Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 15 Feb 2023

Vol. 1033 No. 4

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

The District Court waiting times for domestic violence victims, as published by the Irish Examiner today, paint a shocking picture for victims of domestic abuse and coercive control. Of the eight courts with the longest waiting times, six have no refuge or safe accommodation provision in their counties.

The Government speaks about an epidemic of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence but there is no urgency in its actions. We welcomed the third strategy but publishing a document alone will not prevent abuse or protect victims. We cannot wait for the establishment of the new agency to address the absence of safe accommodation in nine counties. Courts cannot prevent abuse if they do not have judges to hear the domestic violence cases. When will the heads of Bill for the new agency be published? Will safe accommodation be delivered this year for the counties currently without any refuge provision?

The Taoiseach

I do not have a date for the publication of the Bill, but it is a priority to ensure courts are resourced to administer justice efficiently and effectively. The Minister for Justice is optimistic that both the implementation of the working group report and the commitment by the Courts Service in its strategic plan for 2021 to 2023 to maximise the use of digital technologies to provide a more efficient and user-centred service, will lead to improved efficiencies and shorter waiting times.

Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

The Labour Party acknowledges the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, in bringing forward a memo to Government on the establishment of a citizens' assembly on drugs. Deputies and Senators from different political groups feel strongly about the citizens' assembly being a real force for change. We want the voice of the service user, the drug user, to be central to the deliberations of the citizens' assembly on drugs. As a matter of course, a special committee will be set up following the deliberations of the citizens' assembly. That is how these matters tend to play out. Will the Taoiseach commit to viewing the deliberations and findings of the citizens' assembly on drugs in good faith and to the Government moving to implement the findings of the citizens' assembly and the special committee because this is a crucial issue for so many people in our country?

Deputy Ivana Bacik

Hear, hear.

The Taoiseach

We anticipate having this assembly up and running by the middle of 2023. I welcome any input the Deputy may have between now and then as to how we structure the assembly properly to get the best outcomes from it. As is the normal course, the citizens' assembly will be allowed to hold its meetings, deliberate and make its recommendations. These recommendations will be sent to an Oireachtas committee that will study them in a bit more detail and report to the Oireachtas and Government as to what the next steps should be. It is always the case that we accept the recommendations from a citizens' assembly in good faith, but it is never the case that we will say in advance that we will accept any recommendation it makes no matter what it is. In fairness, I do not think the Deputy is asking us to do that. What will happen is that we will accept the recommendations in good faith, examine them on an individual basis and issue a reasoned response once the Oireachtas committee has done its work.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

The Central Statistics Office, CSO, estimates that approximately 30,000 homes were completed last year. However, independent analysis of the number of homes completed and certified by the National Building Control and Market Surveillance Office shows that less than 24,000 homes were built. Is the Taoiseach aware that, according to the methodology used by the CSO, its calculations on the number of new homes built may only have an 83% level of accuracy? Furthermore, in terms of the crosschecking carried out on its data, the CSO states it has a considerably higher number - 22% more - of false positives compared with false negatives? The CSO states its methodology may have a "bias towards overcounting new dwellings". Given the considerable caveats in the methodology, is there merit in using the hard data from the National Building Control and Market Surveillance Office to count the number of homes completed last year?

The Taoiseach

I recall having this debate on how we count the numbers during the previous Government when Eoghan Murphy was the Minister with responsibility for housing. At that point, the CSO updated its methodology. The methodology the office uses, which is published on its website, was welcomed across the board at the time, including by Deputy Ó Broin, for example, and others. I am a little bit disappointed, now that the figures are showing we are exceeding our targets, some people want to change the way we count them again. The methodology was welcomed by the Opposition at the time, particularly by Deputy Ó Broin. The CSO has issued a statement on this. I understand it states that the private firm, Construction Information Services, to which the Deputy referred, is reporting 6,000 fewer new builds than the CSO official data. Essentially, what the CSO is saying is that the system the private company is using is subject to under-coverage as it does not capture all new dwellings, particularly one-off dwellings, of which there are 6,000 to 8,000 every year. The CSO is an independent body. It is not subject to political influence and it does not spin the numbers. I think we should respect its work.

Deputy Gino Kenny

Adult education tutors will organise a protest outside Leinster House today at 1 o'clock to demand improved terms and conditions for their job. They state they are not treated properly compared with other public servants. They have a number of issues around pay parity and the public services contract. This is a protracted set of circumstances. Last September, the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform put forward a proposal in regard to their situation. The workers want to know when this will be settled, when they will get pay parity with their colleagues and when they will be recognised as public servants.

The Taoiseach

I am aware of the ongoing dispute. I understand the people concerned are employees of education and training boards. An industrial relations process must be followed and negotiations have to occur. I am not exactly sure at what point they are at, but I will endeavour to get more information from the Ministers for Education, and Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and come back to the Deputy today or next week.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

Last year, I raised the case of Ms R who had false information recorded on her Tusla file, including that she was an alcoholic. Tusla has admitted this was not true, Ms R got her son back and there has been a public apology. She is now taking a case against the State but she was shocked that the legal defence of the State Claims Agency is in contradiction with the apology issued by Tusla. She contacted the CEO of Tusla who agreed with her. Tusla contacted the State Claims Agency and told the agency that Tusla was not happy with the defence. However, the State Claims Agency is persisting with the original line of defence. This raises serious questions. How can the Government, Cabinet and State agencies hold their hands up and say, "We did wrong", yet this is ignored by State Claims Agency? This is the Government's policy of aggressive litigation in real time. I am not asking the Taoiseach to address the specific case, but will the Government stop the policy of aggressive litigation and align the State Claims Agency with what is right and just?

The Taoiseach

I cannot, and will not, comment on individual cases currently subject to litigation.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

I am not asking the Taoiseach to do that.

The Taoiseach

I appreciate the Deputy is not asking me to do that. The remit of the State Claims Agency is clearly set out in law. Once cases are delegated to the agency, Government and Ministers have no role in the management of cases. That is not the case for every legal case but it is for those referred to the State Claims Agency. Its remit is set out in law and has been agreed by the Oireachtas.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

This is wrong, is it not?

The Taoiseach

I do not know the details.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

One of the overhangs from Covid is the cashless society. Organisations refusing to take cash from people are becoming more prevalent. I am shocked and appalled by the GAA and have been writing to the association, for nearly 12 months, asking it about the situation. Elderly people, who played for and gave their lives to the GAA, worked in clubs and did everything in support of the association, cannot get into matches if they have not prebooked a ticket. They can buy a programme inside the grounds with cash. The same is happening in hospitals and in restaurants. People can make a lifestyle choice to do that, but some of these people are in their late 70s, 80s and older, in their 90s. They do not have the wherewithal to do this. Many of them are men of the cloth, bachelors and people like that who do not have family around them to do it for them. It is embarrassing that one turnstile cannot be open to them. It is a policy of Cumann Lúthchleas Gael. It is a despicable policy as far as I am concerned. It is not a good trend to be setting in our country.

The Taoiseach

Ticketing systems and so on are a matter for the GAA rather than for the Government, although the report on retail banking published a few months ago indicates that the Government believes there should be a place for cash transactions. We want to encourage electronic payments. By the way, many older people and bachelors use cards, phones and Revolut and are well capable of doing so.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I accept that.

The Taoiseach

However, I appreciate there are some people who want to continue to use cash. Cash remains legal tender in this State and we want to make sure it is facilitated where it can be.

Deputy Marian Harkin

Once again, I raise the issue with the Taoiseach of more and more private and voluntary nursing homes closing - 18 last year, two this year already - because they are no longer viable. Before the current cost-of-living increases, it was recognised that fair deal scheme payments to nursing homes were inadequate. There was an 8% increase in inflation last year and 7% is forecast this year. More and more nursing homes, especially those that are smaller and family-run, are struggling to survive, and more will close this year. What is happening is that we are losing existing capacity and while some new nursing homes are coming onstream, overall there is still a net loss of beds when bed numbers should be increased. There is huge demand and the new nursing homes are largely located in cities and larger towns while rural areas are losing their existing nursing homes. I am asking the Taoiseach to act on this.

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Mary Butler)

I thank the Deputy for raising this question. The Government and I as Minister of State working with the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, are completely supportive of the nursing home sector. A sum of €1.5 billion will be provided this year to support 22,500 people who avail of the fair deal. Some 80% of nursing homes are run by voluntary and private organisations. Less than 4% of these are voluntary. In the past two weeks alone, I have engaged with Nursing Homes Ireland, The Alliance, a new organisation covering County Kerry up to County Donegal that represents small and family-run nursing homes and Carriglea Cairde Services which also represents nursing homes. In addition, I am in constant consultation through my Department with the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, and anybody who has renewed their deed in the past three or four weeks with the NTPF, will have seen an uplift of between €40 and €90 per person, per week. Moves have been made and I was delighted to receive further support of €41 million from the Cabinet for the NTPF in last year's budget.

Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan

In two weeks, on 28 February, we will mark Rare Disease Day. A few hundred thousand people in this country suffer from a rare disease while more than 6,000 rare diseases known at present and many more are undiagnosed or unidentified. I am asking the Taoiseach, as I have done previously, and the Minister for Health, both publicly and privately, about the Mazars report, the reimbursement process in this country and how we do our business. I was under the impression that this report would have been published at this stage and to my knowledge, that still has not happened. Will the Minister clarify where the Mazars report is? Coming up to Rare Disease Day, it would be welcome if it could be published beforehand.

Minister for Health (Deputy Stephen Donnelly)

I thank the Deputy and acknowledge his ongoing work on rare diseases and, indeed, on access to orphan drugs. My intention is that the Mazars report will be published along with a view from Government as to the actions that can be taken in light of the report. That will happen shortly before Rare Disease Day.

Deputy Alan Dillon

Some returning citizens are facing an uphill battle when it comes to re-establishing themselves in Ireland. Those living abroad for up to five to ten or 15 years, likely as a result of the Celtic tiger economic crash, have reported difficulties setting up bank or credit union accounts, getting housing assistance, access to schools and college places, or even obtaining car or health insurance. Trying to start a business is also compounded by these difficulties. We need to appreciate the thousands of returning citizens and provide a one-stop shop with a range of services for returning Irish. I ask the Government to commit to assessing, monitoring, and removing barriers for returning Irish citizens and address their needs to ease their return and resettlement.

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Last year alone, 30,000 Irish citizens came home. As is the nature of migration, a lot of people go abroad but a lot of people come back. At least for the past three years, more Irish citizens have returned than have left. I am not sure that will be the case this year but tens of thousands of people come home every year and they run into some real difficulties, whether it is in getting insurance, finding housing if they do not have it already, setting up bank accounts and all of those things. The Department of Foreign Affairs has done a report on this already and is looking at ways we can assist people so that when somebody comes back to live in Ireland, their experience is better than it has been to date.

Deputy Matt Carthy

After months of worrying reports regarding the immigrant investor programme, the Government yesterday abruptly closed the scheme. The so-called cash for visas programme allowed wealthy people to receive Irish residency in exchange for investments in business or a charitable contribution. There have been serious concerns surrounding the operation of some of the investments made. For instance, last week I raised the situation of the Nuremore Hotel and Country Club in Carrickmacross where staff have not received their salaries owed and where unpaid bills have resulted in the services being disconnected. This has created concerns for the future of the hotel and a potential substantial cost to the State if insolvency follows. We are told the Government decision to close the immigrant investor programme was informed by both internal and external reviews. Will those reviews be published and will the Taoiseach and the Government commit to a full examination of the operation of this programme?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy and I am aware of the hotel he mentioned in Monaghan. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, told me about it the other day. The issues there probably relate more to the investor than the programme itself. The programme itself has produced some really good dividends around the country, both in economic investments and investments supporting community facilities as well.

Deputy Matt Carthy

The investor is the biggest broker in the scheme.

The Taoiseach

The programme was originally set up, a long time ago now, with the view to encouraging the diaspora to invest back in Ireland and create jobs here. Over time, it has morphed into something else and not what was intended. For that reason, the Minister, Deputy Harris, on advice, has taken the decision to close entry to new applicants, I think as of close of business today. Having said that, where there has been engagement with the Department already, there will be a grace period of up to three months for applications that either have come in already or have not come in yet.

Deputy Matt Carthy

Will the review be published?

The Taoiseach

I do not know. I would have to check with the Minister, Deputy Harris, on that.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

Confrontation and violence seem to be escalating worldwide. No lesser person than the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has warned we could be heading towards "a wider war". He also said that the prospects for peace keep diminishing and that he fears the world is not sleepwalking into a wider war, stating, "I feel it is doing so with its eyes wide open." He noted that scientists and security experts had moved the doomsday clock to just 90 seconds to midnight last month, and concluded: "We have started 2023 staring down the barrel of a confluence of challenges unlike any in our lifetimes." What is the Government doing to de-escalate confrontation and violence and to promote dialogue in both the United Nations and in the European Community?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy. I heard the Secretary General's words and I share the concerns about the escalating conflicts around the world, not just in Ukraine but also elsewhere. The doomsday clock has been around approximately 70 years now and it has always been at 20 minutes to midnight. I would bear that in mind too. I know it is three or four seconds now but when something has been 20 minutes or less from midnight for 70 years, in fairness one starts to wonder about the clock. Leaving that aside, the serious point the Deputy raises is valid. We do what we can do at European and UN level to make the case for peace but a peace has to be a just peace. I know the Deputy did not specifically raise the issue of Ukraine but when it comes to these conflicts, the aggressors need to stop and that it is the focus we have at EU and UN level.

Deputy Ciarán Cannon

Last April, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, made a welcome announcement of €50 million allocation for the development of new wastewater treatment facilities in rural towns and villages. Each local authority was asked to make a submission outlining its priority projects for that funding. One such priority project outlined by Galway County Council is for the village of Craughwell. It is a perfect example of the kind of investment needed to allow this what is now essentially a town to grow and expand and to provide new housing for the many young families in the area. It is a very attractive place to live in as a commuter town for Galway city and its development is essentially stifled right now. It is put on pause until such time as this plant is put in place.

Two private independent plants are malfunctioning and creating huge issues for the residents of two estates in Craughwell. It is reflective of many rural towns and villages throughout the country. Almost a year later, when will funding under the scheme be announced?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue in Craughwell, County Galway. We want to invest in our towns and villages so that every town and village can have a certain amount of natural growth. It is important that we facilitate that. As the Deputy acknowledged, €50 million in funding has been provided specifically for wastewater collection and treatment needs in villages and settlements without access to public wastewater services. Submissions have been made from Craughwell and Clarinbridge, which were sent by the Department to the EPA and Uisce Éireann last November. I am advised that the EPA and Uisce Éireann reported back to the Department only last Friday. The expert panel is evaluating the applications, including the assessments from EPA and Uisce Éireann. Based on a report from the panel, recommendations for funding will be submitted to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in the near future

Deputy James O'Connor

I wish to ask the Taoiseach about a new taxation policy the Government has been working on, namely the area relating to benefit-in-kind tax. It has been raised with me recently that a significant and substantial burden has been placed on people who have company cars. Unfortunately, they are put to the pin of their collar because of the new taxes that have been imposed on them if they are driving particular types of vehicles, such as a 2 l standard family-sized SUV. The tax on such vehicles has increased by approximately €6,000 per year. This is a crippling amount of taxation to be placed on working families. It is an unforeseen consequence of some of the changes in the previous budget. Can the Government consider this in the forthcoming budget, as well as during the year, as it is having a detrimental impact on the self-employed who are on the road, paying their taxes and working hard? This tax is an unfair burden on people who happen to have diesel vehicles.

Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill)

I thank the Deputy for the question. This measure was introduced in the Finance Act 2019, with a lead-in period to 1 January this year. The purpose of this lead-in period was to allow fleet planning by corporate organisations that were planning leases, which are typically over three years, to enable a transition to electric vehicles and others. This is a carbon-based measure that brings the benefit-in-kind taxation regime into line with other vehicle taxation regimes, such as motor tax and vehicle registration tax, which, of course, are carbon-based. The legislation aligns the three taxes across the board with a lead-in period. I appreciate the difficulty people are facing at the moment, but the lead-in period was put in place to enable corporates to plan for their employees. I strongly encourage employees to look towards electric vehicle grants that are available to further facilitate the transition.

Deputy Imelda Munster

I want to again raise the collapse of the dental treatment service scheme, DTSS. Hundreds of thousands of medical card holders the length and breadth of the State have no access to dental care. People with existing serious illness and deteriorating dental conditions are being denied access to care. On top of that, 5,000 primary school children in County Louth and 6,000 primary school children in County Meath have no access to regular checkups. We are now into the third year of this. How long does it take to reform the scheme? It is a scheme that should never been allowed to collapse in the first instance. People are now of the opinion that the Government is content to deprive people with medical cards access to dental care. I can only assume the same now that we are in the third year of this crisis. If that is not the case, given that we are into the third year of this, can the Minister tell us when people with medical cards can access the dental care to which they are entitled?

Deputy Stephen Donnelly

As the Deputy would expect, I refute any allegation that we are not taking this seriously. We are, of course-----

Deputy Imelda Munster

Three years.

Deputy Stephen Donnelly

An additional €15 million was put in place this year in the budget to address the DTSS and the backlogs for orthodontics and the school programme which, as we all appreciate, was delayed because of Covid. In this House, we talk a lot about what the Government needs to do to get dentists to sign up to the DTSS. Dentists are choosing to leave the DTSS because they make more money treating patients privately.

Deputy Imelda Munster

The scheme is not fit for purpose.

Deputy Stephen Donnelly

If the Deputy would not mind, we are all entitled to speak. One of her colleagues gave an example the last time we had a debate on this of a case where a dentist refused to treat a patient under the DTSS, but took the patient back when they were in agony and willing to pay privately. I do not believe that is acceptable. The Government has a role, but dentists should sign up to the scheme and should provide treatment to people with medical cards.

Deputy Imelda Munster

Three years.

Deputy Emer Higgins

I would also like to raise the issue of changes to benefit-in-kind. In my constituency, there is a ridiculous situation whereby somebody who can work from home on a Friday is instead choosing to drive to Kilkenny simply to reduce their tax liability because they need the extra mileage. On a day when a car should be sitting in a driveway and generating no emissions, it is instead doing a 200 km round trip because the owner cannot afford to leave it in the driveway and increase the tax bill. Government policy is to reduce emissions, and that is absolutely right. However, the reality is that the new benefit-in-kind band rates and rules are incentivising higher mileage to reduce tax liability. On top of that, people with electric company vehicles are now paying benefit-in-kind. These are major costs for workers and those who require company vehicles. Can the new rules that began on 1 January be revised or reviewed?

Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

I thank the Deputy for the question. I am happy to look at the circumstances of an individual case and have the Department examine it to provide guidance. As I said, the purpose of this benefit-in-kind legislation is to bring it in line with other taxes from an emissions perspective. I will go through the bands the Deputy separately. I appreciate that in 2019 we could not have anticipated the inflationary environment or cost of energy, which is now very different. I will revert to the Deputy on the specifics of the case she has raised.

Deputy Patrick Costello

Rent pressure zones were originally introduced to protect areas where households are having the greatest difficulty finding affordable accommodation. According to recent reports, pretty much the whole country fits that definition. Will the Government commit to using the rent pressure zone legislation to roll out a general protection to all renters from spiralling rents or even commit to reviewing legislation to provide greater protection to all citizens from spiralling rent pressure?

The Taoiseach

We acknowledge that rents are very high in Ireland. That is why we introduced the rent tax credit in the budget to help renters with the cost of renting. One of the interesting things fin the daft.ie report released yesterday showed that for people who are established tenants, that is, the vast majority of tenants, rents went up by approximately 3.5%, which is slower than average incomes are rising and well lower than the general rate of inflation. However, rents are really high for new-to-market tenancies. Unfortunately, one of the problems with rent and price controls is that they provide at least some protection for people who are established renters but those who pay the price are those who need to move and new renters. New properties coming online are expensive. I do not know what we can do about that, other than ramp up supply and cost-rental housing. That is the difficulty with rent pressure zones.

Deputy Pa Daly

If ever there was a scheme that epitomised the lack of planning, co-ordination and consistency by the Government to a level that was almost calculated to cause division, it is the pandemic bonus payment. The 11 officers in the stores and material management department of University Hospital Kerry changed their shifts and organised PPE in the hospital and in the community, as well as doing their normal jobs of organising beds and wheelchairs. Having done that, they now see workers in other hospitals have received the payment. Will the Minister ensure there is equality of treatment throughout the health service and that these workers receive their payment, even at this late stage?

Deputy Stephen Donnelly

As the Deputy will be aware, the vast majority of payments have been made. There are specific guidelines across hospitals. Broadly, the payment is for people working in hospitals in patient areas. For example, security, catering, cleaning and contract are all covered. The kinds of people working in an acute setting who would not be covered might include people working in an administrative office that is typically separated from patient areas. If the 11 workers to which the Deputy referred were working in areas where there would be typically patients around, they should be entitled to the payment.

If the Deputy sends me a note, I will take a look.

It would be remiss of me not to point out, and I am sure the Deputy will acknowledge, that his own party proposed a €200 recognition payment whereas the workers around the system have been getting €1,000 tax-free under this scheme.

Deputy Cathal Crowe

I hope the Taoiseach will give some positive indication that the Government will retain the 9% VAT rate on tourism and hospitality. This sector is a major employer in our country. While budget 2023 went down really well and was a very positive budget, this was the one unanswered question. People are looking for certainty. The 12,500 people in County Clare working in this sector contribute €250 million per annum. Certainty would be appreciated. Is it true the Taoiseach will visit University Hospital Limerick, UHL, on Friday?

Deputy Verona Murphy

There are two child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, units in Wexford north and south, respectively. Referral rates and acceptance of referrals are very different. CAMHS north with a staffing equivalent of 6.3 whole-time equivalents sees 49% of referrals, while CAMHS south with a staffing rate of 7.3 whole-time equivalents sees 29% of referrals. Both services have only half the complement of staff. GPs tell me that the issue is that CAMHS south does not see ADHD referrals. I do not know what an access 1 diagnosis is but I am reliably informed by GPs that ADHD is an access 1 diagnosis. We are failing these children. GPs are left scratching their heads with nowhere to go and are contacting the staff in CAMHS north to ask what they can do. We are failing our children and a court case is coming. Can we have a solution?

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

I raise the issue of local improvement schemes. Kerry received €799,000 from the fund this year. It will do approximately 15 roads. However, there are 673 applications as of today to be dealt with. These are public roads that are not taken in charge. At the rate we are going, it will take 30 years to deal with them. These roads are used by households, farmers and service providers, including doctors and nurses. These people pay their motor tax, property tax, income tax, VAT and excise the same as people in Dublin. Counties with fewer applications are getting more when we in Kerry have a Minister - the Minister for Education - from the county. The people of Kerry are entitled to the same quality of roads as the people in Dublin 4. They even provide their own water supply and septic tanks. The people of Kerry are being denied fair play. It will take 30 years to exhaust the list we have.

The Taoiseach

The local improvement scheme is under the control of the Minister for Rural and Community Development. I think she allocated €12 million or €15 million to local authorities for that scheme in the past couple of days. I know it is a very important scheme for resurfacing and improving laneways across rural Ireland, as is the case in Dublin. It does operate in Dublin. It is open to local authorities to use their own resources from commercial rates, property tax and other sources to invest in local and regional roads.

The VAT rate for the tourism and hospitality sector is due to go up from 9% to 13.5% on 28 February. No decision has been made on extending that. I will be in UHL on Friday. I look forward to the visit and hope the Deputy will be able to accompany me.

Deputy Cathal Crowe

I heard it on the grapevine.

The Taoiseach

My apologies if that was the case because we always tell all Deputies where we are going but sometimes we have to wait until the programme is finalised. I have not yet seen the final programme.

Deputy Mary Butler

I thank Deputy Verona Murphy for her continued advocacy concerning CAMHS services, particularly in the Wexford area. All aspects of CAMHS will be developed under the forthcoming HSE service plan 2023. The Deputy is correct. There are two CAMHS teams in Wexford. One has a very low waiting list while the other has a higher waiting list. I was able to visit Arden House in Wexford last year.

One of the issues the interim report of the Mental Health Commission showed up was the difference between the number of acceptances in various CAMHS teams around the country. This is an issue we are looking at. Acceptance into CAMHS is always made by a multidisciplinary team and is a clinical decision. According to preliminary evidence I have seen from the various audits that are taking place, over 50% of referrals to CAMHS are ADHD-based. I can talk to the Deputy about this matter afterwards.