James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

The Irish Hospice Foundation's figures do not suggest, but show, that there is a palliative care shortage of 610 and a bed deficit of 237. They point out that the palliative care budget needs to be doubled to meet this shortage. I find this poignant because money was allocated by the Oireachtas to palliative care in the past. We found out subsequently, however, that the HSE siphoned that money off to use in other areas. Since that time the Minister has given us an undertaking that this cannot happen again, which I welcome. The reality, however, is that people now have to queue to die. It is something none of us could have envisaged in the past. They cannot get into an appropriate service for the last days of their lives. What does the Minister or Minister of State propose to address this matter? In particular, why are we now means testing terminally-ill patients for medical cards? This is something that was not done in the past.

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