Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

The Minister of State said nothing about the patients who have gone broke and have no funding. These supplementary payments have not increased since 2001, even though I pointed out all the other developments that have happened since that time. We have been waiting for a policy on the long-term care of the elderly for four years. Under the circumstances and with what is happening in acute hospitals and in the community, we must move faster to resolve these problems and not let them reach crisis point.

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