Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

President-elect of the United States, Mr. Trump, has now proved the issue in relation to retirement anyway.

Returning to my own queries, the reply to Question No. 15 was inadequate. It was not dealt with and I do not understand it. The reply is confusing. It is a simple question. My understanding is that in the case of the HSE north Lee public health nurses, at any one time there were ten staff either out on sick leave or maternity leave and replacements were not provided while they were out. I have no complaint about staff being out on maternity leave or sick leave. It is about the lack of a procedure for replacement. That amounts to almost 15% of the staff out at any one time, which puts an unfair burden on the staff who are there. I ask that the situation be addressed and that I get a proper written reply to that question.

I return to another question I set out earlier in relation to consultants. As far as I am concerned, the template was set out in 2014. I should not have to wait until January to get a report. I ask that I get a detailed reply before the end of the month on that matter. I do not believe I should have to wait three months. I do not have the privilege of being able to put down parliamentary questions in the same way as the Deputies have. We only ask questions once every three months and these are two questions where replies have not been adequate.

The other point related to persons with intellectual disabilities. The reason I raised that question was that I understand there is a difference in funding provided to organisations. One organisation is getting 19% less funding than comparable organisations which cater for the same number of people. The reply gave the cost of residential care as working out on average at €80,000 per person. My understanding is the average cost of the organisation I was in discussion with is €56,000 per person per annum.

The questions have not been dealt with appropriately. They are tabled once every three months. In submitting questions three weeks beforehand, we should be able to get the replies.