Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

Over two months ago, the day care services for elderly people in the Boyle area were curtailed. These services, for which they each paid €4, transformed their lives by allowing them to meet friends, eat dinner, play bingo, get their hair done and receive physiotherapy, as well as giving their families some respite. With one clinical nurse manager on sick leave, the embargo on HSE recruitment has denied day care services to these elderly people who gave so much to our country.

This problem has continued for too long. I have raised it under Standing Order 32 almost every second day in the Dáil. Three weeks ago, the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Áine Brady, assured us that a clinical nurse manager was due to be appointed.

On 15 May, we were told that the services would resume and that it was merely a matter of receiving a letter from the Department of Finance. However, these services continue to be denied and I have repeatedly been in contact with the HSE and the Department of Health and Children, both of which appear to be involved in a turf war. The HSE wants a letter from the Department of Finance before it can permit the appointment of a clinical nurse manager.

I am sick and tired of this nonsense. These elderly people and their families are very angry at the way they have been treated. I seek a satisfactory answer because the buck has to stop with the Department of Health and Children. Has the Department sanctioned the appointment of a clinical nurse manager so that the people who built his country can be afforded the day care services they deserve?

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