Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know the LauraLynn foundation is something he has always advocated for and fought for. I agree with him 100%. The merit and support provided by organisations and foundations like the LauraLynn children's hospice represent unbelievable value for money. The service they provide is incredible. I liken it to Cancer Connect or ARC house, which are organisations we should really be supporting financially.

Children’s palliative care is provided through a shared care approach involving GPs, paediatricians, community specialist palliative care teams, clinical nurse co-ordinators and the Children’s Health Ireland specialist palliative care team. All these teams work collaboratively in caring for the child and their family. A key enabler of this model of care is the remote support provided by the consultants in paediatric palliative medicine at Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin and Temple Street. The voluntary sector, including organisations such as LauraLynn children’s hospice and the Jack and Jill Foundation, provides essential support to the statutory services with additional in-home nursing and respite supports for families. LauraLynn also provides inpatient hospice care at its eight-bed facility in Leopardstown, south County Dublin, along with a bereavement service.

In 2024, 340 children were supported at home by clinical nurse co-ordinators for children with life-limiting conditions each month. Some 78 children received specialist palliative care in Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin and Temple Street each month and 49 children were admitted each month to LauraLynn children’s hospice. LauraLynn receives core funding from the Health Service Executive under a section 39 service agreement. Recurring core statutory funding for LauraLynn children’s hospice was allocated for the first time in budget 2021. In 2022, an additional €800,000 was provided in once-off funding. In 2023, €800,000 was provided in additional recurrent funding to LauraLynn, increasing its base funding to €2.3 million per year. In 2025, State funding increased further to €3.3 million, representing over 30% of LauraLynn’s total operating costs. This funding has been used to provide a sustainable financial base to the organisation. It has increased LauraLynn's hospice in the home service across Leinster, Munster and Connacht. LauraLynn’s pre-budget submission request is to be funded to the tune of €5.3 million, or 50% of its total operational costs, in 2026. This request will be considered as part of the overall budgetary and Estimates process.

LauraLynn plays a significant role in the overall delivery of children’s palliative care services nationally. The Department of Health, HSE, and LauraLynn children’s hospice have all worked together to develop children’s palliative care services in accordance with the national children’s palliative care policy. The Department of Health and the HSE are both project sponsors of work currently under way in Trinity College Dublin on enhancing children’s palliative care in Ireland. The Department of Health is also commissioning an evaluation of the 2009 national policy on children’s palliative care. The evaluation will review and assess the implementation of the 2019 children’s palliative care policy and identify the areas of progress along with any gaps which may need to be considered in future policy development. Findings from both these studies will inform evidence-based policy decisions in the development of the national children’s palliative care policy and assist with national service planning.

The Deputy has highlighted what the LauraLynn hospice does. It is an incredible foundation and organisation. It provides a service that can never be replaced, certainly on behalf of the State, to families and children right across Ireland. If there is positivity to be taken from that response, it is that the Deputy has seen how the spending profile has gone year on year. It has increased significantly year on year as per that response. The submission LauraLynn has made this year is being taken seriously and is being considered. I would be pushing with the Minister for Health that it would get all it is asking for, with the hope it would get a significant increase in funding again.

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