Kieran O'Donnell
Limerick City · Fine Gael · Ireland
“The triangle of supports of home care, day care and meals on wheels services — including dementia-specific supports — plays a vital role in helping older people to age well in their own communities. Meals on wheels services provide much more than nutritious meals.”
“The organisation currently operates a day care service four days per week, supporting approximately 60 registered users, and a meals on wheels service with 104 registered users. The HSE has advised that increased funding has been committed to support the organisation.”
“I join the Leas-Chathaoirleach in welcoming the Kellehers to the Seanad, which is a beautiful building in its own right. I thank Senator Kelleher for raising this important matter. He has advocated for Westgate Foundation over a sustained period of time and that has to be acknowledged. I know the work it does is close to his heart.”
“I again thank the Senator for raising Westgate Foundation in Ballincollig and the work it does on behalf of the community, particularly older people. The Senator referred to housing on-site. It is very much an integrated model. I could see how committed the staff and the board, many of them voluntary, were.”
“The Government has significantly increased investment in meals on wheels services in recent years. Funding increased from €3.5 million in 2022 to €6.25 million in 2025, with a further €2 million allocated in budget 2026 to support service expansion and maintenance.”
“The shared objective of the HSE and Westgate Foundation is to ensure high-quality day care and meals on wheels services continue to be available to older people who rely on them, particularly in the greater Ballincollig area.”
The complete record
Every one of 1,420 lines we hold for Kieran O'Donnell, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 17 of 29.
“I thank the Deputies for raising these important issues. As the Minister, Deputy Browne, stated, I confirm the Government is not proposing to oppose this motion. As we can all agree, the Office of the President is a key part of our democratic institutions and it is important that our Head of State is representative of all Irish citizens, irrespective of where they may reside. I reiterate that to extend voting rights at presidential elections to Irish citizens in Northern Ireland, or more generally to other jurisdictions, would require the holding of a referendum to amend the Constitution.”
“Senator O'Loughlin can rest assured that the Minister of State will continue to work with her, the Department of Health and the HSE to ensure that young people in Kildare and every county in Ireland have easy access to intervention and care in the near future. I will bring the issues Senator O'Loughlin has raised to the attention of the Minister of State. I have no doubt she will continue to work with the Senator regarding Jigsaw services in Kildare in general and more specifically in Newbridge.”
“The Minister of State is very aware of the significant efforts by Senator O'Loughlin to secure a Jigsaw service for Kildare, including trying to secure a premises and arrange for representatives from Jigsaw to evaluate its suitability. The Minister of State is determined to ensure we have full and appropriate national coverage, so that no matter where a person lives in Ireland, they will receive face-to-face support from a physical area intervention service. It must be stressed that Jigsaw's online digital services are available to all young people in Ireland, at jigsaw.ie , no matter where they are located.”
“I too welcome the members of the men's shed. I have no doubt there are some great rugby players in the group. They are welcome to Leinster House and the beautiful Seanad Chamber. Several factors need to be considered in the development of a new services location for services like Jigsaw. A proposal for a new location requires a detailed business case, premises, support from the regional HSE management and necessary funding to resource the staffing of the service. Any proposal also requires agreement from the HSE national child and youth mental health office in the context of agreeing new service priorities under the annual Estimates process and the development of the HSE national service plan for the next year.”
“I note the specific ask by Senator O'Loughlin regarding Kildare and Newbridge. I will highlight this to the Minister of State and the Department. I know the Senator has had detailed discussions with the Minister of State and I expect those will continue.”
“Jigsaw has since focused on the delivery of its existing services, including the adoption of a new single-session-first clinical model which has proven to be effective at achieving very positive mental health outcomes for young people while reducing waiting times. Over the past year, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has been examining the different options to expand access to early intervention youth mental health services, including inviting proposals from Mental Health Ireland, the organisation behind the Mindspace Mayo service. The Minister of State is aware of the significant efforts by the Senator to establish a service for the young people of Kildare and will work with representatives from all areas to deliver full national coverage for early intervention youth mental health services.”
“This service-level agreement is managed by the HSE at national level. Under budget 2026, Jigsaw has been allocated an additional €1.3 million to support the development of new services, including a service for the south east, based in Waterford city, with outreach into south Kilkenny, south Wexford and west Waterford, and an extension of the service in Limerick into County Clare. No new physical Jigsaw locations have been funded since 2020 when the organisation pivoted to develop a suite of new digital services during, and in the aftermath of, the pandemic. These digital services are available to all young people in Ireland, no matter where they are based, directly from jigsaw.ie.”
“Specifically in relation to youth mental health, this year’s budget provided funding for new early intervention youth mental health services, funding to support a digital single point of access for youth mental health services, an additional specialist CAMHS eating disorders team, two new mental health intellectual disability teams for children and five new mental health discovery colleges for young people. As occurs each year following the budget, discussions will now take place with the HSE on details relating to specific service initiatives in the context of preparing the 2026 HSE service plan, including that for mental health. Jigsaw already receives significant funding of over €14 million from the HSE under a service-level agreement to provide youth mental health services for those with mild-to-moderate mental health difficulties.”
“I thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, Deputy Mary Butler. Improving access to a range of youth mental health services nationally remains a priority for the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, the Department of Health, and the HSE. In the broader context, the total allocation for mental health services in 2026 is nearly €1.6 billion and it is the sixth year in a row in which the mental health budget has been increased.”
“I very much commend this motion of confidence in the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, Simon Harris, to the House.”
“We all acknowledge that more needs to be done and more needs to be achieved. We are working in that regard to provide an increased level of investment and we are also introducing reform. On a general note, in a democracy, governments and public representatives should be held to account. I agree with robust debate. However, I fail to see the benefit of Deputy Tóibín's actions or what benefit there is for the public good and improving health services in the country. In fact, what the public want is collaborative work in all these areas. We have seen it with Sláintecare, which was universally welcomed. It was agreed on a cross-party basis. We need to work in that way. Let us have robust debate but let us not personalise it. That serves no purpose.”
“I wish to express my deepest sympathies to the parents of Harvey Morrison Sherratt. It must be very difficult for the family to lose a young son like that. The Tánaiste, Simon Harris, and the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, have met with Harvey's parents and there will be further meetings. They have agreed to work in partnership with parents and advocates on the inquiry into spina bifida and scoliosis services. The most important people here are the parents and their children. They must be front and centre. The decision by the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to integrate CHI into the Health Service Executive is welcome. That is needed. The Tánaiste has always acted in good faith and sought to improve healthcare service in all roles in which he has served in the Government. I know that from personal experience.”
“I reiterate that the increase to the Housing Finance Agency's statutory borrowing limit from €12 billion to €13.5 billion should be seen as an interim measure. Increasing the agency's statutory borrowing limit at this time will provide sufficient headroom for it to continue lending until mid-2026 and will enable the delivery of 5,650 new social and cost-rental homes in the coming three years. By mid-2026, the Housing Finance Agency will have assessed its future statutory borrowing limit requirements based on the relevant allocations from the national development plan and the ambitions within the new national housing plan. The Government continues to look to the future and intends to further scale up delivery of social and affordable housing. This Bill is a key building block.”
“By way of summary, the Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025 is being presented to the Houses to legislate for an increase to the SBL of the Housing Finance Agency from €12 billion to €13.5 billion. The Bill will amend section 10 of the Housing Finance Agency Acts 1981 to 2024 to legislate for the statutory borrowing limit increase. The mission of the Housing Finance Agency is to facilitate the delivery of social and affordable housing in Ireland and to advance funds to local authorities, approved housing bodies and higher education institutes. The majority of the Housing Finance Agency's lending is to AHBs, which utilise HGA funding for the provision of social and cost-rental homes.”
“As noted in the programme for Government, this plan will be underpinned by the required funding in the national development plan, NDP. The Housing Finance Agency plays an important role in meeting Government delivery commitments and the Department will work with stakeholders in the coming months to finalise and agree social and affordable housing delivery partner-specific and scheme-specific funding allocations within the NDP envelope. This will determine the role the Housing Finance Agency will be asked to play in supporting social and affordable housing delivery over the coming years. This Bill is just one of a number of measures to address the delivery of housing in Ireland.”
“The Government continues to support the AHB sector's delivery of social and cost-rental housing through schemes such as the capital advance leasing facility, CALF, and the cost-rental equity loan, CREL, with the remainder of funding being provided by low-cost loans from the Housing Finance Agency. To date in 2025, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has provided more than €400 million in funding to approved housing bodies to support cost rental delivery, with over 3,000 cost-rental units approved through 41 projects for delivery out to 2029. This ongoing and continuing resourcing underpins the Government's commitment to the sector. The programme for Government commits to introducing a new national housing plan to follow Housing for All. This will be published in the coming weeks.”
“The funding being made available in budget 2026 will ensure that the social housing needs of almost 21,500 additional households will be met in 2026 through new builds and additional HAP supports. Under Housing for All, the AHB sector has played an important role in the delivery of social and affordable housing. The AHB sector is a valued partner in delivering housing and in meeting our national housing objectives, working in collaboration with the Housing Finance Agency. The funding extended by the Housing Finance Agency is an important element in the delivery of social and cost-rental housing.”
“I thank the Minister, Deputy Browne. The Government's commitment to housing continues to be its top priority. Budget 2026 reinforces this commitment with unprecedented levels of funding allocated to housing. The Government is committed to delivering more affordable homes to buy and to rent. The capital funding being provided under budget 2026, coupled with LDA investment and HFA lending, will finance a range of affordability schemes and measures to delivery 7,500 new affordable purchase and cost-rental homes and to make it affordable to return vacant and derelict properties to use. Unprecedented levels of capital investment will support the delivery of new homes for households on social housing waiting lists and for those who cannot afford market rents.”
“The measures we have brought in, including the 1.7 million additional home care hours, the additional €2 million funding for meals on wheels and the additional €92 million for the fair deal scheme, along with the €130 million for home adaptation grants, will make a huge and meaningful difference to older people's lives.”
“Returning to health, within that €250 million is €2.3 million towards dementia services. I launched the commencement of a national dementia register during the year. It is a key priority. We are also providing funding to the Alzheimer Society of Ireland to open five new day care centres and they will have up to 36 dementia advisers. The Government is fully committed to addressing the needs of older people and I look forward to leading and working on that priority area as regards older people. I commend the older persons' budget to the House.”
“Some €82 million additional funding will be allocated to the fair deal scheme to support the nursing home sector to expand services and improve quality and to provide an additional 500 people with financial support to access long-term residential but also to support the overall nursing home sector. As regards measures within the Department of housing budget, more particularly we are looking at a €30 million increase on last year in the housing adaptation grants, which will support 70,000 applicants. A further €28.5 million will support the adaptation of €1,800 existing social homes. There is an increased capital allocation to housing of €2.9 billion to support local authorities and approved housing bodies in the delivery of newly built social homes, which will help in meeting the housing needs of older people.”
“We now have well in excess of €3 billion being spent on older persons' services in the Department of Health. A key element of those is home support, which has gone up by €82 million. More particularly, it will give rise to 1.7 million additional home care hours in 2026, bringing the total allocation to 26.7 million hours, the highest ever. Over €2 million additional funding has been provided to meals on wheels services. That is a 30% increase. It is something I very much wanted to prioritise. We currently deliver 2.7 million meals to 18,000 people. That €2 million is a 30% increase and it is something that will have a meaningful impact on the ground for the lives of older people and others.”
“I am pleased to contribute to this debate in my role as Minister of State with responsibility for older people in the Department of Health and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I have worked with colleagues to secure substantial funding increases that will assist in meeting the needs of older people in the areas of health and housing, along with the Government firmly supporting older people to live full, independent lives with the proper services in place. This is reflected in this year's budget with specific measures aimed at meaningfully impacting the lives of older people. A key focus for Government is about allowing older people to continue to live independently in their own homes and communities for as long as they wish. In health alone we have seen an increase of €215 million. It is a 7% rise.”
“Once again, I thank Senator O’Reilly for bringing up this issue on behalf of her constituents. As I said earlier, I am dealing with this matter on behalf of the Minister for education, Deputy McEntee. The Department of Education and Youth awaits the submission of the stage 2b post-planning report and will progress the project once this has been submitted for evaluation. The report must include all statutory requirements associated with the planning process. At this stage it is not possible to predict when this school building will go to construction and be completed as progress depends on many contingent factors that can arise throughout the process. I suggest that the Senator communicate directly with the Department and the Minister on the particular circumstances surrounding this school building project.”
“In relation to project roll-out for large-scale projects and additional school accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and to provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project roll-out over the course of the 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.”
“Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. Supplementary capital funding of €210 million approved by Government has brought the total capital allocation for 2025 for the Department to €1.6 billion. In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.5 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026 to 2030 under the national development plan. As part of this NDP allocation the Department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs.”
“At this early stage, it is not possible to predict when this school building project will go to construction, nor when it will be practically completed, as progress depends upon many contingent factors that can arise throughout the process. Senator O'Reilly made specific reference to the prequalification process. That is something she can follow up directly with the Department and the Minister on. I would not know the particular details, but it is something she referenced. Officials will be looking into the specific matter she raised, but she might follow up formally with the Department. Since 2020, the Department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the national development plan, involving the completion of more than 1,400 school building projects.”
“Subsequently, approval to advance this project to stage 2a with the incorporation of comments and recommendations from the Department was granted in quarter 4 of 2022. A stage 2a developed design report was received by the Department in quarter 3 of 2023 and reviewed by the Department with approval to progress to stage 2b planning granted in quarter 2 of 2024, a matter to which the Senator already referred. The Department of education is awaiting the submission of the stage 2b post-planning report. Full grant of planning was received in quarter 1 of 2025 from the planning authorities. Once this is submitted for evaluation, the report must include all statutory requirements associated with the planning process.”
“On foot of this review, the approved brief was expanded to provide eight general classrooms, four special education tuition rooms, one music room, one textiles room, one art room, one project store, one multimedia room, two science laboratories with one preparation area, one library and a general purpose dining hall, along with reconfiguration of the existing music room into a mainstream classroom. The project has been devolved for delivery to the school authority. The stage 1 early design report was submitted to Department of Education officials in late 2021. Following a period of communication and clarification with the school, the Department undertook a comprehensive review of the project from both a technical and cost perspective in accordance with the requirements of the public spending code.”
“I thank Senator O’Reilly for raising this matter because it gives me the opportunity to update the House, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Helen McEntee, on the current position regarding the new building project for Bailieborough Community School, Virginia Road, Bailieborough, County Cavan. The project referred to was originally approved to enter the Department of Education and Youth’s pipeline for school building projects under the additional school accommodation, ASA, scheme to provide four general classrooms and two specialist rooms. However, following further engagement with the school and a review of the accommodation requirements, the scope of the project was reassessed.”
“This work has contributed to a feasibility report setting out the safety measures that Donegal County Council propose to implement, the estimated scheme costs and the expected safety benefits. This report has been considered by TIl and approval to commence the design stage has been given to Donegal County Council. Works at this location will be considered for progression in 2026 subject to funding availability. I suggest that the Senator provide updated information to the Minister for Transport. This will come to the attention of the Minister and the officials, but in terms of the structure and process, I ask that he write formally to the Minister to update him on where matters stand. He will be linking in with Donegal County Council and TII as well. I know how important this matter is. A process is under way.”
“Once again, I thank Senator Boyle for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy O'Brien. The Minister for Transport is conscious of the importance of ensuring road safety, particularly in the vicinity of schools. Senator Boyle will be well aware that getting progress on projects is a process. As I stated in the initial answer from the Minister, TIl’s road safety section discussed the progression of potential safety improvements at N56 Dunkineely National School with Donegal County Council at a meeting held in March. Donegal County Council has developed an assessment of potential options at this location.”
“While there are no plans for an additional call for schools to join the programme currently, funding for active travel infrastructure for schools is not confined to the safe routes to schools programme alone. In some cases, schools outside the safe routes to school programme are included in wider active travel projects if they are in the vicinity of these works. In fact, all active travel funding looks to improve links to schools, where possible, and this will be provided through the programme for Government commitment that €360 million in cross-government funding will be spent on walking and cycling per annum over the lifetime of the Government.”
“A total of 170 schools were selected for round 1 of the programme in summer 2021. Round 2 of the safe routes to school programme, consisting of 108 schools, was announced on 12 December 2022. Round 3, which was launched in November 2024, saw a further 141 schools enter the programme. The nature of the safe routes to school programme is that all schools who initially applied will eventually enter the programme on a rolling basis and there will be no need to reapply. I understand that Dunkineely National School did not apply to the programme. It should be noted, however, that because a school is not currently in the safe routes to school programme, it does not mean that it will not receive any new or improved active travel infrastructure.”
“This work has contributed to a feasibility report setting out safety measures that Donegal County Council proposes to implement, the estimated scheme costs and the expected safety benefits. This report is being considered by TII and approval to commence the design stage has been given to Donegal County Council. Works at this location will be considered for progression in 2026, subject to funding availability. There has been progress. I hope that sheds some light for the parents, teachers and children of the school. With regard to the safe routes to school programme, invitations to make expressions of interest were sent to all primary and secondary schools in the country. A total of 932 schools applied for the safe routes to school programme. This equates to around a quarter of all schools in the country.”
“In the context of the national roads programme capital budget, which is provided by the Department to TII, significant funding has been provided towards safeguarding the national road network. In 2025, approximately €15.6 million in capital Exchequer funding was allocated for protection of the existing national road network in Donegal. This included allocations for minor road improvements on the N56. TII's road safety section discussed the progression of potential safety improvements on the N56 at Dunkineely National School with Donegal County Council in a meeting held in March of this year. Donegal County Council has developed an assessment of potential options at this location.”
“I thank Senator Boyle for raising this important matter which I am taking on behalf of the Minister of Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. I understand that safety at this location is of concern to the Senator and those he represents, particularly the children, parents and teaching staff of the school. The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding in relation to the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place for Transport Infrastructure Ireland under the Roads Acts 1993-2015, in line with the national development plan, planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual roads is a matter for TII in conjunction with the local authority concerned. The priority in the NDP is to maintain the quality and safety of the existing road network.”
“I will follow up with the Department to respond to the Senator's correspondence. I suggest that the Senator follow up himself with the Minister for Transport and I encourage him to engage with Roscommon County Council regarding its engagement with TII. The sectoral plans will come on stream at the end of the year. There is a process there. I thank the Senator for raising this matter on behalf of his constituents.”
“I thank the Senator for raising this important matter which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. Due to the issue of funding constraints for national roads, a prioritisation exercise was necessary in line with the NDP and Government policy. The Minister of Transport allocated national road funding in a manner which sought to achieve the key outcomes of protecting and renewing the existing national road network, progressing major projects that are near completion and progressing major projects which are in the early stages of development. In 2025, approximately €96 million was allocated to the national road network in Roscommon. This funded the protection and renewal of the existing road network and included new national road projects such as the N5.”
“This is an overall increase of more than 8% in funding this year. Roscommon County Council received an allocation of almost €23 million, which is an increase of approximately €1.65 million on the 2024 allocation.”
“In 2025, approximately €88 million was allocated for the construction of new national roads in Roscommon, with an additional €8 million being allocated for the improvement of the existing network. This has delivered significant improvements to the network, as demonstrated by the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge project, the construction of which is well under way. This important project will enhance regional accessibility and improve connectivity in the region. It will deliver improvements for all users of the N5. In addition to the investment into the national road network in County Roscommon, there is also significant investment in place for regional and local roads in the county. On 14 February 2025, the Minister for Transport announced an investment of €713 million in regional and local roads across the State.”
“I understand from TII that Roscommon County Council has not been in a position to prioritise the proposed ring road scheme in Castlerea due to the many competing demands from other schemes for these resources. Given the recent review of the NDP, TII is not in a position to consider funding a project on the N60 to bypass Castlerea until the sectoral plan for transport is published later this year. I made inquiries and my understanding is that there were informal discussions between Roscommon County Council and TII on the issue. However, no formal application has been made. I suggest that the Senator follow up with Roscommon County Council to interact with TII on this proposal in advance of the sectoral plans for transport, which will be published later this year.”
“A major priority in the NDP, in line with the Department's investment hierarchy, is to maintain the quality and safety of the existing national road network. This includes funding for minor improvement projects and safety schemes such as junction upgrades and road realignment and pavement renewal. As a greater proportion of funding becomes available in the NDP in the second half of the decade, this has meant there has been a constraint on the funding available for new projects in 2025. However, approximately €502 million of Exchequer capital funds for national roads was provided through TII to the local authorities for the construction of new roads and the protection and renewal of the existing network.”
“This plan sets out capital ceilings for transport to 2030. The Department will now progress the sectoral plan for the 2026-30 period, which will be published later this year. This will take into account transport priorities in the coming years for all parts of the country, including County Roscommon. Funding provided through the NDP continues to deliver capital investment on new national roads, enabling improved regional accessibility across the country as well as compact growth, which are key national strategic outcomes. The funding provides for the development of numerous national road projects, including the completion of projects which are already at construction stage and those close to it, as well as the development of a number of others.”
“I thank the Senator for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy O'Brien. The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding in relation to the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with TII under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, and in line with the national development plan, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of national roads is a matter for TII in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. TII ultimately delivers the national roads programme in line with Project Ireland 2040, the national planning framework and the NDP. Funding for national roads is provided in the context of the NDP. The review of the NDP was published by the Government on the 22 July.”
“We are now less than one week from the budget, and I assure Members that the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, and others continue to strongly advocate on behalf of carers and other marginalised groups. Finally, it is important to emphasise again that the Government remains committed to continuing its long-standing practice of consultation and close engagement with stakeholders and carer representative groups.”
“We recognise the important and valuable role that carers play in our communities. That is reflected in the improvements we have made to carer's income support schemes in recent years. We are committed to removing the means test from the carer's allowance payment. As I have stated, we will do that over the lifetime of the Government, but we cannot do it from 1 January 2026 as called for in the motion. I am sure that Members all agree that an effective social welfare system is one built on principles of the equitable distribution of wealth and ensuring an adequate standard of living for those who are most marginalised in our society. This not only means carers but also disabled people and lone parents and their children.”
“The Irish Health Survey 2019 suggests a higher figure, in the order of approximately 517,000, as reported by Family Carers Ireland. It is worth noting that figures contained in a Healthy Ireland survey of 2024 from the Department of Health show that some 14% of respondants, or approximately 750,000 people, reported that they are carers, that is, they are providing regular unpaid personal help to a friend or family member with a long-term illness, health problem or disability. I thank the Deputies for bringing forward this motion. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, has committed to continuing to keep the range of income supports available to carers under review during his tenure to ensure the overall objectives of the schemes are met. The Government has not opposed the Social Democrats' motion.”
“As a result, several changes have been made to this payment, which include extending the period during which domiciliary care allowance can be paid for children in hospital from three months to six months, and making the domiciliary care allowance available for babies who remain in an acute hospital after birth for a period of 18 months. This came into effect from May last year. While I appreciate these may seem like relatively small changes, they have made a difference to the families who are thrust into these difficult situations, particularly the parents of newborn babies who are unable to bring their babies homes after they are born. It is a very difficult time for people. Census 2022 recorded approximately 299,000 people who self-declared on the census form as providing unpaid care at the time.”
“The domiciliary care allowance is payable to a parent or guardian in respect of a child who has a severe disability and requires continual or continuous care and attention substantially over and above the care and attention usually required by a child of the same age. From January, the rate was increased by €20 to €360 per month. This monthly payment has increased cumulatively by €50.50 since January 2023. I want to touch on this payment briefly as an example of how we have engaged with and listened to carers. We listened to the voices of families of very sick children and heard about the financial stresses they experience while their children are undergoing medical treatments.”