Dr. John Murphy:

The Deputy is making a valid point. Some of these babies may be so premature they cannot feed themselves properly and must be tube fed. Obviously a nurse is needed then to go out and help replace the tube. The Deputy mentioned babies with life-limiting conditions, which is where palliative care comes into play. A service is beginning to be developed in this area. A paediatric palliative care consultant has been appointed, mainly for Crumlin, but an effort is being made to roll out a national model of palliative care. We have what we call champions in this area, in other words consultants with a special interest in the area, around the country and the hope is that these will become an integral part of the service and provide the necessary support for families who take home babies with life-limiting conditions. This is being developed as a model of care programme, but it only started in the past year or so.