Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am talking about those working long shifts. The plan is to move away from that. The HSE is saying the targets in that regard were met but the numbers are unclear. Mr. Gloster said "people remain challenged in their confidence in" the HSE. A number of areas have been touched on this morning. I would like to look at some of these areas.

I know I have raised the matter before and it is becoming repetitive but access to services has been mentioned. Children with special needs are awaiting assessment and services. We have touched on that. People are trying to get into the obesity clinic. Again, I have raised this before. The waiting list is between five and seven years. There is something wrong with the system if someone has to wait that length of time. That is one of the challenges some people have mentioned. If you are a diabetic, there are challenges in accessing ophthalmology and podiatry. People with diabetes need to regularly have their eyes and feet seen. People are saying there is a big challenge there. Will the HSE outline what it is doing in that area? People are also saying there are challenges in getting access to a dentist or GP, particularly for those on a medical card. Is there a list for people who cannot get access to a dentist or doctor in a particular area? Is that available through HSE services? The witnesses might outline any details in that regard.

We recently had some groups in, including Chime, which raised the need for a national hearing care plan. Do the witnesses share the view that such a plan is needed? We also met a group called Debra, which deals with epidermolysis bullosa, EB. Parents and advocates came in and spoke about some of the simple challenges families are facing. I will go through some of them, if the witnesses do not mind. They spoke about the challenge of changing bandages. It is challenging because the bandages are not wide enough. They were also saying that there was a high turnover of key staff, that there was an over-reliance on agency staff and that people were moving on. The problem is that, come long weekends, particularly when people are on holidays, there is no one to replace them. That is a big challenge. The big challenge for the parents is that, in many cases, the parents might have to do it. They are hurting their children, which has an impact on those children's relationship with their parents and on the parents themselves. No parent wants to hurt his or her child.

The group was saying that there were simple things being done in other countries that we could look at. On access to bandages, they said that in Australia, Britain and Spain, bandages are delivered to the home once a month. They suggested that bandages could even be sent to a local clinical service that people would have access to. There are simple things that could be done without great expense. Has any thought been given to this? A young child came in and what the parents have to deal with is horrific, although the condition can be more or less severe. Can we learn from other countries in order to take some of the pressure off those families? They spoke about the costs associated with the condition. Like everything else, it impacts on people's ability to work. One of the parents may have to stay home to provide care. That is particularly so in the case of children but it also happens in the case of adults.

With regard to that particular condition, is there any positive news the HSE can give to families? Is there anything we can look to in the service plan? Perhaps the witnesses could go away and look at some of these things, particularly with regard to bandages, that are clearly working in other jurisdictions, that are taking pressure off families and that we may be able to replicate here.