Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Reilly for tabling this motion. I thank the Minister for her attendance as it is important that she hears the contributions from this side of the House.

It is difficult to know where to begin when talking about the cuts in the health service. Deputy Reilly has already alluded to some of them and I will give some examples. A 97 year old woman's home help service was cancelled because she had overstayed her time in hospital while having a surgical procedure. The community nursing home, Brú Chaoimhghín in Cork Street, is to close. The 50-bed unit in Inchicore was to provide new beds for new patients but we have been informed that the patients from Brú Chaoimhghín will be moved to that unit. These will not be an extra 50 beds as they will be used for those existing patients from Brú Chaoimhghín. The ward closures in Cherry Orchard mean that patients have been pushed in together in the St. Laurence unit. The moratorium on staff recruitment means there are no staff to open up the ward. This has been a cruel three months for many of the patients there and for their families. Many of these patients suffer from dementia and other illnesses and they have to deal with the upset of being moved from one area to another. This is a significant concern.

To illustrate the long hospital waiting lists, I will relate a personal story. I was given a doctor's appointment for May next year. This would be very far into the future for some people. With regard to the extra charges for chiropody, it is true that many of us do not appreciate our feet. We all stand on them and do lots of things on them but some people cannot use their feet as well as us. These include many elderly people who find they must pay an extra €10 for chiropody services, or even more in some cases. I am concerned about these people. They do not have anyone at home to help them care for their feet or to help them with clipping toenails or to give them a pedicure so they depend on the chiropody service. The 50 cent prescription charge is outrageous. People in this country have paid for years for their medication. Elderly people in particular are being further challenged to add an extra 50 cent to each prescription. The Minister and I know the problem does not lie solely with the people who need the prescriptions; the problem lies with the way in which the service is delivered through the doctors' offices and pharmacies and there needs to be action in these areas.

My mother-in-law has attended a doctor for a very long time - I will not say his name. One evening I had a headache while in her house. I asked if she had a Panadol. When I opened her press I found 600 Panadol. I was shocked and horrified that any doctor would continue to write her prescriptions.

The cuts in the dental treatment service have had an impact on young schoolchildren and older people who do not have the means to pay for dental treatment on a regular basis. They attend rarely and only when they need care and attention.

I refer to an important issue which may not affect people living in Dublin but which certainly affects those living in country areas, which is the issue of transport. My father-in-law met a man in hospital who told him he had come all the way from Sligo for a chemotherapy appointment. He said he had been taken by taxi that morning and the taxi man was waiting outside to bring him back home that afternoon. The procedure took three hours and he then returned to Sligo. It is a waste of money to hire a taxi to bring a man to Dublin for hospital service.

My daughter had a baby a few weeks' ago. The baby was very distressed during the week and we decided to ring the Coombe hospital to avail of the mother and child clinic. We were informed the service opened at 9 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m. and we were advised to go to Crumlin children's hospital. Thank God, I only live five minutes from Crumlin hospital. I hope in years to come when we have to travel across the city to a new hospital that has no parking spaces we will have a service for young women that does not end at 5 p.m.

Deputy Reilly has already alluded to the issue of wheelchairs and other equipment. The HSE provides wheelchairs. A neighbour of mine needed a wheelchair following an operation on her two feet. She was informed at Beaumont Hospital that the hospital did not supply wheelchairs and she was referred to the HSE service. We went to every HSE service and could not get her a wheelchair. Every day of the week, dozens of crutches, wheelchairs and Zimmer frames are left in houses because the HSE will not take them back. This is a real waste of money and it is an issue that should be identified and dealt with. If they cannot be used in this country we should at least, for God's sake, send them to other countries where they can be used.

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