Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am going to read positivity into the Minister's comments because he did not deliver the standard HSE response, which is largely a defence of the existing position. I read into the Minister's comments that there is a need to address this and I hope it can be addressed. As we have said, the call is for a diabetes clinical nurse specialist. The half staff nursing position that will accommodate the clinical nurse, which is a 0.67 position, is a trained adult position not a paediatric post. Again, it looks fine on paper but in reality it does not. I hope we can bridge this gap.

I agree completely and concur with the Minister's last statement about listening to service users. My nephew and Godson is among this number. I have listened to what he goes through, what his mother goes through and the fears, anxieties and concerns about someone going hypo or hyper. After the public meeting I had the opportunity to talk to teenagers who use the service. They had nothing but the height of respect and regard for the person they are losing. Much this comes down to that emotional attachment but this is an opportunity for them and for all of us to live up to best practice as per the 2008 expert group recommendation, that is to say, there should be a clinical nurse specialist for paediatrics. I hope we can finalise this next Tuesday.

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