Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his contribution. We are working against a backdrop of an increasing prevalence of diabetes in the community. The diabetes programme established the national diabetes working group with the joint involvement of health care providers in primary, secondary and tertiary care sectors to devise methodologies for caring for these patients. The HSE national clinical programme for diabetes, led by Professor Seán Dinneen, has also established a guideline development group, which is chaired by Dr. Kevin Moore and includes two patients' representatives. I appreciate that some of the national steps will take time to work their way into it, but I assure the Deputy there is recognition of the challenge being presented and there is acknowledgment of the difficulties that exist in the Deputy's area. These challenges are not unique to the Deputy's area but they certainly exist in his area. I will do what the Deputy has asked. I will return, through my Department, back to the HSE to increase the pressure on the management of that service to ensure it is getting the optimum attention from the highest levels within the HSE to address those waiting lists and to address the shortcomings that are in the service, especially around speeding up recruitment. I will certainly do that for the Deputy.

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