Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I have questions for each of the groups here. I will ask them at the same time in light of the restrictions on time. I was also on a site visit last month. I visited a brand-new primary healthcare centre in Tallaght in Dublin South-West. I found the experience really good. The reason I had to go to Dublin South-West is that, despite the constituency I represent, Dublin Mid-West, having a population of 120,000, we do not have a primary healthcare centre. It is in these centres that we are seeking to host these comprehensive multidisciplinary teams. If there is any update on the provision of a centre in the constituency, I would like to hear it at this meeting. I agree with Mr. Reid; the staff I met that day were absolutely fantastic. I found them really passionate about their jobs. They really care about the services they want to deliver. However, I felt that they were victims of policy. For example, the movement of clinicians to contact tracing and testing during the Covid pandemic put them on the back foot with regard to dealing with the waiting lists. The panel system and recruitment and retention of staff were also worrying for the staff I met that day. I am disappointed but not surprised to hear that not one of the 91 CDNTs is fully staffed. It is my understanding that, at the moment, most of these CDNTs are operating with approximately 50% to 60% of the proper number of staff. Is that the case? Will the HSE representatives elaborate on that?

I know Mr. Reid has answered this question a number of times before but I would again like to hear what concrete plans the HSE has to recruit staff into the service. At what grade does he expect these staff to be recruited?

I will also ask a question of Mr. Muldoon, if that is okay. On the question of unmet needs that we spoke about before, Mr. Muldoon mentioned that there are five key recommendations in the report on unmet needs. How many of these recommendations have been met at this stage? What impact will these recommendations remaining unmet have on services for children and on those children?