Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand that some of the posts that were approved in 2023 were affected by the temporary pause on new recruitment. A new workforce plan for 2024 is being developed by the HSE and it will be able to increase its total staffing levels by between 2,000 and 3,000 over the course of this year. This will include genetic counsellors and the development of the genomic resource associate role to help patients navigate the genetic and genomic care pathway and improve the co-ordination of care. The €2.7 million provided to fund the implementation of the national strategy for genetics and genomics included the establishment of the national office of genomics and the appointment of key staff. In regard to the location of the new laboratory and whether it remains in Crumlin or not, I do not have a satisfactory answer for the Deputy today but I will discuss it with the Minister for Health and come back to him as soon as I can.

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