Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

For children with diabetes, there is no centre of excellence in paediatric diabetes care north of the Limerick to Dublin line. Services are quite limited and in no way sufficient to meet the number of children in the county or the north west who need them. It is often considered at official level that if a service is provided in Galway, patients in County Donegal are covered. I know that the Minister has been to Letterkenny a few times and will know that it is closer to Dublin than to Galway. We need services in the north west.

On the provision of a centre of excellence in paediatric diabetes care which would include a consultant endocrinologist and support staff such as a dietician and a psychologist, will the Minister give a firm commitment that such a centre will be developed in the north west to serve children from Donegal and neighbouring counties? On the adult diabetes service, there is a need for an additional consultant in Letterkenny and a team to support him or her to deal with the number of patients in the county with diabetes. A total of 7,000 people in County Donegal have been diagnosed as having diabetes, of whom 700 have type 1 diabetes. The waiting time for a follow-up appointment is more than 20 months for patients with type 1 diabetes at a time when the recommended period is four months. It is simply not acceptable. The necessary resources and staff need to be provided to serve patients with diabetes in County Donegal.

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