Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I think we are going to be having different versions of this conversation throughout the next hour and a half, based on the questions the Deputy has tabled, which I fully appreciate. As to whether there is a level of funding for new development next year at the scale there is for this year, there is not. We will not be expanding these services next year at the pace we expanded them this year. However, is there funding to expand services, which can include stroke services? The answer is "Yes". The Deputy will be aware that there is additional funding in new developments through the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for more neurorehabilitation nurses. They are directly related to post-hospital supports. There will be an expansion there. We are hiring more consultants next year. The clinical strategies, including the stroke strategy, will undoubtedly benefit from that. We are fully staffing all the hospitals to safe staffing levels and all patients, including stroke patients, will benefit from that increased level of service.

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