Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not accept the last statement made by the Minister of State. While I acknowledge he is doing his best here today, I am disappointed by the absence of the Minister of State in the Department of Health, as I met her in the House only half an hour ago. This issue is not a national priority and must be dealt with sensitively. Were the health service to invest in adequate follow-up care for neonates, it would pick up far more issues, would be able to mount early intervention and could address many other issues. The availability of proper early intervention services is not simply a preterm issue, however, and the system is failing many children with special needs due to a lack of access to appropriate services. This is clear and the Minister of State cannot claim Ireland has state-of-art services. The Government has been claiming for the past four and a half years that a free medical service would be implemented but it has capitulated on that for the present. There is no point in putting one's head in the sand.

The lack of social and financial support also is a major issue because the cost to families with preterm infants places undue stress and economic hardship on those families. As I stated, the financial costs in respect of pre-terms is considerable and the State must understand this and must provide the services. The Minister of State mentioned the transfer ambulance but in cases in which South Tipperary General Hospital must transfer an infant to Cork, that is, in the opposite direction to the journey made by my granddaughter Amy, who came back from Cork, a specially-trained nurse must travel in the ambulance with the infant, thereby leaving behind a shortage of such scarce and vital nurses who do such good work. Consequently, there is much tweaking and much work that can be done. The front-line staff in most parts are excellent and do tremendous work but through no fault of theirs, the lack of a national neonatal health policy means some premature infants or their families simply will not get the care they need because of where they live and this is most regrettable. This is why I disagree with the Minister of State's concluding remarks.

I also compliment the Irish Neonatal Health Alliance and the Irish Premature Babies group, both of which offer wonderful supports to the families of premature children. However, they cannot do it alone. This is a growing issue and the Government must address it to ensure that all premature children born in Ireland can reach their full potential. My family is delighted with our situation now and are thankful to the HSE and its staff but the issue must be examined and considered. Each year, 4,500 babies are born in that situation, which is a high number. I recognise the Minister of State's observation that the position and the numbers have improved but much more tweaking and a lot more assistance and support is needed on this highly sensitive issue.

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