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

I made it very clear to the Deputy in my opening statement that I was not happy either with the answer I had received. I will relay the Deputy's concerns to the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, in the morning. My mother-in-law was an amputee for 30 years and I was in the National Rehabilitation Hospital with her many a time. The work the staff did on her was remarkable. It is very difficult for a person who loses a limb at any stage in his or her life to cope without proper rehabilitation. It defies logic that because they do not have a specific limb from a specific company people cannot access the national rehabilitation service to be looked after. On a personal level I will pursue this issue tomorrow with the Minister of State and, if needs be, the hospital through the Minister because the reply is inadequate. I agree entirely with the Deputy that it should not be up to a consultant to respond on a Topical Issue he has raised on such a sensitive matter which has affected a great many people. Many of us in the House know people in our families and neighbourhoods who rely totally on the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire to look after them when they need extra help to get back on the road again. I will convey the Deputy's concerns to the Minister of State tomorrow and give a guarantee that he will receive a reply.

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