Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

It was noted, however, that I have not mentioned Tallaght yet, so I will do that. I psyched myself up for this debate by visiting Tallaght Hospital to see a friend this morning. Going in there, I passed the only plaque that survives from all the openings of Tallaght Hospital under various Ministers, and that is the one stating the building was opened by Brendan Howlin, TD, Minister for Health, a very good Minister for Health.

I have been interested in health issues throughout my career, including the challenges I have faced myself. Thank God I have never had diabetes but I have had a heart problem which thankfully has passed. Diabetes affects one in 20 people in this country and we are told that by 2025, the prevalence could be close to 8% of the population under current obesity trends. Approximately 10% of health care spending is diabetes related, and this will increase by up to 25% in the next 20 years. During my time on the Eastern Regional Health Authority from 1994, we were told that 7% of all health care spending in the region was diabetes related. The Minister of State, Deputy Mary Wallace, is aware of those statistics.

During my career as a community worker, I was appointed by a Fianna Fáil Minister to the Health Promotion Unit and such promotion work is important. My colleagues on the other side of the House talk about expenditure and cutbacks but health promotion should not lose out in the difficulties with health spending. Tallaght Hospital, like every other hospital, is not just about the accident and emergency ward but also deals with health promotion and this debate on diabetes highlights its importance.

People with diabetes are five times more likely to need hospital admission. If they are admitted, they are ten times more likely to suffer major medical complications compared to non-diabetics. Diabetes has a profound impact on lifestyle, work, well-being and life expectancy.

Life expectancy is reduced by approximately 20 years in people with type 1 diabetes, and up to ten years in people with type 2 diabetes. I am told there are approximately 2,000 deaths annually from diabetes which also causes significant morbidity. Studies have estimated that type 2 diabetes is present for an average of seven years prior to diagnosis and at this stage up to half of the people concerned may have evidence of complications linked to diabetes.

In Tallaght village this morning I was asked if I was on a day off because of the pickets, but I said it was a normal day in the Dáil, raising issues and looking after constituents' interests. I asked someone what diabetes meant to him and he replied, "Isn't that where people can unfortunately have strokes, heart disease and be subject to blindness?" I am not being flippant about it, but that is the image people have.

It is important to grasp the nettle, as Opposition colleagues, including Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, have said. Deputy Brian O'Shea highlighted the HSE cutbacks and I did so from these benches the other night when the Ceann Comhairle's office was kind enough to give me a few minutes on the Adjournment debate. I raised hospital care issues then and I feel strongly about the cutbacks the HSE is contemplating. It is important for all of us to tell the HSE, the Government and the Minister of State present, that patient care must be always preserved. There will be difficult challenges but the bottom line is that if people are sick they should be looked after at the local hospital. In that Adjournment debate I concentrated on the challenges facing Tallaght hospital and the services currently being provided there.

Some people may say that diabetes is not as important as dealing with accidents or heart attacks. However, diabetes is a major health problem in this country and internationally, which uses up a huge amount of resources. The Minister of State should understand that this debate is important to many people. In the context of all the challenges the health service is currently facing, let us not forget health promotion. Let us not forget either that diabetes, as with other health disciplines, requires that kind of attention.

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