John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is a shame the Minister of State cannot read her entire reply because there is a positive paragraph. We will await the second part of the reply.

As I said, everybody has a personal story. The nurses and care team in the hospice in Harold's Cross held the hand of my late father as he passed from this world during his dying days. The hospice outreach team helped us to care for my late mother until she passed away at home.

The HSE would win many friends if it provided funding for outreach teams. Additional funding for the second phase would allow the hospice to reach out to far more families. One hospice nurse can visit 550 families a year. Additional funding would be very helpful.

I have fundraised on a number of occasions for the hospice, and it is the easiest thing in the world to raise money for the service. That should not excuse the State or HSE from providing funding for a service that has saved the State hundreds of millions of euro over the past number of decades and which provided the best, most comprehensive and professional care for people in their dying days.

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