Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

With the greatest of respect, what the Minister of State has just read out is word for word a copy of a letter I received. I did not even have to look at the copy of the reply I was handed because I had it already. I received it on 15 July from the HSE. I asked the Minister of State for a date and a meaningful plan by the end of this year, with dates and achievable timeframes. The report was first published in 2011 and these people have already been let down enough.

The Neurological Alliance of Ireland currently has a campaign called "We Need Our Heads Examined". Sometimes I say that to myself when getting out of the car in the morning on coming into work. The campaign outlines the litany of broken promises and missed deadlines. We do not have a deadline today. What we have is a plan but we had a plan before we came into the House. What we need are deadlines and timeframes and a commitment to appoint a person from the HSE who will drive this forward.

There are many benefits to the strategy. The HSE itself is clear that its implementation will result in reduced length of stay in acute hospitals, a 10% reduction in readmission rates, a 5% reduction in care requirements and a reduction in discharge to nursing homes. There is a saving to be made. However, we still do not have a date.

The Minister of State agrees that it is not acceptable. If that is agreed, will he agree that we need to put a plan in place? We do not need more statements such as "we will have a group" or "this might happen and, at a later date, something else might happen". Vera Ronan has lost vital time. She has also taken up a bed in a hospital that could have been used by someone who needed it. We have people on trolleys in the accident and emergency department and Vera in the hospital bed but she does not need to be there. It really is not acceptable. If the Minister of State agrees that it is not acceptable, will he agree that we need a plan with a timeframe and identifiable and achievable goals as well as a person to head this up and drive it forward? These people have been let down far too many times.

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