Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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As the clock struck midnight this Government increased the cost of fuel once again. This Government has been responsible for an increase of €12 on a tank of fuel since it took office. Ireland is now the most expensive place in the EU to buy diesel and one of the most expensive to buy petrol. Does the Minister recognise fuel hikes penalise workers and families, especially in constituencies like the one she and I share where people have no choice but to use their cars? Does she accept fuel hikes are putting enormous pressure on fuel businesses, especially in the Border region, and indeed could force some of them to close? If the Minister accepts those things, will she do what Sinn Féin have been calling on the Government to do and reverse the additional fuel charges introduced last night and in August?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. As he knows, the money collected from that tax is ring-fenced to support people who are less well off. We have the fuel allowance-----

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Not true.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I have announced a fuel allowance lump sum that people will be receiving. There are two energy credits worth a total of €250 that are going to be issued before Christmas. There is a 20% reduction in public transport fares for another 12 months.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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There is no public transport.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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In fairness Deputy, there is a very good-----

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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An increase of €12 on the cost of a tank of fuel.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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-----Local Link in County Monaghan and you will have to acknowledge that.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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You cannot get a bus in Cork.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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There is a great bus service there now and indeed when I get time I am going to use it one of these days. There is free public transport for children under nine-----

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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People are using their cars. They have no choice in the matter.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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-----and an increase in the rent tax credit of €1,000 per person. Sin é.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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In his speech to the Dáil on budget day the Minister, Deputy Chambers, made a commitment to develop a framework to invest the Apple windfall receipts. Coupled with the budget commitment to "protect, renew, develop and maintain national and regional local roads", can the Minister inform the House whether projects such as the Mallow relief road and the M20 Cork to Limerick motorway can be considered as vital infrastructure projects that marry with the Minister's stated aims of enhancing our country's "economic, enterprise and industrial model" under this proposed Apple framework?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Government is looking at that. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, spoke about this but of course we are investing these funds for the future and there are a number of different important infrastructure projects that deserve support. I have no doubt the Mallow relief road will be included in all those considerations. I will raise that with the relevant Minister.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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What about the Cork to Limerick motorway?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I am sure that is needed as well. The motorway is also an important piece of critical infrastructure.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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Social Justice Ireland, the ESRI, the Growing Up in Ireland report, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and One Family have all made statements on the budget and each have highlighted the fact child poverty has increased dramatically during the Minister's time in government. It has increased so dramatically there was a 30,000 increase in children experiencing deprivation just last year. Over the course of the next day there will be another ratification of the energy grants scheme, which is fine, but €15.5 million of that is going to go to people with second homes. Over the course of the last three years those one-off payments have amounted to nearly €100 million for people with second homes. Why should people with second homes get this grant when there are too many children growing up who do not have access to a second pair of shoes or a warm coat? Another Fine Gael Minister has tittered, but this is actually captured in the reports. This nasty party approach they have been taking in the last couple of weeks, I was going to say it did not suit them but it clearly does. Why are we giving energy payments to people with holiday homes when so many children do not have access to a second pair of shoes?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. The Government is keenly aware of issues in relation to child poverty and these issues formed a critical input into the development of the budget, which included the largest social welfare package in the history of the State. It provided €2.6 billion to assist households. The analysis published by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform shows the budget 2025 core package of tax and expenditure measures has a progressive impact and the benefit to the bottom three deciles is driven by the significant social protection package, with higher income deciles benefitting proportionately more from tax measures. Budget 2025 builds on previous budgets that have also had a very positive effect. The 2023 survey on income and living conditions saw a reduction in consistent poverty. It is down from 4.9% in SILC 2022 to 3.6% in 2023. It is reducing.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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There is a lot of talk about pensioners, their rights, their poverty and the way they live, but there is another aspect to pensioners we are losing sight of, that is, they are retired workers and many of them have pensions they are entitled to have and to have increases in. A cohort badly hit by the austerity in 2011 and 2012 is public sector pensioners. I am not talking about the gold-plated pensions, top civil servant style pensions or Deputies' or Ministers' style of pensions. I am talking people who worked for CIÉ, An Post, RTÉ, ESB, etc. and there is a Bill I hope to have before committee soon on this. Can the Minister tell me why after ten months with 2% due to them retired An Post workers have not received their pay increase and why they are forced to live without that money while it is held in somebody else's pockets? Will she please answer that and if she can intervene will she ensure those retired An Post workers get their 2% which is long overdue to them?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. I will certainly raise that with the relevant Minister. I do not know why; I cannot answer that question. I have been supporting pensioners through the Department of Social Protection. I acknowledge some public sector workers do not get a contributory State pension when they retire, but my focus has been to increase that. The €12 increase this year, along with all the double payments they are receiving, has certainly improved the situation for pensioners across the country.

Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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I raise an issue that has been raised by me and other Waterford Deputies over a period, namely, the Waterford Crystal pension fund. The Minister is well aware these workers were excluded from a future pension annuity and essentially it was said they had signed their rights away. That has been vehemently denied, as the Minister knows, by the workers by affidavit and in 30 years no corroborative paperwork has been provided to support that position. Anyway, because of the ongoing pressure the Minister and the Taoiseach met the workers on Friday, 13 September.

I understand the Department's position has now moved from there being no corroborated paperwork to the fact the 1990 pensions legislation was not enacted until 1993, offering them some protection. Despite that, I understand the Minister and the Taoiseach both have acknowledged a serious wrong has been done here. The Minister was to seek a follow-up meeting with the Attorney General and look for advice. Will the Minister provide the House with an update? There is a general election coming and we do not want this issue to be suspended.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. Yes, I met the Waterford workers along with the Taoiseach. This is a long-running issue and is quite complicated. We accept that. I have not received advice yet. It is a complex matter, but as soon as we do, we will be in touch.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I return to the ongoing situation at the Dundrum House Hotel in Tipperary. The Department, under emergency legislation, housed 270 or 280 men, women and children from Ukraine and the community integrated and welcomed them. Now it has been decided to make it an IPAS centre, and many in the community, many others and I warned the Department of integration, the community engagement team and the Ministers that there was no fire certification for this building. Now we understand that, after lots of pressure on the fire officers in Tipperary County Council, Mr. Leo, who is part-owner of the hotel I might add, has engaged Frank C. Murray & Sons Construction to try to bring the building up to fire regulations standards. Approximately 70 IPAS people - women and children - have been put into a building that has no fire certification. This is reckless in the extreme.

The Minister for Justice spent €30,000 on a siege of the Dundrum House Hotel with 200 gardaí, including the dog squad. There were decent people who would not stop anybody going in there. Those people are in danger for their lives with no fire certification.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Can we get an answer from the Minister?

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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This should not be going on.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. I am not familiar with the specific case but I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to engage with the Deputy directly on this.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I welcome the all-female Front Bench. It is a good sign for the future and I hope there will be a change of policy as well.

I return to a Leader's Question I put at the end of September regarding putting the spotlight on defective infrastructure in wastewater treatment plants in Galway, the necessity for one on the east side of the city, but more or equally as important, the collection system of the pipes. On that day I quoted from a report that suggested the, "...pipe is at risk of collapse at any time. Urgent consideration should be given to repairs to avoid total failure." My understanding is that it is one of the two main siphons under the River Corrib. The very next day, Irish Water, when following up on a question from Deputy Catherine Murphy, stated that was not the position. I am reading from a report. The only confusion may be over which pipe but my clear understanding is that of the two siphons under the River Corrib, one is in danger of imminent collapse and needs urgent work. I ask the Minister for clarification on that.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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That is an urgent situation. We will engage with Uisce Éireann. I know the Deputy has raised this issue on a number of occasions. We will engage with Uisce Éireann and get back to the Deputy with a reply as a matter of urgency.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I am sure the Minister and I are both very pleased that means testing has been so much on the agenda today. There is a need to deal with the issue of carers and I applaud the progress the Minister has made. However, she and I know there are a lot of other anomalies. I will give one simple example, which is the disability allowance and people who have a lifelong disability who inherit from parents, along with siblings. The siblings get their money tax-free up to €400,000. However, if the disabled sibling were to inherit this money, he or she would lose the disability allowance. There are a lot of anomalies. The Minister commissioned a report in her Department and I have been promised this report for a long time. I am told this Dáil might not last for too long, or so the rumour around the House and in the media goes. Before the Dáil rises finally, will this report be published so at least we have sight of the work? I have campaigned for years that the means testing for social welfare payments is absolutely out of date and anomalous.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy and he and I have discussed this at length on many occasions. He is right that some of the savings or capital allowances for means tests need to be changed. I agree with him there. My officials are finalising the report and I will give the Deputy a commitment that as soon as I receive it I will share it with him.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Will you, now?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I will go back to my officials after these questions are finished and find out where the report is. As soon as I receive it, I will share it with the Deputy because a lot of what he wants to do, I want to do also.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Fine Gael policy lab is looking at the issue of how we will have vibrant rural communities in a changing world. One of the things that has come from it very strongly is the value of the connected hubs the Minister established. There is a belief they have greater potential. Will the Minister examine how they could open for longer hours, become virtual platforms for local produce, support voluntary mobility initiatives, support connections for people who have retired and want to join them, look at fostering social enterprise and become information bubs? There is a belief they have an awful lot more potential than has been fully developed so far.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I agree there is more we can do on our connected hubs. We now have a wonderful network. We are one of the first, certainly in Europe if not globally, to have such a network of hubs throughout our country. In fact at an OECD conference Ireland was singled out as being leaders in this field. The Deputy is right that there is more we can do. I asked the Western Development Commission, which manages the connected hubs platform on behalf of the Department, to look at how we can maximise the use of these hubs because they are great assets to any town or village because they bring footfall to rural areas and allow people to work remotely. When the Deputy was Minister for communications he signed that broadband contract and that has been a game-changer in rural Ireland. It, together with connected hubs, is making a real difference.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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The water in the northside of Cork city is an absolute disgrace. There is dirty, unclean water going to half the population of Cork. I was in Mount Farran on Monday where I met a father who told me his wife is in hospital. He has four young children, two of whom are diagnosed with ASD. He is trying to wash their clothes and they are coming out black. I have photographs that I can send to the Minister. He is buying 120 l of water a week so his children have clean water, but when his kids go into the shower the water comes out dirty.

I met a lady who had a launderette in the northside for 30 years. She has lost her contracts and is at risk of going out of business because she cannot get water. You cannot run a launderette without water. This woman has been running a business for 30 years. This is happening right across the northside, from Gurranabraher to Farranree to Ballyvolane. There was a commitment in the budget to give €1 billion to Irish Water. We need €500 million to replace the 300 km of cast-iron pipes.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Time is up, Deputy.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister give a commitment to that money today? Irish water should go back to the council. It should be taken off Uisce Éireann.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy, you are out of time.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I am conscious the Deputy has raised this matter on a few occasions. Clean drinking water is an absolute human right that everyone should have an entitlement to. We will engage with Uisce Éireann on this. I met with Uisce Éireann recently about the upgrade of the Kilkenny regional water supply scheme and the commitment has been given by Government, both in the budget and in the additional money from the AIB funds, to ensure Uisce Éireann can realise its capital ambition over the next number of years.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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The people of the northside do not have clean drinking water.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Absolutely, and that upgrade is on the list.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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A sum of €44 million was paid for new water infrastructure and the water is dirty.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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We will follow that up with Uisce Éireann.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Forty-four million.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Will you please stop shouting?

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister of State should be able to answer that. A sum of €44 million was given and the water is dirty.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Minister of State does not have direct responsibility; Irish Water has.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Who does-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy is using up the time of other Members.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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The urban regeneration and development fund has been a great game-changer, with €1.9 billion allocated to it so far. I was told last May that another round is due before the end of this year. Is that still the case and if so when will it happen?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. I will have to check with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, when the next round of funding is due. I am more familiar with the rural regeneration and development fund, as the Deputy will appreciate. I will ask the Minister to get back to the Deputy on this. The Deputy is right that the funding has made changes. The centres of towns have been transformed by the urban regeneration and development funding.

My colleague, Minister of State, Deputy Butler, tells me that the North Quays in Waterford are a great example. A total of €170 million has been approved for their development. There is also a good project in Monaghan, which is getting a few euro to transform the town. I wonder did they visit that the other day.

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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I met representatives of the retired employees of An Post last week. I want to bring to the attention of the House the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983, which wound up the old Department of Posts and Telegraphs. I will read from section 46 of that Act. Subsection (4) states:

Every scheme under this section shall provide for not less favourable conditions in respect of persons who, immediately before the vesting day, were members of the staff of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs than those to which they were entitled immediately before the vesting day.

Subsection (5) states:

Disbursement of pensions, gratuities and other allowances which may be granted to or in respect of persons who, immediately before the vesting day, were members of the staff of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs shall not be on less favourable conditions than would apply if the benefits referred to had continued to be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

That Act was passed when the Department of Posts and Telegraphs was disbanded. The provisions of the Act have clearly not been borne out. The pensions of staff members are being seriously affected by the way they are now getting their pensions. They are losing out significantly. I saw figures to show that a retired employee has lost more than €7,500 since 2015 compared with what the situation would have been had the conditions that existed in 1983 been maintained.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. He makes a valid point. When you are getting your pension and the price of everything is going up but your pension is not, it is not nice. I agree with the Deputy. I will ask the relevant Minister to speak directly to the Deputy on that point. It is a matter for An Post, given the issue concerns its pension scheme. I will raise the issue with the Minister, Deputy Ryan.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I raise the issue of section 39 health and community workers. As the Minister knows, an agreement was reached in October last year between the Department of Health, the Department of children, and the INMO, SIPTU and Fórsa trade unions on behalf of these workers. The agreement included an 8% increase while negotiations were to continue regarding future pay movement. I understand that the staff in some section 39 organisations have still not received the 8% pay increase a year after the agreement was reached. Furthermore, I understand that negotiations on future pay movement have stalled, resulting in these workers falling further behind the pay rates of their public sector colleagues. Why is that the case? Will the Minister tell me what steps the Government is taking to address the issue? What is the timeline for the full resolution and implementation of this? Has the Government acted in bad faith? The deal was done. Is the Government reneging on its promises?

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The deal was most certainly done.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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Where is it?

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The KOSI process was put in place last year. Would you believe it, we are still working our way through the KOSI process. Only yesterday, I visited St. Christopher's Services in Longford. Its back payment of €1.2 million has been allocated and released by the HSE to the provider and will be passed on. A number of other section 39 organisations still need to complete the documentation with their local HSE branches. The funding is there and ring-fenced and will be paid directly to the providers.

Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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The Irish Road Haulage Association has called on the Government to review urgently the operational role and effectiveness of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, following the latest examples of traffic gridlock at Dublin Port tunnel. Following a series of night-time closures at the tunnel, unacceptable delays and congestion were experienced at peak times due to the mismanagement of traffic flow by TII. This, of course, has led to traffic being backed up on the M1, the M50 and all approach roads, which results in excessive delays for all motorists. For the HGVs it means missed connections and delays in the delivery of goods, which can cost businesses.

There are also major issues in respect of how TII imposes its toll fees for HGVs, leading to many firms paying for 13 months in a 12-month period. This is an enormous issue. We must ensure the Government intervenes, listens to the hauliers and acts accordingly, and does not leave it in the hands of TII alone because it is an issue of national importance and of importance to our economy.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. The Irish Road Haulage Association is a great organisation with which the Deputy and I are both familiar. Hauliers are hard workers who just want to get on with their jobs, and I acknowledge that. I will bring the Deputy's point to the attention of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan. I will ask him to engage directly with the Deputy.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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There has been a lot of talk and concern about the waste of taxpayers' money in recent weeks. All those issues are well-known. A number of months ago, Racket Hall Country House Hotel in Roscrea was taken over. It was the last social venue in Roscrea and there were many issues in respect of why it was taken over. It was accepted that it was a mistake. To make a bad situation worse, the Government decided to put €150,000 towards taking Grant's Hotel in the town to see if it could be used for something in the community. Everyone is laughing at this. Officials and Ministers are laughing at this. Fáilte Ireland is laughing at this. Since when did the State become a hotelier? I drove past the hotel last night and there is a big "For sale" sign. A private person is selling it. Is the State now going to buy it?

Roscrea needs so much. It needs a new nursing home and a new secondary school. There is €150,000 being spent. The Garda station in the town is closed much of the time because there are not enough gardaí. I welcome the funding and I want the €150,000, but can we not put it towards what is appropriate? There is no way this is feasible.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. My Department of Rural and Community Development is committed to investing in rural Ireland. We are committed to repurposing old buildings and changing them for 21st century use. There has been engagement between my Department and the local authority in Tipperary and we will continue to engage and progress the proposals it brings to us.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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Children have been back in school for seven weeks and, in my county of Wicklow, there are still seven routes that are not operating under the school transport scheme. Two of those routes are for children with additional and complex needs and another is for children in direct provision. The areas impacted are Ashford, Laragh, Roundwood, Arklow and Delgany. This is unacceptable. Every year, this happens in Wicklow, in particular. The dedicated call centre that was set up by Bus Éireann has been closed and the communication by the company with parents is pretty much non-existent. Those parents are now at breaking point. They feel as if they have been forgotten and, unfortunately, as I said, this happens year in, year out. They end up trying to juggle work and getting their children to school. I would be interested to hear if the Minister, who has responsibility for rural communities, has concerns about the failure to provide this most basic public service in our rural communities. What is the Minister for Education going to do to resolve this?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is important to put matters into context. Some 140,000 children are carried to school every day on a bus provided by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I am worried about the children who are not on those buses.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I know about such children because there are some in my own constituency. There are still a few children for whom a bus has not been provided. Things happen. Unfortunately, we are in a very tight labour market and it is hard to find bus drivers. There is no doubt about that. To give the Deputy an example, one bus driver broke his ankle and could not drive the bus and nobody could be found to replace him. Unfortunately, the parents had to bring their children to school. Bus Éireann, in fairness to it, is working its way through the issues and engaging with the contractors. It is trying to move matters on as quickly as possible. I will bring the issue to the attention of the Minister. I have done so myself. The Minister is doing her best.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I raise an issue relating to public servants recruited before 1995 who paid class D and class C PRSI contributions. Can this cohort be considered for reassessment of their PRSI contributions? Those on the 1951 pension scheme were not afforded the opportunity to pay full PRSI contributions but those who joined post 1995 were allowed to pay full contributions. Those latter staff now have an entitlement to full State contributory pensions whereas those under the 1951 pension scheme do not. I feel this anomaly, which affects a relatively small, older cohort of people, is adversely affecting a group of people who are mainly in their 70s and many of whom are in their 80s.

Most of these pensioners are getting less than the living wage. Will the Minister consider reviewing their situation and giving them parity of treatment with their fellow workers?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I am well aware of classes D and C. Those were the rules in place. It was set out very clearly at the time and people were probably aware of that. I give the Deputy a commitment that I will look at it again.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Justice on the setting up of a pilot scheme to monitor and protect the rights of the child in family law situations. I urge that the relevant legislation, which is already before the Houses of the Oireachtas, will be expeditiously brought through the Houses. I point to the scandal of the abuse of children and mothers, who in some cases are being imprisoned in order to silence them about what is going on in the family law system at present. I ask the Minister to expedite the process through the House.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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This is an area Deputy Durkan is passionate about. I can confirm that the Family Courts Bill is going through the Seanad at the moment. I hope to have it in the Dáil in the coming weeks and enacted very soon to make sure we have specific family courts. Separate to that, the €3 million in the budget will be vital to make sure, first, that we have advocates for children in our courts, that the courts are accessible to children, that the language used is accessible and that they have a clear voice; and, second, that we will now start to fund the voice of the child reports and welfare reports to make sure that in particular a person who has been financially abused has access to the reports and that there is oversight, which has not existed previously, on who they are commissioned by and how they are commissioned, to protect in particular those who are most vulnerable.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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Yesterday, I was contacted by a Clare woman regarding what she witnessed at University Hospital Limerick, UHL, on Monday evening. She explained that she had spent nine hours at UHL with her elderly mother, who had been referred to the accident and emergency department from north Clare. She described to me her experience of being in the accident and emergency department surrounded by people literally writhing in pain on trolleys, a disproportionate number of whom were vulnerable, elderly people. In her own case, her mother, a woman in her 70s, presented at UHL at 1 p.m. on Monday. She was in the waiting room outside the emergency department. Her issue related to swelling of the eyes. At 3 p.m. she was brought to an eye specialist and then she returned to the emergency department waiting area where she had to start the process all over again. She sat in the waiting room until she finally gave up and went home ten hours later, at 10 p.m., without being seen. At 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning, the elderly lady received a phone call from a nurse advising that they were now ready to take her bloods, but she was two hours away at home. Her daughter estimated that more than 50% of those on trolleys and in the halls were senior citizens. This is a live example of the chaos and delays at UHL. I hear these horror stories almost every single day. What steps is the Government taking to mitigate the issues of people refusing to attend the hospital in the first place because they are frightened to go there and, as happens in many cases, of people leaving before being treated because there is simply not the capacity or staff to treat them?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. I am sorry to hear about the experience that lady had with her mother. We are committed to improving services in the mid-west region. A lot of additional funding has been allocated to UHL by this Government to achieve that. The budget has increased by 59%, to the tune of an additional €158 million, since 2019. Funding increased from €265 million to €423 million in 2023. Investment in the hospitals in the region has increased by 58%. Staffing at UHL has grown by 42%. The Minister has asked HIQA to lead a review into urgent and emergency care capacity in the mid-west region to determine whether a second emergency department is required. A lot of resources are going into this area. The Government is committed to supporting the hospital and doing all that we can.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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We need a second emergency department as a matter of urgency.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Yes. The Minister has asked HIQA to examine the matter and he is waiting for the response.