Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Is é an Tánaiste ceannaire Fhianna Fáil. Is é an chéad chinneadh atá glactha ag an Aire Stáit úr ar a bhfuil freagracht as an nGaeltacht ná toghcháin Údarás na Gaeltachta a thabhairt siar. Tá sé sin náireach agus scannalach. Ní bheidh toghcháin Údarás na Gaeltachta anois ag tarlú ar 7 Meitheamh leis na toghcháin áitiúla agus Eorpacha mar a bhí geallta ag páirtí agus Rialtas an Tánaiste. Mar a dúirt mé, tá sé scannalach. Ag tús 2023, foilsíodh ceannteidil Bhille le daonlathas a thabhairt ar ais go dtí an Ghaeltacht. An tseachtain seo, d'fhoilsigh an Rialtas na ceannteidil arís. Bhí a fhios aige ó seacht mí ó shin go raibh folúntas ar bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta agus nach raibh cathaoirleach chun a bheith ar an mbord sin. Seacht mí ina dhiaidh sin, níl cathaoirleach againn go fóill. Tá ceist agam ar an Tánaiste. Cén uair a bheidh toghcháin ann do bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta? An bhfuil cliú ag an Tánaiste cén uair a bheidh toghcháin do bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Cén-----

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Cén uair? When will there be an election? Tá a fhios agam nach ionann Gaeilge Thír Chonaill agus Gaeilge Chorcaí ach cén uair a bheidh na toghcháin ann agus cén uair a bheidh cathaoirleach ceaptha ar bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Tá brón orm. Tá canúint Dhún na nGall ag an Teachta agus is é canúint Chorca Dhuibhne atá agam féin so bíonn deacrachtaí anois agus arís. Ar dtús báire, déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Teachta Thomas Byrne as ucht a bheith tofa mar Aire Stáit ar a bhfuil freagracht as an nGaeltacht. Tá dúil faoi leith aige i gcúrsaí Gaeilge agus Gaeltachta. Tá an méid infheistíochta atá á chur isteach ag an Rialtas seo ag méadú bliain i ndiaidh bliana. Maidir leis na toghcháin, níl an reachtaíocht réidh go fóill. Caithfidh an tAire Stáit a bheith macánta le daoine. Níl an dealramh ar an scéal go mbeidh an reachtaíocht réidh roimh na toghcháin áitiúla. Is é sin bun agus barr an scéil. Beidh an reachtaíocht ag teacht. Tugaim geallúint go gcuirfimid i bhfeidhm é roimh dheireadh an tseisiúin seo, is é sin, roimh an samhradh. Is é sin atá faoi chaibidil ag an Aire Stáit.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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I come to the Tánaiste with a serious request that he work with Ministers in the Department of the Environment, Local Government and Heritage and the Office of Public Works, in tandem with Fingal County Council, to provide further emergency coastal protection measures on Brook Beach in Portrane. There is a long-term solution for sea groynes to protect the houses and community there but it has not even gone to planning permission. We are at a critical stage, with houses on Healy's Lane, Beach Lane and the Burrow in danger of falling into the sea. We have already lost homes there. This is not my assessment but the assessment of the professionals in Fingal County Council. Will the Tánaiste help the families - the Duffy's, the Barton's, the Shevlin's and all the others - and community by instructing Ministers to act with haste to provide coastal protection measures at this location? I have raised this before but it is a critical emergency right now.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising a very serious issue. I will speak to the Ministers with responsibility. We need to accelerate work on coastal protection across the country but obviously in the locality identified by the Deputy as part of a wider national adaptation plan. Climate change is here. It is not something that will happen in 2050 or 2040. It is happening right now. It is affecting food production but, above all, it is having a significant impact on coastal erosion and people's homes. I acknowledge that and will talk to the Ministers concerned.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I wish to raise the issue of the EU migration pact. It is a highly controversial and complex issue. It took eight years for the EU to agree these proposals and yet only half a day has been set aside at the Joint Committee on Justice to hear them. If we compare that with the amount of time given to the controversy in RTÉ in two different committees, we can see the disparity. These proposals will have far-ranging impacts. We are talking about potentially thousands of people being held in detention centres on our borders simply for seeking refuge in Ireland. It is really important that the Oireachtas has the ability to robustly interrogate and discuss these issues, rather than having the migration pact simply nodded through in a committee and a subsequent vote. Does the Tánaiste believe a half day at a committee is sufficient? Does the Tánaiste know whether there will be one vote or multiple votes on the migration pact because this is not clear either?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is very fundamental reform of European migration law and practice. There are legally binding timeframes for making decisions on international protection applications and appeals and a greater focus on efficient returns for unsuccessful applicants and accelerated processing, including for those from safe countries, those with no documents or false documents and those who have crossed borders illegally. It is, therefore, a toughening up, and a much stricter regime will come into place. It will take time because in order for Ireland to operationalise the pact at the same time as other member states in 2026, work on transposing legislation and operational reform will have to happen.

That is now beginning at pace. I have no issue. I am sure the committee is at leave to give further consideration to this, if it so wishes. That is a matter we can take up with the Chairperson of the justice committee. I will reflect on it from a governmental perspective. We are not rushing this but it is normally the committee that is responsible for any given piece of legislation. There is a distance to go here yet. I am open to a full debate.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I want to make it clear that this matter was discussed at length in the Business Committee this morning. One of the decisions made was that when the matter comes back from the committee, whatever time is necessary to debate it in full will be provided here in the Chamber. I would be surprised, therefore, if there was to be any curtailment of the debate in the committee, where the details and intricacies of that legislation need to be looked at.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Legislation has to come back here anyway.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Exactly. That decision, unlike any decision that we have made before, was that whatever time is required will be provided here. I call Deputy Mick Barry.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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Last week, the Taoiseach promised a new era for special education and appointed a Minister of State to deliver progress. This week, in Glanmire in Cork city, we see the National Council for Special Education break a promise to give a second special education class to the Brooklodge National School for this September. In Ballincollig, parents are being forced to take children with autism out of their schools and send them by taxi to schools half an hour or more away for lack of special classes in their community. At Scoil Eoin, it is over three years since the NCSE sanctioned three special autism classes but the Minister for Education is refusing to fund the “knock and build” that would best deliver them. Meanwhile, 21 boys with autism have no special class and many of them struggle in large mainstream classes. These are just two of the many examples I could cite from Cork city. The Government promised progress but when are these schools, and society more widely, going to see it?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It has now transpired in the Brooklodge case that no application was made to the Department by the school in respect of a new special class. The NCSE has sanctioned an ASD class but my understanding is that an application was never made or had not been made up to the weekend, although an application is going in urgently now. I do not think it is fair to the Minister to say that the Minister has refused that. I spoke to the Minister about this when it emerged and Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan and the Minister of State, Deputy Colm Burke, were in touch with me. That is the situation in respect of Brooklodge.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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What of Ballincollig?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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No application was made. We need to all agree on the facts of any given case. We will do everything we can to help. Broadly speaking, provision has been made for about 2,700 new special education places.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are out of time.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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What of Ballincollig?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will follow up on that.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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University Hospital Galway was one of the most overcrowded hospitals in the country in 2023 and the situation is getting worse. On several occasions, including in this House, I have suggested that the establishment of a minor injuries unit in Merlin Park Hospital grounds would be an immediate and cost-effective method of relieving the overcrowding and stress at the emergency department in University Hospital Galway. A minor injuries unit is operating at Roscommon and it takes an average of 55 minutes to be seen, treated and discharged. There are 14 such minor injuries units across the country but none in Galway. Merlin Park is the ideal location for such a unit in Galway city, having a lot of space for parking and being located away from the university hospital, which is chronically overcrowded. The provision of a minor injuries unit in Galway would mean that people with non-urgent minor injuries are treated and discharged quickly and it would help to free up the emergency department for more urgent and serious cases. Will the Tánaiste give a commitment today to support the proposal for a minor injuries unit for Galway that would significantly improve healthcare for the people of Galway city and county and surrounding areas?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have been a long-standing advocate for and supporter of minor injuries units. I do not know the background as to why we do not have a minor injuries unit in Galway. Is it to do with the configuration of Merlin Park and other hospital projects getting ahead of it?

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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The Government will not give us one.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is not that we will not give one. Have the plans come forward? I will certainly talk to the Minister for Health because they work and they take pressure off the emergency departments.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I join with the Tánaiste in wishing the families of the victims of the Stardust tragedy all the best today. I happened to be in Dublin that night as well. They have been a long time waiting for justice.

I am questioning the issuing of planning exemptions for telecommunication structures such as masts as per the statutory instrument, class 31, of the Planning and Development Act regulations of 2019. There is an exemption that allows for companies to erect telecommunications masts of 12 m or less in an area with no notice, co-ordination, public warning or consultation with neighbours and landowners. This is an issue that has arisen in the picturesque village of Clogheen, under the Vee, in south Tipperary and it has happened in other areas. Utility workers arrived on site and started preparing the ground to erect this mast and concerned locals contacted my daughter, Councillor Máirín McGrath, and others. Thankfully, the works have not commenced. This is an architectural conservation area, which is not exempt. Companies are running slipshod, sticking up masts and trying to get away under the radar. This exemption needs to be examined so people are not trodden on or interfered with, and they have their rights vindicated.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the Deputy raising the issue and I will talk to the Minister. I think the Deputy said that it was because it was an area of architectural conservation that it could not go ahead.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Thankfully. They have stopped.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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That illustrates the importance at times of having areas of conservation to stop that kind of behaviour which would undermine the architectural integrity and heritage of a given town or village. I will certainly speak to the Minister in that respect.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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I also wish to express solidarity with the families of the Stardust 48 and the communities of Kilmore, Artane and Coolock, where I grew up as a child.

I want to raise the issue of children's developmental health checks. I raised this issue on several occasions last year with regard to the Curlew Road and Old County Road primary care centres. I have recently been informed that the same problem exists at the centres in Islandbridge and it continues at Curlew Road. A lack of public health nurses is stopping children's developmental checks from taking place. I was told this was a temporary issue when I raised it but it appears not only was it not temporary, but it is getting worse and is affecting the whole of the Dublin 8, 10 and 12 areas. I know three-month and ten-month checks are affected. A constituent contacted me to say their child had received no ten-month check and no 24-month check, and was eventually told the service might be lucky to have staff in place by their child's four-year check. At Curlew Road, the parent of a one-year-old child is also waiting. Can parents across the Dublin 8 and 12 areas expect the Government to put the staff in place to resume early childhood development checks? No child should be without those checks.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important question and I acknowledge that she has raised it several times before. There is an issue with the recruitment of public health nurses in that particular area. The Department and the HSE are giving this their utmost attention. It is not a funding issue or a moratorium issue; it is due to a lack of public health nurses for that area. I will bring the Deputy’s concerns back again to see if we can expedite something. I agree with the Deputy that these developmental checks are very important, especially for new mothers and their babies. I will revert to the Deputy in due course.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I want to raise with the Tánaiste the very sad news that we got this week about the closure of the Irish Wheelchair Association centre in Cavan. When I say “closure”, it has not closed its doors but has had to end its in-person service for the 40 service users who very much depend on that service. It had a minimum of staff to begin with. It had only two part-time and one full-time, and with that staff and the support of CE staff, it has been providing an incredible service to over 40 service users.

I have spoken with the staff and this is about pay parity, recruitment, and retention. I know it is a very difficult problem to address but the reality for the parents and those who have loved ones using the service is that they no longer have that in-person service. For example, families are now dependent on whatever resources are in place to perhaps go out and visit them in the community, like they did before. I ask the Tánaiste and the Minister with responsibility for disability to intervene to help get the service up and running again

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will ask the Minister, Deputy Anne Rabbitte, to engage with the Irish Wheelchair Association, IWA. I am not fully au fait with the background to this. There was a settlement in respect of the section 39 workers. An agreement was reached last October, which resulted in an 8% increase in pay to be delivered in three phases. There might be other background decisions, but it is a regrettable closure of an important service to quite a number of people who used the in-person service. I will follow this up.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I have a letter that was sent to the Taoiseach this morning from the chairperson of the County Donegal branch of Diabetes Ireland, Paul Gillespie. In the letter he states, "Resources have deteriorated to such a level for Type 1 Diabetes care in LUH that we are concerned that patient safety of care is now beyond critical." The Minister, Deputy Charlie McConalogue will confirm everything I am saying. We have a profound crisis in that there should be three endocrinologists in Letterkenny University Hospital but there is nobody there. People who get the job walk away because the level of support and resources are just not there. The reason Diabetes Ireland wrote this letter to the Taoiseach is its representatives met him when he was Minister for Health back in 2016 and 2017. Commitments were given that have not been honoured. We have a profound crisis here. We are asking that an urgent meeting be convened by the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, with all the senior people, and that LUH be upgraded to model 4 hospital status. This is what is required

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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One of the factors here is the resignation of a consultant.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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No, it is much broader than that.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I mean that is the fundamental issue. Is it the case that this consultant was responsible for endocrinology retired? Is that what happened?

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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There are three positions for endocrinologists, all unfilled.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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My understanding is that the HSE-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We cannot have a conversation about it, please.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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What we need to do is engage with the HSE, in the first instance. We can write to the Taoiseach of the day but it will go back down the chain. The Minister for Health has to deal with it, as does the HSE within the broader programme on diabetes generally. There there has been substantial increased investment in LUH over the past number of years with increases in staff and so on. I will talk to the Minister for Health and make him aware of the fact that the issue has been raised.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The Tánaiste will recall that for almost three years I have been raising with him, the former Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar and the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the need to provide additional funding for the non-national road network. I accept that each year the Government has increased funding but it is not adequate to meet the additional costs that have been incurred due to the war Mr. Putin inflicted on Ukraine and the resultant increase in energy costs. Incessant rain for most of the past 12 months is continuing to exacerbate the problems on roads, both those that were in good condition and roads that had deteriorated. We now have a situation where roads have deteriorated very rapidly. The funding allocated this year to local authorities, such as in counties Cavan and Monaghan, is not nearly sufficient to carry out a proper road works programme for 2024. It is important that at this stage in the year, the Minister for Transport allocates additional funding to counties such as Cavan and Monaghan so that we can bring roads up to a standard that the people deserve and are entitled to. These people are working day in and day out paying their taxes. Because they live in a rural area does not mean they should not be entitled to a proper road network. I implore the Tánaiste to make progress on this matter without further delay

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, which he has raised consistently, with other Deputies, particularly all the public representatives in Cavan-Monaghan. Approximately €3 billion has been allocated to regional and local roads to date by the Government. A total of €658 million has been allocated this year, which is an increase of €32 million over last year. Of course, I accept that inflation has eaten into this increase. I have spoken to the Minister and I will have further consultations with him to see what we can do and if anything extra can be procured for what is a very pressing problem.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Since 2016, a boil water notice has been impacting east Cork and affecting 9,500 people. We reckon this costs each household approximately €500 per year. In the past, I raised the possibility of making some contribution towards the cost for people who have to buy or boil water for more than ten months of the year. It is really expensive. Will the Government give consideration to making a payment to households to help them with this cost?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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This is a novel proposal. I understand the challenges. It is shocking when boil water notices are the order of the day in certain localities. I will discuss this with the relevant Minister, although I can see challenges to it and precedents and so forth being established.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I want to ask about what is happening for children with diabetes in St. Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny. The hospital lost two clinical nurse specialists in late 2023 and for some reason has not been able to recruit replacements. The hospital has insulin pumps but nobody is trained to use them. I have met several very upset parents who have children with type 1 diabetes. These children receive five or six injections per day, but they need to be on an insulin pump. This seems to be a huge issue in many hospitals. In Carlow-Kilkenny, I have never seen the parents so upset. I wonder what we can do. The pumps are there, but there are no staff to use them.

On the injury clinics, which another Member asked about, the Minister for Health has been in Carlow twice or three times in the past six months. I asked him about an injury unit or clinic for Carlow. We have a population of more than 62,000 and the population grew by 9% in the latest census. The Tánaiste is correct that we need these injury units across the country. Carlow needs one urgently

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I commend the Deputy on her dexterous use of the time available to her to include two issues. On the diabetes question, clinical nurse specialists are essential so I will check with the HSE on the replacement of those clinical nurse specialists for children with diabetes. The Deputy is correct that their advice is required for proper use of insulin pumps, which are essential. The Deputy knows my thoughts on minor injury units and I have talked to the Minister in respect of the needs of the south east

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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In September 2022, the Minister for Education visited the Educate Together school in Castlebar. Amid much fanfare and photographs, a promise was made to the children, parents and teachers that they would be provided with a new school. At the time, the Minister asked them to provide a shortlist of suitable sites, which the school did immediately afterwards. Some 18 months later and the response we have is that the sites are still being considered. That is not acceptable. Last week, hundreds of children and parents gathered in Castlebar to ask that the Government takes this in hand and provides the school that was promised. At the moment the school is operating on three campuses. This means there are 120 primary schoolchildren on three campuses criss-crossing Castlebar and it is just not acceptable. The school has identified a suitable site. I ask the Tánaiste to speak to the Minister for Education and ask her to progress the matter as quickly as possible

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The school building programme is at record levels. This year, the Minister has again secured substantial additional funding to try to progress a range of projects across the programme. I will certainly raise the specific case. Site acquisition can often be the slowest part of any school project. I will talk to the Minister in this regard.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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The concentration of land ownership in many parts of the country is a problem. It is particularly noticeable in south Tipperary and, indeed, the OPW's activities in north Clare are creating their own pressures. Obviously, the Tánaiste will be aware of the Irish Land Commission. It was abolished in the last century but he was a Deputy at the time. Nobody is proposing that it be reintroduced but many EU member states have measures to control the acquisition of land and the concentration of land ownership to ensure that farmers can hope to increase their land holdings and that large corporations do not buy up huge blocks of land, driven by tax policy as much as by anything else. Will the Government examine these types of measures in Ireland? Will it look at our tax policies and measures around concentration of land ownership in the State?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware that this is an issue in particular areas of the country. We have a land market and there are no such restrictions in place at the moment but it is open to any private individual or Member of the Parliament to come forward with any suggestions they might wish to propose in that regard. It is not something that the Department of agriculture has assessed. Obviously land ownership, and the right of people to sell or acquire land in an open market is the situation that pertains. Our farming model is based on the family farm and that is certainly something we encourage through public policy and the various schemes that we have in place and through policy supports. It is certainly open to the Deputy, as a Member of this Parliament, to put forward any suggestions he has in this regard and to have them fully debated in the House.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The number of gardaí has fallen every year since the Minster for Justice, Deputy McEntee, has been in office. Gardaí have been retiring and resigning in bigger numbers than ever before. They are being attacked every day. Recruitment is on the floor. Rape, sexual assault, violent crime and domestic violence are all increasing significantly. The number of gardaí in the traffic corps has fallen by 40% in just 12 years, leading to a spike in road deaths. Prisons are jammed at the moment and the criminal justice system is in freefall. Today we see the dysfunction at the top of the justice system crystallised further with the Minister snubbing the annual conference of the Garda Representative Association, GRA. For a Minister who barely survived the Cabinet reshuffle, it is incredible that she is presiding over a worsening crisis at the top of An Garda Síochána. The GRA has said that Garda morale is on the floor. Gardaí are telling me that the force is being run like a dictatorship. They say there is no engagement and that they are being forced to work with their hands tied behind their backs.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Your time is up, Deputy.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Why is the Minister not engaging with senior Garda management and Garda representatives, either formally or informally?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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While there are always difficulties and challenges in every situation, including in the force, we need a bit of balance in our commentary. Everything is not "on the floor"; everything is not disastrous. The Government has increased the training allowance and has increased the age of entry to An Garda Síochána from 35 to 50. We want to grow the force to 15,000 members and beyond. There were approximately 319 retirements and 169 resignations in 2023 but 746 trainees entered Templemore last year, the highest intake since 2018. Recruitment is not on the floor.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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It is-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It needs to recover, particularly due to the closure of Templemore during the Covid period.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The Minister snubbed the GRA

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is a whole background to that situation. It is not a snub.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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She refused the invitation.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do not see why, generally speaking, the Garda Commissioner would not be invited. Let us get back to normal.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Why is she not forcing engagement?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We can have disagreements but people should always maintain dialogue, should always engage, and the common courtesies of life should always apply, in my view.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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She is refusing to engage.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am not talking about the Minister. The Deputy knows why; he knows the background to it.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Ó Murchú is next.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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I am not saying that she should not-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy, please let the next Deputy have the floor.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I want to raise an issue that was brought up by Mr. Peter Hughes, the general secretary of the Psychiatric Nurses Association who warned that the HSE recruitment embargo is seriously impacting service delivery. He said that the current situation, with more than 700 vacancies, was not sustainable and that reliance on overtime and agency staff could not meet the increase in demand for services. He said:

We conducted a survey of our branches last month and it showed that we had more over 700 vacancies in the system. We just think it is totally inconceivable that they are imposing a recruitment embargo at a time of such an amount of vacancies. This is seriously impacting the delivery of services.

Mr. Hughes also spoke about a lack of beds, a lack of provisions and about issues relating to Linn Dara.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the conference of the Psychiatric Nurses Association. When I finish here, I am heading to Trim, County Meath to address that conference at 3.50 p.m. I engage constantly with Mr. Hughes and the PNA. I thank them for all of the work they do. They often work with some of the most complex and vulnerable people in the country.

I want to put something on the record of the Dáil because it was referred to earlier. There are issues in relation to psychiatric nurse staffing for inpatient facilities for CAMHS. The current situation as we stand is that we have 51 beds staffed. We have young people in 31 of the beds. We have 20 beds available and there is no waiting list. It is important to put that on the record. I will be speaking about this further this afternoon.