Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. Spinal injuries comprise an important issue for me, the Minister, Deputy Harris, and the Government in general. Only last week I had a very informative meeting with a group of affected patients, and they raised many of the issues raised by the Deputy today. I arranged to meet with my adviser on disabilities, Mr. Gerry Maguire, in the past couple of days. We are focusing on the issue. I totally accept the Deputy's point about there being 100,000 people in his constituency in Kildare.

The Deputy mentioned Beaumont Hospital and the unit in Cork, which do great work on these issues. As the Deputy knows, Beaumont Hospital is in my constituency. I am well aware of the work. The Deputy referred to the cost of a theatre. He is correct it is the region of €4 million. Staffing a theatre costs in the region of €300,000 per annum. Our plan is to invest in the health service. We have started that investment. It is important that we recognise that.

I am working on the issue of investment very closely with the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, whom I commend for his recent work, particularly on the budget, on which we also worked very closely. We are talking about actions, not just issues, for example, the provision of €3 million for an additional 570 orthopaedic procedures in the national tertiary referral centre at Cappagh; €2 million for additional orthopaedic procedures in Beaumont Hospital, Tallaght hospital and the hospitals in Tullamore, Waterford and Galway, with the objective of achieving the 18-month waiting list target by year end; and €2 million to treat the 39 scoliosis patients on the Tallaght hospital waiting list and an additional 15 to 20 paediatric patients by the end of the year.

The important message from the budget - I am standing beside the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan - is that we are focusing on investing in health services. I hope to be able to do something about many of the issues raised by the Deputy. As I said, I am working very closely with the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris. The issues raised by the Deputy are among my priority issues in the context of the HSE service plan. I hope, therefore, that we will see some movement in dealing with them in the next few months.

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