I want to raise with the Taoiseach the lack of services for neurology patients. Before I begin, I acknowledge the great work that has been done by an advocate and, indeed, a patient of neurology herself, Dr. Rosie Mangan, from County Offaly. Rosie attends hospital, and has to travel to Dublin four times a week. She is an advocate, as I say, and has launched a campaign, Right to Rehab. I acknowledge that lady's great work, some of which I am sure the Taoiseach will be aware of.

Indeed, I am sure the Taoiseach will be aware that neurological conditions which affect the brain and spine are the leading cause of disability throughout the world and include many common conditions such as stroke, migraine, epilepsy and acquired brain injury in addition to certain rare and genetic conditions. According to the latest data to hand, almost 24,000 Irish people are on a waiting list for a neurology outpatient appointment. The number of people on the neurology outpatient waiting list is continuing to rise, with the number waiting more than 18 months increasing by 30% in the past year. In fact, there is also a shortfall of 100 neurology nurses in Ireland based on official national and international guidelines relative to population. It is in that context that the Patients Deserve Better campaign was launched. It is being promoted by the Neurological Alliance of Ireland, which is an umbrella group of non-profit organisations advocating for the rights of 800,000 citizens living with a neurological condition.

Today I want to focus on one particular ask, and that is the need for a dedicated community neuro-rehabilitation team for community healthcare organisation, CHO, 8, which includes my constituency of Laois-Offaly, where just one in every two neurology patients has access to services. A community neuro-rehabilitation team for CHO 8 was recommended in the implementation framework for the national neuro-rehabilitation strategy 2019-21 but no team has been funded despite implementation of this framework being a commitment in the current programme for Government.

These multidisciplinary teams provide access to key specialist supports, including physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, neuropsychology and occupational therapy, for people living with a range of neurological conditions including acquired brain injury, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and rare neurological conditions such as motor neurone disease and Huntington's disease.

We can only imagine what a deficit in services means for those directly affected by such a diagnosis but for their families and loved ones who have to travel to St. James's Hospital in Dublin three or four times a week because there are no local services, it is simply appalling. Will the Taoiseach work with the Minister for Health to commit to the delivery and prioritisation of a neuro-rehabilitation team for Laois-Offaly and the wider CHO 8 area?

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue of neurology services, generally and particularly in CHO area 8 and in Laois-Offaly. It is a specific question about a specific branch of medicine in the Deputy's part of the country, which is the midlands. I do not have a detailed note on it right now but I will try to get the Deputy more information in writing this week or next week. What I can say in broader terms is that we acknowledge that neurology services are nowhere near the standard that they should be. The budget for this year provides additional funding for community-based neuro-rehabilitation teams. I am not sure if CHO 8 will be one of those but we will try to come back to the Deputy with more information over the next couple of days.

One of the issues that we have had a difficulty with is recruiting consultant neurologists around the country and that has caused waiting lists to rise in some parts of the country. We are now at the point where we have a new consultant contract, which is being offered. I understand the Irish Medical Organisation will ballot its members on that. The Irish Hospital Consultants Association will survey its members on it. We hope to be in a position to offer that in a matter of weeks. It is a very attractive offer financially. It requires consultants to phase out private practice in public hospitals and commit to the public health system. It also amends working practices so that we can get more value and make sure more patients get seen. That is a significant reform that the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, has pretty much got over the line and will bring us a big way towards achieving the vision in the Sláintecare report.

We are also training more advanced nurse practitioners. As somebody who has worked in the health service, I know the excellent work that advanced nurse practitioners do. The more of them we can train, the better. The same goes for clinical nurse specialists.

Finally, I would like to mention to the House that while we do not have the exact figures yet, we are in a position to say that we are now making progress in terms of waiting lists overall, albeit certainly not in every specialty and not in all parts of the country. As the House will be aware, in the Sláintecare report we more or less said that nobody should be waiting more than three months for a procedure or to see a specialist. We all acknowledge there will always be people waiting a few weeks, but nobody should be waiting more than three months or so to see a specialist or to have a particular procedure done, and there are Sláintecare targets in that regard. The end of year figures for 2022 would indicate that the number of people waiting more than that three-month benchmark in Sláintecare has fallen by somewhere between 4% and 10%. That is against a backdrop where we see waiting lists rise north of the Border, in Britain and across the world, against the backdrop of Covid and against the backdrop of a cyberattack. It shows that we are finally making some meaningful progress in terms of waiting lists. We intend to build on that this year.

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I want to acknowledge the work done by Senator Victor Boyhan, who brought forward an excellent motion on this issue in the Seanad. There is cross-party support. Deputies in all parties, as I said, have raised this, as have Senators. It is something that has to be got to grips with.

The Taoiseach mentioned that the budget provides for funding for neuro-rehabilitation teams. CHO 8, which includes Laois-Offaly, is without doubt one of the worst. It has to be prioritised because patients are being failed. If just one in every two patients is getting access to a service, particularly when it involves a serious condition such as a neurological condition, it has to be prioritised. I would stress to the Taoiseach that a neuro-rehabilitation team needs to be delivered in Laois-Offaly and the wider CHO 8 area.

I acknowledge that approximately 3,230 additional neurology outpatient appointments were due to be delivered by 2022 through once-off funding. The problem with once-off funding is that it does not provide a patient pathway. It is not long term. It is not consistent. What we need here is long-term vision and consistency.

I again thank the Deputy. I am advised that we have funding this year for 23 neuro-rehabilitation nurses. These will be permanent positions, not once-off ones.

As I mentioned in my earlier reply, we have a new consultant contract that is being offered. I hope the bodies that represent doctors will accept that. It will allow us to take some significant steps forward in terms of retaining and hiring specialists in neurology and other areas over the next couple of years.

In relation to CHO 8 which, I appreciate, covers Laois-Offaly, and is the priority of the Deputy's question, I do not have a detailed note on that here. I do not want to give the Deputy information that might not be correct. We will correspond with the Deputy over the course of the next week and give her any more information that we can.