Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for her question. I will respond in reverse. I have not yet seen the feasibility study for the mother and baby unit at St. Vincent's hospital. There are two different thought processes in that regard. There was a perception that the new unit might be included in the new maternity hospital when it is built. However, I need a short-term solution in the meantime. We are currently considering a proposal to have six units in at St. Vincent's University Hospital. Each unit is a kind of suite for the mother and baby and some family support. We are awaiting those and I will be pushing for them when we enter the Estimates process. It is in the programme for Government and we are strong on that issue.

The Deputy also asked about budget 2025. The additional funding, in the amount of €143.5 million, resulted in 210 whole-time equivalent staff. I can share this information with the Deputy. It means, for example, four extra adult teams for ADHD. For eating disorders, it means two extra teams comprising 20 whole-time equivalent staff. These are community-based teams and come at a cost of €1.1 million per team. It takes approximately 18 months to recruit a team. We currently have funding for 14 teams and 11 are in place. One was funded in 2024 and recruitment is under way. For the two teams that were funded in 2025, recruitment is also under way. I hope to continue that traction in the next budget.