Ms Magdalen Rogers:

We do indeed. I thank the Deputy for asking the question. I will recap where this investment came from. I acknowledge the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for recognising this. When we launched our campaign in October 2021, we had a shortfall of 100 specialist neurology nurses. I will give context for that. In respect of multiple sclerosis, 32 nurses are required for the Irish population. We currently have 18. For Parkinson's disease, 50 nurses would be required for the Irish population. We have just 10.5 whole-time equivalent nurses, a fifth of what is required. As I said, headache is an issue that needs to be investigated in order to rule out serious causes and there is also the issue of the maintenance of people with long-term migraine. We should have 37 headache nurses, but we have just nine. We should have 37 epilepsy nurses, and we have just 26. The commitment to 21 nurses was given in view of that critical shortage and the crucial importance of those nurse specialists to the ongoing care of people with neurological conditions.

As Ms Flanagan outlined, the nurse specialist is critical for people with Parkinson's disease, but just one in five people with Parkinson's disease have any access to a specialist nurse. On the Deputy's question on the location of the 13 posts in the recruitment freeze, they are in Cork University Hospital, Tallaght University Hospital, Galway University Hospital, Waterford University Hospital, Sligo, Limerick and the Mater. A total of four nursing posts have been held up in the recruitment process in Waterford University Hospital. They are vital nurses for conditions such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. Those nurses were expected in those hospitals. The hospitals made plans to expand and develop their services on the basis of those nurses being in place. It leaves a huge gap in what were already overstretched neurology services.