Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I cannot remember the question the Deputy asked at the start but my answer would be "No". He spoke about the difference between people living in Tallaght and Clondalkin in terms of the length of time it takes for them to be assessed by occupational therapists. I will not disagree with the Deputy because I am dealing with that problem in my own constituency where people have to wait a long time. As the Deputy said, that is because there are not enough staff members to quickly process the applications.

I do not have an answer to the question as to when the 130 reports from the occupational therapists will be seen to but the Deputy should have no doubt that I will come back to him on that because I also want to know the answer. The reply from the Minister of State, who unfortunately could not be present, indicates clearly that the occupational therapy service improvement group has been established by the HSE. It is all very well establishing a group and to have a paper on that but the people the Deputy, me and every Deputy in this House look after want to be assured that if somebody is in need of a chair lift, an adaptation to their bathroom or anything else that it will be done in a speedy manner.

The Deputy is right to a certain extent but he is not always right. A good deal of money has been put into providing adaptations to people's bathrooms but the difficulty is that when people submit the applications sometimes they have not completed the forms properly. I know from talking to people in South Dublin County Council and Dublin City Council that there is a need for people to include all the information sought to make sure they can be dealt with.

I will give the Deputy a typical example. Two weeks ago, a lady from Inchicore, where I live, came to see me. She applied for a grant for her bathroom to be adapted. She is an old age pensioner who lives on her own. By last Monday she had confirmation from Dublin City Council that her application was approved and that the work would go ahead. I am not saying that is happening everywhere and I would not disagree with what the Deputy said but I will make sure that the Minister of State or I will come back to the Deputy with the specific answer to the question he asked.

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