As I said, 280,000 people are on primary and community care waiting lists. Of those, 86,000 people are waiting for physiotherapy, 60,000 people are waiting for occupational therapy, 34,000 people are waiting for psychology, 32,000 people are waiting for speech and language therapy, 24,000 people are waiting for audiology, 22,000 people are waiting for dietetics, 20,000 people are waiting for ophthalmology and 8,000 people are waiting for podiatry. I submitted a parliamentary question on how long people are waiting …

I accept all of that. In my constituency of Waterford, I deal with these issues all the time.

We receive representations from people who have been waiting far too long for an occupational therapist or a speech and language therapist. The Minister mentioned children. Very often, children are on these waiting lists. A number of weeks ago, we had a debate in the House on dental services. The number of children waiting for orthodontic treatment and dental treatment is shocking. So much more needs to be done in that area. The Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, took the debate on that occasion. One of th…

Workforce planning is an important component of planning for health services. This question is about the south east. What additional clinical training capacity is being looked at for the coming years across the south east?

Recruitment is important and every additional staff member recruited in acute primary or community settings in the health service is to be welcomed. My question, though, was on increasing clinical training capacity. I know that also falls under the Minister for higher education. I think the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, was in the Chamber this week when I raised issues in relation to South East Technological University, SETU. It has plans for a new pharmaceutical, a new veterinary and a new one health building…

Obviously, there has to be an element of cross-departmental and cross-ministerial work on workforce planning. The health service cannot recruit quickly enough if we are not training and training capacity is very important. I imagine a lot of collaborative work is being done between the Ministers and the Departments. What I am saying is that I will raise this with the Minister for higher education-----

-----but I am raising it with the Minister for Health also. We could also have more training capacity in the south east and get the benefit from SETU and its plans. The hospital manager, whom the Minister has praised for other matters, sees this as an exciting opportunity. The 24-7 cardiology care was a big day for Waterford and is a big step forward for health in the south east. I commend the Minister on the fact she ensured this happened. There was a campaign over a long number of years. I also commend people in …

I welcome Cian and Jordan Adams and everyone else in the Public Gallery. I thank them for their fundraising efforts and for shining a spotlight on the issue of dementia. As the Minister of State said, I am sure their late mother Geraldine would be very proud of their work. They are very welcome here today. Dementia is a significant health and social care challenge facing the State and it is growing due to our ageing population. More than 64,000 people are living with dementia in Ireland today and this number is exp…

The proposed pharmaceutical, veterinary and one health buildings at the South East Technological University, SETU, are really important opportunities for enhancing third level education in the south east and Waterford. All those buildings are to be housed in the Glassworks site, which is also a real opportunity for the south east. Lots of plans have been progressed by SETU. It has set out its ambition. It has forwarded those plans to relevant Departments. I was on a number of calls with the Tánaiste, Deputy Harris,…

In 2019, RPS was commissioned to develop a feasibility study on developing Dunmore East Harbour. As the Minister of State knows, Dunmore East Harbour is in the east of County Waterford. It is a fishing port. It is also a home to a lot of leisure activity that is very busy, by the way, during the summer months. There are fantastic facilities for children and adults. It also takes in cruise liners, although that can be difficult because of the lack of facilities. There was one cruise ship that was unfortunately turne…

In the Minister of State’s response, she acknowledged that in 2016, the Department commissioned a feasibility study. It finished its work and reported back in 2019. We are now in 2026. That is seven years later and no progress has been made. Since 2019, that plan has sat on a shelf. The Minister of State said the Department has seven-to-ten-year plans for all fishery harbours. Dunmore East Harbour does not need a seven- or ten-year plan. The feasibility study has already been commissioned and reported back. It has …

I support the motion and commend an Teachta Kerrane for bringing forward all the solutions, which I hope the Minister takes on board. I want to get to a point where we have the €200 per month childcare promised not just by a lot of parties before the last election but also by Government representatives. That simply has not been delivered. Even if we get to that point though it is not going to be of value to many parents because they cannot get access to childcare in the first place. I attended a public meeting in T…

I will raise an issue in respect of Woodlands, a housing estate in Portlaw, County Waterford. At the moment, water is provided through developer-provided infrastructure. This is costing the residents in this housing estate a lot of money. They obviously want to be connected to the public infrastructure. That will come at a cost. Catherine Burke, a councillor in the area, has been engaging with Irish Water on the issue for a long time. There does not seem to be a resolution. Will the Taoiseach make inquiries to Iris…

Just to get a response from Irish Water.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 34, between lines 5 and 6, to insert the following: “ ”.

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — there are more than 11,000 people, mainly children, on waiting lists for dental and orthodontic treatment with the Health Service Executive (HSE), including for braces and for dental surgery under general anaesthetic, and that more than 8,000 of them are waiting over a year for an appointment; — half of primary school children are leaving school without ever having received a screening appointment, with average waiting times of four years for an appointment, and upwards of f…

I thank all of the speakers for their contributions. It has to be said, among Government and Opposition Members, including the Ministers, there is a recognition that we have a real problem, and that children and adults, but particularly children, are waiting too long. The problem is that this is not the first debate we have had on this issue. It is not the first time that issues and problems with dental and orthodontic wait times have been raised in this Dáil. I mentioned that the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Heal…

I want to start by commending the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and the role he has played in campaigning for better supports for patients with rare diseases. Rare diseases affect more people than many realise. A rare disease is defined broadly as a life-long or life-threatening condition affecting no more than one in 2,000 people, which essentially means a condition that affects no more than 3,500 people on our island. Taken individually, these conditions are rare. Taken together, they affect one in 20 people across Ire…

The long-term illness scheme was established under section 59 of the Health Act in 1971. The last time a condition was added to the scheme was in 1975. In the meantime, 51 years of advancement in medical knowledge has been ignored and those suffering from chronic or long-term conditions who cannot get a medical card have been left without support. This, of course, would not have been an issue if the Government had advanced universal health care, but the medical card thresholds have not been touched in over 20 years…

In 2018, the people voted in a historic referendum to appeal the eighth amendment and to remove legal barriers preventing women from exercising choice over their own pregnancies. This Bill is about respecting and trusting women in exercising that choice to access the care they need when they need it. It is about recognising that women do not take this decision lightly, that this is something they consider deeply and that they do not need the State or politicians to force them to wait for longer, as if they cannot b…