Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue because palliative care is an integral part of the delivery of health services. We should be conscious that it is not always given at the end of life but ensures that people who have a condition that will end their lives can have a quality of life for a prolonged period which allows them live the best life possible. I take on board everything the Deputy has said but I know that the fundraising committee in Marymount in Cork, which is the one I am most familiar with, raised €28 million to put in place the fine hospice in Cork. I accept that there is a huge area of the country that does not have a hospice.

Direct budget allocation for palliative care is €73 million in 2014, but this does not include expenditure on the specialist palliative care provided in 38 acute hospitals, approximately 170 palliative care support beds and designated home care packages. Most of the HSE's palliative care budget is provided to the main voluntary hospice organisations to provide palliative care services, including inpatient beds, home care and day care. The funding is provided under an annual service level arrangement with each organisation. Many agencies also provide additional services which are resourced through charitable fundraising, which as the Deputy said is an active part of what happens in Waterford.

I am aware that Waterford home care services relies on voluntary fundraising to supplement the funding it receives from the HSE. This is also the case for the other palliative care home care services in the south east. The HSE funds approximately 40% of the running costs for each of the four providers. All of these teams provide support for palliative care patients with malignant and non-malignant conditions, and all provide a seven-day service. These teams, and the fundraising efforts behind them, provide a vital service for people with a life-limiting condition and their families in the south east, and this Government greatly appreciates their efforts to ensure quality of life for patients with a life-limiting diagnosis.

I would like to see increased support for these services but despite better economic indications in recent times, funding is under pressure across the health sector and will remain so for quite some time, and it will continue to be very challenging to secure additional funds in these circumstances. I am also aware that Waterford home care services has agreed to raise €6 million to cover the capital cost of the new 20-bed specialist palliative care inpatient unit to be built as part of the redevelopment of Waterford Regional Hospital. The unit will act as a focal point for the provision of specialist inpatient beds, and community and day care services for patients and their families living in the south east.

There are six similar proposals for new hospice units at various stages of development throughout the country where the voluntary hospice groups propose to provide the capital funding on the basis that the HSE will take on the ongoing operational costs. This year 16 new beds have opened at Marymount in Cork and all 24 new hospice beds in St. Francis Hospice, Blanchardstown, will be open by the end of the year. The University Hospital Waterford project, including the palliative care unit, is included in the HSE's capital plan for 2014. It is expected that the planning application will be lodged in March 2015. Construction is planned to commence subject to funding approval in the second quarter of 2016 and to be completed in the third quarter of 2017. Following commissioning and equipping, the unit is planned to open in early 2018.

The provision of the structure sometimes brings additional funding and this will help in the provision of service in that area.

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