collection so far this year? Specifically, does the Minister anticipate … commitment to support SMEs, particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors, potentially through adjustments in VAT, PRSI and other measures in the coming budget. Will the Minister indicate whether specific VAT measures will be considered in the forthcoming budget, particularly for sectors facing acute cost challenges

over for parents of students who are trying to figure things out. This is a huge decision for people, for parents trying to budget and for a lot of students who are trying to meet these costs themselves. Some are working one or two jobs trying to make … people to pay twice. They pay first in their taxes and then they pay for third level, for their GP, for accident and emergency visits, for their prescriptions and for their voluntary contributions. The policy of this Government and the governments that went before it is to constantly

strategy, and there have been sustained increases in investments in services. The Minister of State funds the National Office for Suicide Prevention, the budget of which has tripled from €5 million in 2012 to almost €15 million in 2025. Across Ireland, a wide range of HSE-funded organisations … Butler, is working with the Department of Health and the HSE to expand alternative care pathways and therapeutic environments for people presenting to emergency departments in mental health crisis because she believes emergency departments are not an appropriate environment for people in a mental health crisis

hospital and has allocated significant resources to meet the needs of patients there. This has included an increase in the hospital's budget by 57% over the last five years. In that time we have also seen staffing grow by 25% and 28 new beds have been opened … projects, which form part of a development control plan within the HSE west and north-west health region. These projects include bed expansion, emergency and urgent care capacity, critical care capacity and an ambulatory care block. We understand these plans are being developed by the hospital and will

change with any of this. It is all well and good to look like the State is getting tough with the HSE about budget failures and overruns, but the necessary reforms need to be ensured. We are talking about the multi-annual framework. We are dealing with … digitalisation. Many people have spoken to me about that and it is generally a problem they have when dealing with accident and emergency departments. I have spoken to many people recently who have been in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, and have been dealing with staff

record that apprenticeship funding has grown significantly. We provided an additional €77 million in funding for apprenticeships alone in budget 2025, bringing the total to €339 million, which is an 84% increase since 2020. This morning, the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy McEntee, and I brought … expanded and rolled out through the consortia-type method. There is a positive broadening of the spectrum of apprenticeships, bringing in new and emerging skills and methods. It is a commendable way of training. We support employers with training costs. There is a €2,000 consortia-led employer

spending. We know, for example, that east Galway continues to suffer from GP shortages, delayed disability assessments and pressure on mental health services. Budget discipline must be matched with strategic investment, especially in primary and community care, in line with Sláintecare. In east Galway, the community is ready … outstanding work our front-line workers do every day and sometimes under severe pressure. No one can predict when there will be an emergency or an outbreak. From experience and from my knowledge of how the HSE, particularly in the context of University Hospital Galway, Merlin Park

staff. At the end of 2024, it had 75 staff and an annual budget of €12 million. There is also a commitment in budget 2025 that the number of staff will increase by a further 30, bring it to more than 100 people working in the NCSC … NCSC specific powers to engage in a range of scanning-type activities to identify systems vulnerable to specific exploits. The national cyber emergency plan was published in May 2024, and it sets out the national approach for responding to serious cybersecurity incidents that affect the confidentiality, integrity

children. In 2023, the establishment of a €5 million pilot programme of counselling and mental health supports for primary schools was announced. In budget 2025, the pilot received additional funding which has allowed it to continue into this year. It is broken up into two different strands. Strand … educational support for parents and teachers and the provision of early intervention on an individual and group basis to children with mild to emerging need using low-level therapeutically informed approaches. The schools received a payment of €2,000 to promote and support well-being-focused initiatives among

oversight provided for in this Bill, while welcome, will not address the real problem, which is the dysfunctional method of allocating the health budget. The provisions in the Bill related to corrective actions are a necessary safeguard but we should focus on addressing those problems further upstream. What … babies are well documented. In terms of dental care, the HSE corporate plan also makes a vague commitment to improving access to emergency and routine dental care. When will this happen? Public dental care waiting lists are at breaking point. The medical card scheme is haemorrhaging dentists

replaced with an annual performance delivery plan. An issue I have encountered in this Chamber since I came up here is that, every budget time, we vote for X millions of euro to go to the HSE to provide health services for children, the elderly, people who have … South Doc in the off periods, many people would be left unattended. We just do not have enough GPs. At weekends, accident and emergency departments fill up because there are no doctor services available. People are referred to the accident and emergency department where they have to wait

gender-based violence who need to leave abusive situations; if this measure can be considered as part of Budget 2026 to ensure that victims have access to emergency cash payments for essential items such as clothing, food, transport or temporary accommodation; and if he will make a statement

gender-based violence who need to leave abusive situations; if this measure can be considered as part of Budget 2026 to ensure that victims have access to emergency cash payments for essential items such as clothing, food, transport or temporary accommodation; and if he will make a statement