Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Rogers and Professor Hardiman for being here. I have been following the meeting remotely. There is still not a normal working environment here, so I was tuning into this in my office. I apologise for just arriving now. I read the opening statement and I listened to the witnesses' interactions with the members. I am not medically trained. I do not think there are many of us who are, but we have a deep interest in advancing public healthcare capacity in this country.

I wish to ask a few questions at the outset to elicit a better understanding of everything. I have received many emails, as I am sure other members have, from people lobbying for more neurological nurses. They kept telling me that there is a delay in diagnosis. What I am trying to understand is from the time a family GP makes a referral, how long does the pathway to diagnosis take? I know it is not a catch-all but, typically, how long can it take? How is the lack of neurological services in public healthcare delaying the typical diagnosis pathway?