I thank Senator Byrne. I will relay that to the Minister for Health. I have no doubt that engagement will continue with the Coeliac Society of Ireland. I reiterate that the NSAC is an independent expert group which makes recommendations to the Minister for Health. It is chaired by Dr. Suzanne Crowe. There is a wide range of expertise on that board. It ensures a rigorous and expert-driven approach for considerations on Ireland's screening policy. To date, six recommendations have been made to the Minister for Health…

I thank Senator Murphy O'Mahony for facilitating this opportunity to discuss this issue. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. I assure the Senator that developing a comprehensive national genetic and genomic testing service in Ireland is a key commitment for both the Department of Health and the HSE. Despite having excellent personnel on the ground, our services face significant challenges across the system, whether that be waiting times to access spe…

I will raise this issue again with the Minister for Health and tell her that this House would like to be updated on progress. Again, I reassure the Senator that the Department of Health is fully committed to supporting the NGGO as it works to implement the national strategy for accelerating genetic and genomic medicine. It is important to note that a transformation of the genetic and genomic medicine landscape in Ireland is a complex challenge but one we are facing head-on. Thanks to the NGGO's work to date, we hav…

I thank Senator Collins for raising this important issue and for offering me the opportunity to respond. Summer services, such as summer camps, fall under the bracket of what we term "alternative respite". We often forget that respite can take many forms, such as overnights in a respite facility or another person’s home, additional support during the regular day such as afterschool or holiday programmes, or in-home support. As Minister for State with responsibility for disability, I know the importance of providing…

I thank the Senator. To be quite frank, my door is open to all suggestions. When I was in education, many of the problems around the summer programme within the schools related to teacher burnout or people needing a break. We were looking at therapists or student teachers, for example, coming into the school setting and being able to provide the service if the school staff are not available. If the Senator has any suggestions, I ask her to please relay them. The big elephant in the room is the shortage of supply of…

I thank Senator Cosgrove for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Peter Burke. The Government is fully committed to supporting workers and to ensuring fair wages for the lowest paid workers in our economy. The national minimum wage increased to €13.50 per hour on 1 January 2025, an increase of over 6%, which is ahead of projected wage growth across the economy. Approximately 195,300 workers directly benefited from this increase. The Senator hig…

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I am aware of the importance of advocating for all workers and ensuring that no one worker is overlooked. The Department of enterprise is committed to ensuring that every worker's contribution is recognised and valued. The Department will continue to review the relevant legislation and advocate on behalf of these groups. Work is under way to tackle the issue of bogus self-employment through the platform work directive. The Department will continue to lead Ireland's negoti…

I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this issue. I am here on behalf of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Peter Burke. Regional development is a key element of this Government's enterprise policy, as set out in the programme for Government and the White Paper on enterprise. It is a key focus of the work of the Department and its agencies. Accordingly, regional development is also a priority for the IDA. In that regard, the IDA published its new strategy, Adapt Intelligently: A Strategy for …

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I reiterate that the IDA is currently engaged with an Enterprise Ireland company about the proposed letting of the Monaghan ABS building, subject to contract. The Minister is confident that the IDA will do all in its power to bring that to a successful outcome. As the Senator is aware, the ultimate decision as to where a company locates its operations is a matter for the company itself. A core objective of IDA Ireland is to enable, influence and deliver a competitive prop…

The challenges and problems associated with the assessment of need process and the provision of services for disabled children, adults and their families have been illustrated in stark detail in this Chamber today. It is not acceptable that vulnerable people clearly in need of State support are left wanting. It is not acceptable that families are stressed and frustrated, and despair that the State appears to have ignored their pleas for help. It is not acceptable that any person feels they must stage a public prote…

I acknowledge the contributions of everyone here and assure them this issue of assessment of need is a top priority for me as a Minister of State with responsibility for disability who sits at the Cabinet table and indeed it is a priority for the whole of Government, as is the national disability strategy. As Deputies know, there is a disability unit set up within the Department of the Taoiseach. We have also had a number of Cabinet committee meetings on disability and assessment of need is a top priority. I assure…

I welcome this opportunity to discuss the important issue of early learning and childcare. It is clear from the discussion so far that we all recognise the importance of early learning and childcare for children and their families as well as for society and the wider economy. In her opening statement the Minister, Deputy Foley, described the constituent parts of Together for Better - the Government's funding model for early learning and childcare, which has an allocation of €1.25 billion in 2025 alone. She also sum…

There is a huge priority in regard to recruitment and retention within children's disability network teams, CDNTs, right across the country. As the Deputy probably knows, there was an increase of 17% in the CDNT workforce from 2023 to 2024, which amounts to the recruitment of 272 whole-time equivalent staff. That said, we need to do much more. International and domestic recruitments processes are under way, we have bursaries for postgraduate students and we have outreach into secondary schools and higher education …

A children’s disability network team workforce survey was conducted on 16 October 2024. This survey captured staffing levels across various disciplines and grades, providing a snapshot of the current workforce across the 93 CDNTs. While this report only provides us with a snapshot in time, with recruitment having continued in the interim, it is the most comprehensive workforce report we have on CDNTs. The report was published on the HSE website earlier this year and is available to download. It indicated a wide dis…

Significantly, the CDNT vacancy rate has reduced from 29% in 2023 to 22% in 2024, a reduction of 7% nationally. The Deputy is correct regarding recruitment and retention. A lot of work is happening in that space. In order to achieve the staffing level improvements seen in 2024 and fill those vacancies, there were intensive domestic and international recruitment efforts across the HSE and section 38 and 39 organisations to recruit and onboard staff. Recruitment efforts are being bolstered by optimising access to app…

I will start with the last part of the question. We are working on a national disability strategy, which will be published before the summer recess. A high level of engagement is happening right across Government with my Cabinet colleagues, including the Minister, Deputy Foley, the Minister for Education, the Minister for Health, the Minister for Social Protection and the Minister for Transport. When talking about disability, it affects every single Department and the ambition will be high within that strategy. I w…

As I stated to Deputy Ó Murchú, the CDNTs workforce survey was conducted last October. That captured staffing levels across various disciplines and grades, providing a snapshot of the current workforce across the 93 teams. The 2024 CDNT workforce report is based on the outputs of the survey. The published report shows that all six regional health areas were carrying vacancies at mid-October. There is a wide disparity in vacancy levels across the country, with the highest levels in Dublin and the south-east region a…

I agree that far more needs to be done as regards retention and recruitment within the CDNTs. That is an absolute priority for my Department. We have under the disability action plan and the progressing disability services roadmap set out measures. I will outline a few briefly. We are supporting practice education in CDNTs. We are supporting student sponsorship programmes. There is an initiative whereby four years' salary is now paid to new graduates over five years to support them in taking a gap year in year 5. W…

I take both Deputies' points on board and it is an absolute priority. I came from having responsibility for special education and the Minister, Deputy Foley, was Minister for Education. We are now in the Department with responsibility for disability. We have a very clear picture of the need for more therapies, access to therapies and access to assessments. That is at the forefront of the work we are doing. We have a Cabinet committee on disability. Therapy in schools was mentioned. We are going to roll out that pil…

We are looking at pay and terms and conditions. That is under way as well, as the Deputy knows. We are looking at absolutely everything. There is our national disability strategy. That will not be just the Department with responsibility for disability but every single Government Department having disability in their brief. I will be publishing that strategy before the summer recess and that is going to feed into this as well. I absolutely agree with what the Deputies have said. It is an absolute priority of mine as…