Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the office of the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important issue for my constituents in Carlow and everybody else. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, for attending.

In recent years there has been a very efficient and comprehensive radiography service based at the old mental hospital, St. Dympna’s, in Carlow. The service was reduced some years ago to three days each week to facilitate the acute hospital in Kilkenny with a promise that it would be restored to a five day service in due course. The main advantage of the service was that people could walk in from the street, having been referred by their doctor, to have an X-ray without having to go to an accident and emergency department, thereby clogging up the system in Kilkenny. This is important. The service was important to older and younger people, as they did not have to be transported to the busier hospital in Kilkenny.

Unfortunately, the radiographer has now retired and there is no service at present. I have been assured by the HSE that the position will be advertised and that a process is being put in place to try to fill the role. Unfortunately, in the meantime there is nobody covering the important service, thereby putting more pressure on the service in Kilkenny. We do not want to clog up that service and need to have more people looked after at local level. Will the Minister of State fast-track the recruitment process? The position is not new; the original position still remains and I ask the Minister of State to fill it in the near future.

There is a lack of early intervention services for children with disabilities in the Carlow area. Currently, there is no physiotherapist or paediatric physiotherapist in the area. This is very disappointing for those with disabilities. The number of occupational and speech therapists being provided for the Holy Angels Daycare Centre for children with disabilities is less than adequate. Children are being seen once every two years for a formal occupational therapy review and every 18 months for a speech and language therapy review. All children have assessment of needs statements clearly stipulating the services they require. However, where early intervention is concerned, this is totally inadequate and leaves children at a severe disadvantage. I have been contacted by a vast number of doctors in the area and parents of children who are very concerned that children are not getting the services they require. Will the Minister of State assure me that the positions of paediatric physiotherapist and occupational therapist will be filled in the area in order that the children suffering from disadvantage and with disabilities will have the same opportunity as others?

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