I propose to take Questions Nos. 864, 875, 907 to 913, inclusive, and 915 together.
Implementation of Ireland's first National Maternity Strategy - Creating A Better Future Together 2016 - 2026 - is being led by the National Women & Infants Health Programme. To this end, the Programme has developed a detailed Implementation Plan which I was pleased to launch in October 2017. The Plan is presented under the Strategy's four strategic priorities and details how each of the 77 actions will be implemented.
The Programme has estimated that full implementation will cost in the region of an additional €80 million revenue funding over the lifetime of the Strategy. Work to identify the precise capital funding requirement is ongoing. The Strategy will be implemented on a phased basis over the coming years and therefore the funding requirement will vary from year to year. In that context, the Implementation Plan will inform the annual Estimates process each year. I can confirm that additional funding of €4.15 million is being provided to the Programme this year for the Strategy.
The Strategy is very clear that all women must have equal access to ultrasound services and additional funding has been made available for that purpose. Indeed, one of the Programme's priorities for 2018 is to increase access to anomaly scans. I understand that the Programme has approved the appointment of an additional 28 ultrasonographers which was the total requirement identified to provide 100% access to anomaly scanning. The Programme is also working with the maternity networks to ensure foetal medicine expertise is available when an anomaly is identified.
In conclusion, I have asked the HSE to reply to you directly on your specific queries concerning maternity-related ultrasonography services and to provide a detailed breakdown of the 2018 €4.15 million allocation for the Strategy.