Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)

The Acting Chairman is kind, but I do not intend to take 20 minutes. On behalf of the people I represent, I wish to register my protest against these proposals, in particular the imposition of 50 cent on prescription charges. While I do not want to go over old ground, the Minister referred to an overall ceiling of €10. I do not doubt her sincerity, but the Acting Chairman knows as well as I do that something might start at 50 cent, then rise to €1 in six months time. By this time next year, it could be €2. Equally, the threshold could be increased.

We are getting off on the wrong foot. I agree with the sentiments expressed and I do not want to repeat anything, but this is another attack on the most needy in society. Lousy and mean spirited, it is intended to raise money, but money can be raised in other ways within the health services, for example, through savings, better management and better efficiencies. I would prefer it were the Minister to tackle these problems. Many people who pay for medicine encounter a problem. After a certain period, sometimes a short one, their medicine becomes ineffective.

I will provide an example in which these problems - inefficiencies and ineffective medicines - are combined. An 11 year old named Jack suffers from an autism spectrum disorder, ASD. Despite his age, he is taken by many to be 13, 14, 15 or even 16 years of age because he is a big guy. He is becoming more prone to violence towards himself, his family and his community. The medical experts realised that the drugs he was on were not working properly, so he was sent to a centre of excellence, namely, Limerick Regional Hospital, last April for an electroencephalogram, EEG. His mother had difficulty restraining him and getting him to the hospital because he goes berserk when he sees hospitals, doctors and so on. When he arrived, the EEG had suddenly become an electrocardiogram, ECG, because someone made a mistake. After the effort of getting to the hospital and staying there for most of the day, this difficulty could not be overcome, so he was sent away with a new appointment for last Monday. Jack was brought by his mother and grandfather to the hospital. Four people were needed to restrain him so that the doctor could administer a sedative. He was then left on his own for a considerable period. His mother was told that it would be at least an hour or an hour and a half before the effects of the sedation would wear off, but no one checked on him and she duly became concerned after 40 or 45 minutes about the sedation wearing off. She called a nurse, who informed the doctor, but the doctor believed otherwise. Jack came around after an hour or an hour and five minutes, could not undergo his test, became violent in the hospital and needed to leave again.

How will this child be brought into a hospital again? Is this the best way to administer assistance? Will the Minister investigate this case and the plights of people like Jack? In north County Tipperary, three people are in dire need of care. According to the experts and professionals, they should be on a shared care system, but the HSE cannot afford it because of cutbacks. There is no place for those people in Nenagh hospital and no one can administer the care because of the Government's cutbacks. Is this the type of service that the Minister is recommending to the public and over which she can stand this afternoon?

The service in the example was provided by one of the centres of excellence that we are told are the future, but Jack's mother was black and blue and bitten and his grandfather was in a similar condition when they got home. His mother is in dire straits. The HSE is providing Jack with three hours of care per week during June and July. If matters improve, something better might be provided in August. Three years ago, professionals stated that Jack should be on a shared care programme. Under such a programme, he would spend four days in and three days out of care one week and three days in and four days out the following week. Why can we not provide this service to people like Jack? Why must the other three people in my constituency who urgently require this service undergo the trauma of being left without it? These situations must not be allowed to occur and we must look after the most needy and vulnerable in society. I asked the Minister not to dismiss my contribution. She can check that the story is real. I am sure it is replicated in every constituency.

We need efficiencies in the service. We need a service that can be given to the people on the day they need it, not three, six or 12 months later. The proposals in the Bill are mean spirited and penny pinching. They try to attack the most vulnerable in society, the easy targets. The Minister should go after the people who have money and leave those on the bread line alone. The Government did enough to them in the budget. At this stage I ask the Minister to rethink her proposal in relation to the health services.

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