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will recall that successive Cabinets had consistently resisted awarding repayments to holders of medical cards who had to pay for care in private nursing homes because of the lack of beds in public institutions. It was Government policy, on the advice of successive AGs, to settle with residents … Attorney General's office was not in the public interest. A core purpose of this Bill is to ensure that, at the very least, the Attorney General would have to have regard to the public interest when taking decisions in defending claims made against the State. There

health. We are also having the debate in the context of supposedly getting near the final furlong in the implementation of Sláintecare, a public health system, and we are nowhere near that, unfortunately. The importance of blister packs and the importance of having monitored dosage systems cannot … this is dangerous and I do not say that lightly. For people with complex medical needs and multiple conditions, this very basic service was provided free of charge. I heard the Minister's interview on Sunday and I know she explained how it is being funded

make sure there would be unprecedented investment in water, the electricity grid for electricity and energy, and in terms of road infrastructure and public transport. Deputy McDonald ignores all of that because she does not adopt a strategic approach to jobs or to the economy. She should always … because we did prioritise child poverty, along with housing and infrastructure. We also prioritised disability. An extra €500 million was allocated to disability services. We increased the domiciliary care allowance by an extra €20. We made choices to support and target our resources at those most in need

investing further in these services, the Government continues to strip them away. The recent decision to take away the 30 Expressway is further proof of this downgrading of services. I have been contacted by many constituents regarding an extremely poor 64 service. Here are three examples. The first … service for the past 18 months because wheelchair-accessible booking has not been available. The third person said the 64 bus service is unreliable when it comes to stopping in Drumkeen and this leaves people stranded and unable to plan with confidence. There is no late evening service

This Bill is a three-card trick. It is dressed up as an effort to help people with disabilities and special needs but it is little more than a press statement in the form of legislation … costs very little to produce and draft a Bill, but there is a cost to providing services and to providing the professionals needed to be able to deliver those services. The assessment of need system is under enormous strain. More than 20,000 assessments are overdue and more

would not otherwise have access to oral healthcare services. Regarding access to public oral healthcare services for children, there are access issues in respect of the current model of service provided by the HSE. This service aims to offer the first of three appointments to children while they … community-based model of dental education, significantly increasing the number of dentistry training places available nationally and expanding access to dental services. This was what Deputy O'Gorman spoke about just some minutes ago. The new RCSI bachelor of dental surgery programme will provide for between

this report and more broadly by the 2022 Maskey report continue to be the focus of significant reform and service improvements in youth mental health services in this country. Much has changed since 2022. North Kerry CAMHS has introduced new standard operating procedures, care planning policies, file systems … record €3.8 billion to the HSE for the provision of specialist disability services. This 20% year-on-year increase will provide permanent and dedicated funding to essential disability services, including residential respite and therapy services, ensuring that disabled people continue to be supported. All these commitments build

social floor. We have longer and healthier years and we need to take advantage of this situation as a society and public policy should address pension and retirement sustainability. In the Minister's opening comments, the two priorities he put forward concerned the economic sustainability of a pension … learn it. One of the places we can immediately go to see age-based discrimination is a greeting card shop. What we see when we look at the cards celebrating birthdays of all ages is this negative attitude towards ageing. We all hold an essentially negative attitude towards

years. Back then, 12 years ago, a report into services for children with spina bifida found major defects and a lack of co-ordination at a national and local level. That report made recommendations for how services could be improved. Those recommendations were not implemented … raised huge concerns about a negative and toxic culture which impacted service delivery and staff experience and had the potential to put patients at risk. It does not end there. We are currently waiting for the publication of further reports into CHI, including one on paediatric orthopaedic surgery

dental screening were screened in 2022. Of those who are seen, many are seen late, with almost a ten-year backlog in accessing services in parts of the country. It is very common for children in Donegal to receive their first appointments when they are nearly finished primary … lack of dentists. This is what is causing such a backlog. Last year, there was only one dentist per 2,500 eligible medical card patients in Ireland. One in six patients on private dental care waiting lists is waiting over three months for an elective appointment, while half

development funding - €74 million in 2024 and €39 million in 2025, with some funding from the existing level of service, ELS, allocation also funding service expansion through provision for demographic change. However, we know that there are significant barriers to delivery, and we are keen to work with … plan to succeed. This involves addressing workforce and sustainability issues, improving data collection, seeking innovative policy and service delivery solutions and finding ways to enhance the delivery of residential services so that we grow this area in a more sustainable fashion. Respite plays a crucial role

regards the transfer of records. There is a lot of catching up to do. In 1996 the Danish system started the patient card, which has all a person's medical information on one file, no matter what hospital the person is admitted to. I was speaking … care seven days a week but many services are not available during some of those seven days. I spoke to Professor Rónán Collins today who had an interesting article in thejournal.ie about the issue of lack of access to services at weekends such as MRI scans

generated from wind turbines, to protect nearby dwellings from noise and shadow flicker by providing minimum set back distances, to allow access to public consultative processes; and to provide for related matters. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to introduce this important Bill. It provides … sufficient bond has to be lodged with the local authority to repair any damage to local infrastructure such as roads, bridges, buildings, water services, etc. during the period of construction. Section 10 puts responsibility on wind farm owners to ensure proper decommissioning is done in an environmentally sustainable

what the proposals from the EU are before they come into being. This is not a situation where the US holds all the cards. While there will need to be negotiations, we come to them in a position to exert a significant amount of leverage … Ireland. During the pandemic, we had the temporary unemployment wage subsidy scheme. The Minister should be looking at an emergency measures in the public interest Bill to address the impact of tariffs. I again emphasise that we are not calling for the exact same schemes. What

dysfunctional approach. What is worse is that there is no transparency, including around what actually qualifies some of these providers to provide these services. The amendment to Seanad amendment No. 66 is simply about ensuring there is some transparency. We have called for a full review of every … looked at these issues objectively and every journalist who has carried out an examination of any IPAS contract has found blatant wastage of public money and a number of scandals have emerged. We do not have to ask politicians or journalists. The Comptroller and Auditor General, the Government

from the start of the cost-of-living crisis, the price of the every day goods on which we all rely and the services on which we depend are still high. Input costs have come down, stabilised or plateaued. The pace of underlying inflation has slowed … circumstances that are beyond most people's control. A repeat of what we saw in 2023 is likely to be on the cards and we are still living with the very real consequences of that period for working families across this country. The cost-of-living crisis

Supports are in place for the people who need them. It is up to us as public representatives to direct people to those supports when we know they are struggling. Opposition Deputies had their chance to speak. It is called respect and democracy. The Minister spoke about … Intreo centres, provides employment services for jobseekers. In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, these mainstream services are available to disabled people. More tailored supports are also offered, in particular, EmployAbility offers specialised employment services to people with disabilities. It can help

effective responses to support women carers. Through the HSE, investing in services for older people has been a national priority in recent years. There has been an increase of approximately €1 billion in funding for services for older people since 2020. This year has seen an increase … support services and provide for regulation by HIQA. Final drafting is under way, and I hope to present it to Cabinet in this quarter. The Government is committed to ensuring that home care is regulated and that there are quality standards in place against which services

response to the public consultation process, the discussions at the recent strategic focus network summit on the cost of disability and the relevant research will all feed into the development of that payment. Regarding heating and energy costs, I stress that the community welfare service is available … network of Intreo centres, provides employment services for jobseekers. In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, these mainstream services are available to disabled people. The Department also offers tailored supports. EmployAbility offers specialist employment services to people with disabilities. It can help

here are obviously in far better circumstances than many of the people out there we are talking about. We are doing this as public sector workers are once again having to work to rule and strike. We are talking about teachers, SNAs, nurses and the people who keep … home heating oil. We would reintroduce energy credits at the rate of €400 and cut food costs by introducing an everyday essentials card worth €500 for 1 million households. That reflects the depth of the problem. That is what we need to do. We would cut fuel costs

partnership with the International Protection Office, IPO, the International Protection Appeals Tribunal, IPAT, the International Protection Accommodation Service and the immigration service delivery’s repatriation team. This phased approach has enabled my Department to test the ability of the international protection system in its entirety to process cases … being examined and the limitations and exceptions attached to the right to remain. Chapter 4 also provides for the international protection applicant card. Chapter 5 makes provision for explicit and implicit withdrawal of applications. Chapter 6 provides for subsequent applications. Part 4 implements provisions of the asylum

State. We believe that we should collect taxes and use that money to create a just society, where everyone has the services they need, has their basic needs met, and feels they are getting value from the contributions they make to the State. To achieve that goal … country needs to evolve over time but it should evolve in a way that is thought out, considered, provides value to the public and actually makes the running of the State more efficient. We need to carefully consider the roles of Ministers of State, their remit

LSSIF since 2020 now reaches €297 million. Since the inception of the fund, a number of outstanding facilities have opened to the public and it is plain to see that this benefits society. Projects of significance that have opened since the fund began include the linear walkway … international golf stage and to promote Ireland as the next host of the Ryder Cup with the assistance of Tourism Ireland. Local service delivery stakeholders representing organisations such as An Garda Síochána, Limerick City and County Council and the National Transport Authority, who attended an observer programme