Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State sincerely for his reply, which was enlightening. I am glad to hear the HSE has committed to meeting the family next week, and I want to record at the outset the family's thanks for the support it has received to date from the HSE. Local HSE officials are on record as stating that "there is a national fund for emergency cases", which I understand the national director of social care will utilise over the next 12 months. That is a direct quote from a letter received by the family from a local official. To give the Minister a timeline in terms of the way things have changed, the same local official went on to say that "the process to access the funding has not yet been agreed". He further insisted that he will continue to advocate for David and for the family at national level. However, in a subsequent note to me from another official, who is acting in the same capacity as the official to whom I referred previously, it appears the cost of bringing David home and having an appropriate home care package to fulfil his needs seems to be oscillating between €400,000 and €450,000. Notwithstanding the reference made in letters from the HSE to the family about the existence of a national emergency care package or that funding stream, I recall the Minister of State stating in his contribution that the budget for the care of David would need to be met through the disability service budget available to the HSE.

That official also made the point that David's care at home would have to be led essentially by a respiratory care consultant attached to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. As I understand it to be the case, that respiratory consultant is no longer in that position. That further complicates matters from the HSE's point of view.

Responses are needed to two fundamental questions, and I appreciate the Minister of State may not be in a position to respond to those today. First, will the HSE locally and nationally commit to providing the funding necessary under the emergency care scheme to David and, second, if it is the case that there is not a respiratory consultant in place currently to deal with his care needs, will that respiratory consultant be appointed shortly to meet David's needs, and the needs of others in the Louth-Meath area? I understand and appreciate that he may not have the answers to those questions today. I appreciate also that I am sure he will be as moved as I was by David's story and the challenges involved. If the Minister of State is not in a position to answer those questions today, I accept and appreciate that, but I ask him to commit to having the HSE correspond with me and the family in the coming days to outline the process regarding the emergency care fund, and the position on the appointment of a respiratory consultant who could potentially look after David's needs.

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