I thank the Minister of State.

In the south-west area, which includes Cork and Kerry, there is no consultant dermatologist employed. This issue came to a head recently when a consultant wrote to parents advising that appointments could not be given because no consultant paediatric dermatologist is employed in the Cork-Kerry region. I understand funding was granted for eight additional posts in Dublin, bringing the total number of posts there to more than ten. The number of patients referred to dermatology consultants in the south-west region was…

I fully understand that this matter was probably only given to the Minister of State late last night. I will give her the figures as regards the turnaround in dermatology services for the entire country. One of the things she will see in those figures is the efficiency in the south-west region in dealing with dermatology cases. As I said, the volume is over 17,000 referred, while 10,000 were new and 12,000 were returning patients. With 7.4 consultants, a real effort is being made by the entire team, not just the co…

The Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 is currently going through the Oireachtas. It is also proposed to publish the public health tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products amendment Bill 2026, which will ensure nicotine inhaling products sold do not have eye-catching imagery, and other limitations on the sale of those products. When is it proposed to publish this Bill? It would be helpful if both Bills could go through the Oireachtas at the same time so that the necessary restrictions are put in plac…

What is the timeline for publication?

I raise the issue of the Blackpool flood relief scheme. Blackpool has had 15 major floods since 1974. Three of them were in 2010, 2012 and 2013. It was decided in 2013 that a flood relief programme would be developed, and the submission was made in 2018 for the Minister for public expenditure to sign the statutory confirmation. The Minister gave the statutory confirmation. We are now into 2021, and then we had a judicial review. I know full well that the Minister had to deal with that judicial review. Unfortunately…

I fully understand that there were over 1,000 submissions. At least 900 of those were in support of the flood relief programme proceeding. It is extremely important because these are residents who are living in Blackpool. They are third and fourth generation people who are living there and now find they are restricted in what they can do with their property. I ask that this issue now be prioritised. In one particular area in the eastern part of the country, the issue has been going on for 25 years. We have already …

The Minister for Health and the HSE agreed to provide funding for the first floor of Mallow General Hospital to be developed so 24 beds could be put in place. Work is ongoing. What progress has been made on bringing forward the opening of the development? There is huge pressure on Cork University Hospital and on Mallow as regards extra beds. I understand day beds are being used in Mallow to accommodate inpatients. Can the opening of the 24 beds be brought forward to alleviate the pressure on the hospitals?

In the programme for Government, it was clearly set out that there would be a task force set up to look at the revitalisation of Cork city centre. The Taoiseach has his own problems with calling it a task force, but a group should be set up to look at the revitalisation of the city centre. On Monday of this week, the Taoiseach was in Cork for the turning of the sod on the foundations of a 25-storey building which will have 217 apartments. This will be a welcome residential development in the city. My question is ab…

I am back again to talk about the dental issue. This time it is about Cork dental hospital which made a submission to the HSE and Department of Health more than three years ago. It wants to open an outreach hub that would have ten dental chairs. The idea is that it would provide care for a large number of people and at the same time provide training for students. The building has been identified. It may have to go through a further process before it is finalised, but a clear plan of action has been set out to impro…

I thank the Minister of State. I am frustrated by this. The population has increased by over 40% in the past 25 years. September last year was the first time we increased the number of Irish students training for dentistry, but it is not a 40% increase. We need to increase the number of places in UCC and in Trinity College Dublin. How is it that the RCSl was able to open an outreach clinic for which it got funding and UCC, which applied earlier, is still in the negotiation stage? I do not understand why it is being…

The vacant property grant was introduced quite some time ago but changes were made in September 2025 where a charge is now required to be registered by the local authority. As a result, there is now a huge number of people for whom the grant will not be paid before 31 December. In particular, I am talking about property in the Cork City Council area. A mortgage and deed of charge have to be submitted to the council, which has to lodge it for registration and a grant will not be paid out until a dealing number is is…

I have raised this matter on a few occasions previously. Will the Minister outline what action is being taken to increase the percentage of places available on the dental training course in UCC, given that less than half the places on the current programme are occupied by Irish students, and that we need to increase the number of qualified dentists in this country?

I appreciate the work that is being done. I was in the dental college in the past two weeks, and it was acknowledged that money is being provided to purchase equipment and upgrade the facilities. That is much appreciated by the dental college. The make-up in Cork is 25 Irish students and 31 non-European students. Part of the reason for that is that the college needs to get the funding in to support the system. I also visited the Blackpool facility where it is proposed to put in ten dental chairs. The cost of that i…

We have a problem, not in the Minister's Department but in the Department of Health. We previously had over 1,250 dentists working privately and providing care for people who had medical cards. The number of dentists in that area is down to 600. Likewise, the number of dentists employed directly by the HSE has dropped from over 300 in 2014 to 250. That is in the context of a huge growth in population. We have huge challenges in the dental area. The other issue relates to schools. In the programme where dentists vis…

This is an extremely important programme, and I welcome it. To take a slightly different angle, I am disappointed by the lack of joined-up thinking in our universities about offering joint courses at universities in Northern Ireland and in the South. For instance, I remember when I was Lord Mayor of Cork I travelled to Shanghai to set up a link between UCC and two universities in Shanghai, but we do not seem to have that connection with the third level institutions in Northern Ireland. The Department of higher educ…

As the Minister of State is well aware, a very small number of staff who worked within the HSE and the medical services during a very difficult time, when Covid was there - 159, I understand - have long Covid. They are getting support from the HSE, but from 31 December of this year, that support will stop. I ask that serious consideration be given to putting in place a mechanism to give these people the support they need. They were the front-line workers. I have one letter here from a lady who wrote to the health c…

For clarification, is the Minister of State saying that in respect of the 159 people getting supports, from 31 December they will be entitled to get pay for a further three months and half pay thereafter? She is. The issue still arises whereby there are occupational illnesses but we have not put long Covid under those criteria. We need to do so because it is something new and we always need to amend definitions as changes arise. This has been a fundamental change. I will give the Minister of State an example in rel…

Currently, approximately 600 dentists are providing care dental care for medical card patients. The number was over 1,200 when dentists were operating more privately. I have found out that Cork university dental hospital cannot take in medical card patients. It can do so if they are referred in by accident and emergency or by another dental practice, but it cannot take them in directly because the hospital does not have a GMS panel number. The hospital would be quite prepared to take on medical card patients if it …

Where are we with the Mercosur issue? The Minister outlined that the same level of regulations do not apply. We in Ireland have strict protocols and regulations in place, yet we are allowing products to come on the market that will not necessarily have the same level of scrutiny. If this goes ahead, we will be in a situation where there is an unfair set of regulations for Irish and EU producers compared to producers from outside the European Union. Are we satisfied with that? Is enough analysis being done on the re…