I thank the Senator for raising this important matter in the House today and for her consistent and persistent advocacy in support of expanding youth mental health services in Kildare. This is not new to the Senator. She has been doing this for as long as I have known her, over her ten years in these Houses, in advocating for positive youth mental health supports, positive well-being and those crisis interventions when they are needed most. In developing child and youth mental health services, the HSE aims to promo…

I am hearing the Senator loud and clear. There is only a short time but there are two things I want to address now. The reply that has been provided also outlines the supports that are available in Kildare, which I will put on the record of the Seanad. Kildare In Sync provides a wide range of youth and family services. The Naas Child and Family Project is part of In Sync youth and family services. In Sync also provides youth counselling service to 11 to 25-year-olds, and supports the LGBT community. It is important…

I thank the Deputy for his support for CAST. I am extremely proud of this pilot project, which we started working on in 2022. I compliment Superintendent Andrew Lacey, who has done phenomenal work on this for many years. At our initial conference in UL, we heard from police forces from Canada, elsewhere in North America, Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The pilot has been really impressive. As the Deputy has said, it has resulted in 133 people being deflected away from emergency departments. For anyone who does …

Deputy Cairns took 30 seconds.

This is so unfair.

It is completely unfair.

I move: Tuesday's business shall be: - Motion re Appointment of Ordinary Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission ( without debate and any division claimed shall be taken immediately ) - Motion re Fourteenth Report of the Standing Committee of Selection ( without debate and any division claimed shall be taken immediately ) - Motion re Report of the Committee on Standing Orders and Dáil Reform Establishing Special Committee on Preventing and Responding to Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence ( without…

As Deputies know, at the Business Committee last Thursday morning at 11 a.m., which the Ceann Comhairle chaired, two requests were made. One related to statements on the fiscal implications of a united Ireland. A request was made for additional time, and that was facilitated. Requests were also made for statements on Bessborough. I checked with the Minister. She is away on Government duty and it is not possible to have those statements this week. We have a huge amount of legislation to get through this week before …

As part of budget 2026, €15 million in additional funding was provided for a crisis response. We are starting with ten hospitals, namely nine model 4 hospitals and one model 3 hospital. The model 3 hospital is the Mercy hospital in Cork, which had 1,200 presentations last year. Teams of nurses will be put in place to help non-consultant hospital doctors during out-of-hours periods. What I hope to do, with the help of the Minister, in budget 2027 is expand it to the model 3 hospitals. Sligo is very lucky because it …

I move: That Dáil Éireann, in accordance with section 8(3)( a ) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003, as amended, appoints Deputy Ged Nash to be an ordinary member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission in place of Deputy Jennifer Whitmore who has resigned her office in accordance with the aforementioned section 8.

I move: That Dáil Éireann, pursuant to Standing Order 33, and with effect from 15th July, 2026, approves the Fourteenth Report of the Standing Committee of Selection, copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 9th July, 2026.

I move: That, in accordance with the recommendation of the Committee on Standing Orders and Dáil Reform pursuant to Standing Order 128(2)( b ), a Special Committee on Preventing and Responding to Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence is hereby established, with Orders of Reference as contained in the report of the Committee on Standing Orders and Dáil Reform entitled " Establishing Special Committee on Preventing and Responding to Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence ", a copy of which was laid before Dá…

To the survivors of Bill Kenneally’s horrific abuse, to your families and your loved ones, and to those joining us in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery and the Gallery upstairs, I want to begin by acknowledging your courage. For decades, you carried a burden that should never have been yours to bear. Today is about you, about your experiences and about the failures that allowed you to be so grievously let down. I have listened intently to the survivors’ testimonies in recent weeks in the wake of the report’s publi…

Like every Deputy in this House, I want every child and young person with an intellectual disability to get timely and appropriate mental health supports. I launched the new CAMHS mental health with intellectual disability model of care in 2022, and I am fully committed to the phased roll-out of CAMHS-ID teams to provide nationwide access to dedicated services for young people. Supporting children and young people with intellectual disabilities and mental health conditions requires input from a range of disciplines…

I find the Deputy's negative narrative so disappointing. He called it abysmal. There are 77.6 clinicians working with the most vulnerable children in the country. Is that abysmal? The recommendation is that we would have 16 teams. Since 2023, we have put ten teams in place. They are not fully staffed according to the full definition, but we all know that with a child with a mental health intellectual disability, who is non-verbal or might be falling between the cracks, from a children's disability network team to p…

I am sure the ten teams working today with the most vulnerable children in the country and their parents will welcome the Deputy's negative narrative in relation to those 77.6 posts that are in place. There are more posts funded. Recruitment is under way in relation to those, as I secured the funding for 11 additional staff for budget 2026. We will do more next year. How the Deputy can say that funding for CAMHS is not-----

Excuse me, Deputy. You will get your opportunity to respond. A total of €190 million has been provided from the mental health budget this year for CAMHS across all definitions. Is the Deputy trying to tell me that he does not want to see a roll-out of ADHD teams, perinatal mental health services or eating disorders services in order to fund mental health services for people with intellectual disabilities? We have six different clinical programmes. It is my job as Minister of State to make sure I build each and ever…

Every day in Ireland, 30 new cases of dementia are diagnosed. Yesterday, there were 30 new cases of dementia and tomorrow there will be a further 30 new cases of dementia. That initial diagnosis is absolutely devastating for every family. Having one person with that diagnosis impacts the whole family. That shows the importance of having dementia advisers in place. Between 2016 and 2020, I co-chaired the all-party committee with the former Senator, Colette Kelleher. At that stage, we had about eight dementia adviser…

I thank Deputy Connolly for raising this very important matter and for his continued engagement on urgency and emergency care capacity in Galway and the wider west and north west. I have answered many questions from Deputy Connolly on healthcare and I appreciate the focus he places on it. I will take this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. Ensuring that people receive the right care in the right place at the right time remains a core commitment of the Government under the S…

I reiterate that the HSE West and North West regional executive officer, Mr. Canavan, is currently working on the development of an investment package, including targeted supports for both the Galway and Roscommon areas. This includes enhancements to acute, community and diagnostic capacity across the region. While this work is at an early stage, consideration is being given to the feasibility of the development of an injury unit in Galway. It is very important that I repeat that. A sum of €84,000 was allocated for…