David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I fail to see how, even with administrative issues, that could be the case. That is a matter for the HSE to sort out. Tens of thousands of people work in the HSE. I do not see how it cannot sort out whatever issues exist. If a commitment has been given that something will be operational by the end of 2023 and we are now told it might be as late as the end of 2024, that makes no sense to me. We need to follow this up because it was the head of the HSE who came before the committee and wanted to deal with this. He gave commitments to the committee that it would be done, and it has not happened. Whatever the issues are, they need to be sorted out. I do not think that we can accept a deadline of the end of 2024 in light of the commitment that was given. I do not see it as satisfactory that the HSE can refer to administrative issues.

The alliance has asked three things of the committee, namely that we raise the issue of specialist neurology nurses and neurological community teams, which we have dealt with. The third matter is beds. What progress has been made on specialist rehabilitation beds in recent years? What is the shortfall in that area?