Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will agree that I do not castigate but I hold him to account. I welcome his reply. He referred to physiotherapy services being used in the assessment of patients in Cork and this scheme has worked quite effectively. I welcome the Minister's commitment in this area and I hope to see some movement in this regard. The key issue is whether services can be maintained in the next number of months or whether there will be a build-up of a backlog because of hospitals having to reduce services. The key issue of concern is that the backlog would be very difficult to address in the year ahead. I do not expect the Minister to work miracles and there will be challenges for the budget in the foreseeable future. It was different in the past when money could resolve the issue of backlogs but now it is a case of getting better results from existing resources.

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