I welcome all those initiatives. It is really important that they are integrated with existing mental health services. Initiatives must be even and consistent throughout the country, with adequate access. In addition, we need to look at acute mental health capacity in its totality in terms of beds. In the acute psychiatric unit in Roscommon University Hospital, up to a third of beds are taken by people who would be better served in supported situations in the community. In County Roscommon, there were many communit…

I apologise to the Minister as this question contains incorrect information. I contacted her team to convey that message. I will ask the question and she might get back to me on it. I gave her short notice in respect of it. Romosozumab is a licensed treatment for postmenopausal women with advanced osteoporosis that does not respond to all other therapies. I have had a representation from a young middle-aged man who has a rare form of osteoporosis that has rendered him disabled. He does not have access to this drug …

I appreciate the Minister's answer, which is given at short notice. I am glad I raised the question on the floor of the House. The young man I mentioned is in difficulty. He is a self-employed businessman and is now disabled with multiple non-traumatic fractures. He asked whether there was a possibility he might be reimbursed for this medicine. However, it is down to the company to apply for a licence, as the Minister said. I accept that completely. We will have to revert to the company. I appreciate her reply.

Every one of us in the House has met families whose lives have been shaped by scoliosis or spina bifida. These are families who do not have the luxury of waiting until next year for improvements. They need treatment now. As a GP, I have seen how timely spinal care can change the entire trajectory of a child's life, and that perspective shapes what I want to say today. Yes, progress is being made, but we have a long way to go before any of us can be satisfied. We need to be honest. Too many children have waited too …

My question relates to the annual cost of the disability allowance and invalidity pension schemes. These payments are essential supports for people living with long-term illness or disability. They represent a significant and growing component of the Government's budget and also that of the Department. I am seeking clarity around the current annual expenditure, the trends over recent years and the pressures that might be driving increases in demand. It is important to understand how these schemes are evolving and w…

I appreciate the figures the Minister outlined and the reference to the growing caseload and broader demographic change. While expenditure is rising, so too are the challenges faced by those depending on supports. Is the Department examining any reforms, either administrative or structural, that would protect recipients while ensuring that schemes remain sustainable? If we are moving towards a cost-of-disability payment,it is important that we focus our resources on people and on the actual costs of disability. Not…

As a result of being on the disability committee and having witnesses come before it over the past 11 months, I am struck by the quite variable needs of some people in terms of their disability. I am concerned that if we sometimes provide supports that are too thin to too many people, we need to have some nuance in order that we support people, especially those who have considerable needs that are not being addressed. There is a need to get these people into employment because, as we know, the level of poverty asso…

I am taking question No. 78 on behalf of Deputy Ardagh. She has been called to another meeting in her constituency. I want to raise the issue of the high rejection rates for the domiciliary care allowance, DCA, applications. Families caring for children with disabilities are under immense pressure and when these applications are refused, it adds enormous emotional and financial strain. Almost one in three applications are being turned down, with many only succeeding on appeal. A considerable number of the rejected …

Between 2020 and 2024, 52,541 applications were made, with 35,234 granted. Out of the 17,695 that were not allowed, 11,087 were appealed, with 60% of the appeals seeing the original decisions overturned and DCA allowed. Out of 67 cases that were taken for judicial review, 50 were won. I absolutely accept the Minister and the Department's bona fides in this regard and that we must have a robust system so that the DCA goes to the people who need it most, but we have to be careful that the system is not too rigid and …

I thank the Minister for the tone of his reply. It was really important because this is about compassion, fairness and efficiency. The fact that such a high proportion of decisions are overturned on appeal suggests that the initial assessment process is not working as it might. It does create unnecessary stress and pressure on parents who are already under additional pressure. I also want to recognise the increase in the income disregard in the carers' allowance. For a long time and for many of those families in th…

Science Week celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, marking three decades of encouraging curiosity, innovation and public engagement with science. However, Science Week is more than a calendar of events. It is a reminder that science underpins almost every aspect of modern life, including health, the climate change response, the economy, infrastructure and the daily choices we make as individuals and communities. This year's theme - Then. Today. Tomorrow. - invites us to reflect on the progress we have made, th…

I am following on from what my colleague Deputies have already said about the care of the offspring of people who are getting older and have no certainty around what is going to happen when they are not here any more. It is a major challenge within the community. It seems like a cliff edge. When you die, you get a residency. That is not good enough. There has got to be planning around that, and it should be seamless. A lot of work has been done on the provision of special education classes, and special school place…

Ireland has always been shaped by movement. For much of our history, we were a people who were forced to leave to seek opportunity abroad. However, in recent decades, as our economy has flourished and our society modernised, it has become a place where others come seeking safety, work, opportunity and hope. I want to speak on this issue from personal experience. I am the son of an immigrant. My mother came here from India. She worked hard, contributed to her community, raised a large family and loved this country w…

I acknowledge Deputy O'Reilly's loss and the issue she raised as well.

I want to discuss a matter of profound importance for women and families across the west, namely the ongoing failure to fully implement the recommendations of the 2018 Walker report into maternity services at Portiuncula University Hospital. I acknowledge the families who have suffered devastating outcomes. Their experiences must be acknowledged. I also recognise that the midwives, doctors, nurses and other health staff who work in the unit under extraordinary pressure in an organisationally dysfunctional system. T…

I thank the Minister of State for her answer. I will deal quickly with the transfer. On the transfer of high-risk cases, there was already a pre-existing system for women who had underlying medical conditions to be transferred either to Galway or to Dublin. The initial suggestion was that all women with diabetes, gestational diabetes or pre-existing diabetes would be transferred. That is not happening now because there is no capacity in UHG. We are either implementing this policy on the basis of safety or we are ap…

I raise the issue of Scoil an Chroí Naofa National School in Ballinasloe, which serves one of the most deprived populations in the country. Some 300 children go to the school. The older school is from 1937 and the newer school is from 1973. When I had an occasion to visit in January, it was colder inside the school than it was outside. The difficulty we have now is that the school cannot take in any new students. People with means who can travel to other schools outside of the town are leaving. We are getting a con…

I am pleased to contribute to the statements on men's health. As a GP, I have seen the reality of men's health in practice. We have come a long way in recent years since the publication of the national men's health policy in 2009 but Movember's "The Real Face of Men's Health" report shows that many challenges remain. I do not want to rehash some of the figures already put out here but we know about the premature deaths in the male population, with men dying earlier than women. A stark statistic is that men in depri…

I ask the Minister to state, given the value placed on clusters of third level institutions and innovation hubs, whether there are clear pathways and supports in place for establishing and expanding such hubs, especially in the west. I raise that in the context of a very successful urological-surgical innovation hub based at Atlantic Technological University, ATU, in Galway, in collaboration with the University of Illinois Chicago.

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. I was unsure. I thank the Minister. In this model with the University of Illinois Chicago, extending into other areas of medicine is talked about. Urology is the template they have used in ATU. It provides expertise based on research and innovation. It has developed a venture studio model, which draws on the experience of world-class entrepreneurs and scientists that mentor researchers to bring their work to start-up. That is the important link. We have a lot of research going o…