My question relates to tuberculosis, otherwise known as TB. Last year, TB rates increased by 30%, which is really concerning. In 2024, TB cases in children under 12 months equalled the number recorded in the previous decade combined. This year, TB cases are expected to hit 300, yet this growing health crisis has been largely ignored by the Government. The sharp end of this crisis is experienced by some of the most marginalised people in our country. Professor Anne Marie McLaughlin has highlighted that a significant number of the cases are those living in overcrowded settings like direct provision and prisons, both of which the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, is responsible for. Increasing levels of homelessness have also contributed to the sharp rise in TB.

If action is taken, we can turn this around. After all, TB is 100% curable. The Government just needs to make resources available. Somebody I met said that if this were in cattle, the Government would not be found wanting. A TB strategy was published last year but there has been no real progress. Will the Government provide the necessary funding for the TB strategy and the national TB centre so this worrying trend can be reversed?

I agree with the Deputy that it is a worrying trend to see a growth in the incidence of TB. We thought in Ireland that we had eradicated TB, which, of course, had such an extraordinary social and health impact on people in Ireland prior to the 1950s or 1960s. I hear what the Deputy says in respect of the increase in numbers and I will speak to the Minister for Health about it. Obviously, we need to ensure adequate funding is provided to respond to TB because if we allow it to spread, it will not only have catastrophic consequences for individuals but will also cost the State more money in the long run.