In January 2022, the Minister’s predecessor committed to doubling the number of domestic violence refuge spaces in the State by the end of that year. I acknowledge that the doubling of available spaces is significant. However, the number in question is only half the number mandated by the Istanbul Convention on the prevention of violence against women and girls. That said, the Government commitment was to increase the spaces in 2022 from 141 to 282. Will the Minister outline again how many additional spaces have ac…

I thank the Minister for the number he just referred to: 232. We have not even increased the number to 282, which we were supposed to do in 2022. It is four years on from the Government’s announcement of zero tolerance of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Cavan and Monaghan remain without any refuge centres. As a member of Monaghan County Council from 2012, I was shouting about this, but we still do not have a centre. I realise the Minister has said it is not regarded as that important for perpetrators to…

I thank the Minister. I want to point out that families are waiting. I have dealt with a few patients in my constituency in the past month who were waiting to be transferred to Beaumont and the Mater hospitals in Dublin. It took up to four weeks before they were transferred so they are taking up beds in Cavan Hospital when they could be transferred on. I am wondering about the new HSE system, or app, that is in situ . Is it operating so other hospitals know when patients can be transferred and if bed management in …

I thank the Minister. I would love to work with her to ensure that people do get the step-down units and be able to use them in Monaghan Hospital. Monaghan Hospital was closed a long time ago but there is so much potential there. There are rooms available that could be used for more step-down units. I will definitely come back to the Minister on that. On the app, is there communication right across the board about patients, hospitals, doctors and nurses? Are they using the app to make sure that patients are being m…

I thank the Deputy

I thank the Minister for answering my question. However, my question referred to clinically determined need. For me clinically determined would be the older person as well. Older people need blister packs to ensure safety and to ensure that they manage their medicines safely. It is a cruel move that the Government is not funding blister packs. It is a necessity and it saves a lot of time and effort allowing older people to take their prescription medication in a safe manner. I ask the Minister to reverse this polic…

The Minister has again said that the pharmacy was charging the State. I again ask that she would incorporate that cost. It is not fair on the older person or on the vulnerable person that he or she has to pay for it now. I ask the Minister that the State would pay for it and that she would get over this obstacle with the pharmacies. It is not fair to put the cost on older and vulnerable people which is what is happening now. Loads of people have come to me saying that it is costing them €20 some weeks. I ask her to…

But it is the older person who now-----

The older person does not have the income.

What steps will the Minister take to address the major shortfalls in school dental screening and the extreme waiting times for orthodontic care, and will she make a statement on same?

I raised this question numerous times through parliamentary questions and at the Committee of Public Accounts and the health committee, among others, last week. There was no school screening in Monaghan in 2024-25. That is just not good enough. I get a lot of emails and other contacts in this regard. There is no orthodontist in the north-east region at all. There used to be one in the Monaghan area. People are now being asked to travel to Dundalk, which is not acceptable. I do not even know if that orthodontist is …

I have to agree with the Minister. Children should be our priority here. As we know, early intervention is key. I have heard of cases, again in Monaghan, where a child of seven years of age had to get seven extractions done. There was no screening. That could have eliminated them. They could have put a wee filling in and helped with that process. Will the Minister make it a top priority that children are screened? It develops good habits and good oral hygiene for their lives. Therefore, I would make it a priority. …

I ask the Minister to set out the waiting times faced by people in Cavan and Monaghan to access cancer treatment, and to do so on the basis of the number of people waiting and the length of time for which they have been waiting. What was the longest period a person waited for treatment in 2025?

As we discussed earlier, the stress and anxiety that a cancer diagnosis can cause a person and their family is almost like no other. The fear and worry it can spread is excruciating. In Ireland, we are fortunate to have highly trained and passionate healthcare workers. We know that once people get into the system, they receive world-class care. Delayed treatment of cancer yields mortality. That simply is not acceptable. What timeline will the Minister commit to so that all cancer patients will receive the treatment…

Yes.

The problem is that Fine Gael outlined the White Paper, The Path to Universal Healthcare, more than ten years ago. It was supposed to be completely implemented by 2019. The Minister announced a policy of the same name, with Sláintecare 2025+ tacked on, only last May. In a lot of ways, the Minister is still waiting to deliver the plan that was announced in 2014 and due for completion in 2019. Only two months ago, after the Minister's announcement, the Irish Cancer Society sounded the alarm that cancer delays are cau…

But-----

I am just asking for action.

In the face of an ever more uncertain global environment, is it right that Ireland considers both how best we can be a constructive force for good as well as what is required in terms of our own security? At a time when the multilateral system is under attack from those who seek to discredit, dismantle or even supplant it entirely, Ireland should come to its defence. It is both the right thing to do and best serves Ireland's interest. The multilateral system and international law are the best protection that small …

What message is the Government sending to EU partners on our neutrality when, to remove the provision, it is citing that protocol as informing it? If the Government wishes to undo the solemn commitment it made to the Irish people during the second Lisbon referendum, it should place its proposals before the people through a referendum. It would have the opportunity to cite others as having abandoned neutrality. There are those who bang the drums for war, act as mouthpieces for the armaments industry and decry Irelan…