Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State has informed me of what is happening, and some of that information when it is put together in two pages might sound grand, but let me inform him about what is happening on the ground. There is a one year wait for an initial appointment and a two year wait for a recall appointment. There is a reason why the HSE says that a diabetic patient should be recalled every six months. In a four year period this would be eight check-ups if one lives in Cork, Dublin, Waterford, Louth, Monaghan or any of the other counties outside of Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim. If one happens to live in our region of the country, in the same period a patient only gets two check-ups, if he or she is lucky. The list is getting worse and the length of time is getting worse. We all know. We can talk about health budgets and the amount of money that is spent on treating conditions resulting from diabetes, which is substantial. We know that prevention is better than cure. There are serious consequences, which I outlined to the Minister of State, and the Government is allowing patients to have worse health outcomes because they happen to be born in or live in Donegal and the Government has not sanctioned the necessary personnel in time to deal with their care.

There is nothing in what the Minister of State has said that gives me any type of reassurance that the people I deal with daily in Donegal will get recall appointments anytime sooner than two years. The second endocrinologist post was not even mentioned. The Minister of State, Deputy Daly, spoke of a position in Galway but the vacant position in Sligo was not mentioned in the Minister of State's response, nor was the centre of excellence, which the entire Saolta region does not have. When will the people of the north west, the people in my region, be respected by the HSE in providing these services? Imagine if this was my son, my daughter or my wife but because a person lives in a certain part of the State they would get worse care and, therefore, worse outcomes in managing a disease that is manageable if the personnel are available.

The advocacy groups met with the Minister. I was there along with other Deputies. We heard all the promises, all the good words and so on. It has not, however, materialised. We need action now. I ask that the Minister of State takes it away and speaks with his officials in the HSE, to ramp up the pressure so we can have real delivery and so we can see the waiting times that are currently going in the wrong direction reversed and put back in the right direction.

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