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

Regarding the issues Deputy Paul Murphy raised around animal welfare and conditions in pig farms, I would certainly encourage anyone who has evidence of animals being mistreated to pass the evidence on to the relevant authorities and that they should of course investigate them.

On Deputy Verona Murphy's question, I absolutely acknowledge we have a real problem and a real deficiency in providing therapies for children who need it and need it desperately. It is something I experience in my constituency work talking to people all the time. So many parents tell me their harrowing stories of not being able to get the therapies from which they know their children would benefit so much. It is not an acceptable situation. It is not about money. There is €2.9 billion being invested in disability services this year, the highest ever by quite a distance. It is not about political will or who cares the most. We just have an enormous deficiency in skilled, qualified staff who are willing and able to provide these services. That is not something that is easily fixed but there is nothing we are not doing that we can be doing to try to turn this around. If people have suggestions and ideas, I am all ears.

Regarding Deputy O'Dea's comments on UHL, the advice from the experts, the people who are emergency department consultants and who work in emergency departments, is that reopening closed emergency departments or opening new emergency departments in Ireland is not the right way to go. They say we already have resources spread very thinly and they can provide a better service if it is centralised in a number of locations. However, I know that must sound absurd to people who are experiencing overcrowding, whether it is in CUH today or in UHL, but the solution is to go forwards not back. That means making sure we have the additional capacity in UHL but also building up services appropriately in Ennis Hospital, St. John's Hospital and Nenagh Hospital and in community services.

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