Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The last time the Minister was here, he spoke about his commitment to tackling the delayed discharges. I welcome that he will focus on it, as he said, long after it falls off the front of the newspapers, which is worth saying. It is very hard to predict what will come in the future in terms of knowing where the demands come from and where the peaks might be. How realistic are the targets he has set for reducing it and will the money be made available?

There are two issues about the turnaround in emergency departments when people are being assessed - whether they will be discharged, or whether a bed or another facility will be made available to them. I previously asked the Minister about older people who may have an ongoing chronic illness who are being looked after in a HSE facility. Something may go wrong - for example, a spike in temperature or a difficulty in the middle of the night. These very old and sick people then have to go through emergency departments like everybody else. We need to have different pathways for such people because it does not do them any good and it does no good for the staff in emergency departments. I ask the Minister to outline his plans in that regard.

On the State Claims Agency, I have come across cases in recent years of people who have suffered catastrophic injuries, and I am afraid to say that the State gave with one hand and took away with another. When an award is made it can be quite a lot of money, but this person will have huge costs over his or her lifetime and may lose a medical card. I know of parents who are not working who lose because of the care needs of the individual. An older sibling going to college may be refused a grant based on the award made to the person who has been so damaged by misadventure while receiving health care. I know of a number of families where this has happened. It is greatly distressing, because the sick or disabled child may have a huge amount of money, but it is his or her money and yet the whole family has been marked not just by the Department of Health but also by other Departments such as the Departments of Social Protection and Education and Skills. I am aware of cases in which a sibling was refused a grant because of the award made to her brother and where a mother lost her entitlement to jobseeker's allowance because of her child's award. That is something we need to look at, because the needs of these children, young people and adults will be greater and the costs will be very significant. It is a huge worry for the family that the money will run out.