John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Butler for introducing the motion. As the Minister of State can hear, we all have stories of problems from our constituencies. I have raised the issue with him on the Order of Business and the problem has persisted throughout the year.

I acknowledge the work of the public health nurse in my area and, in particular, the staff in Cherry Orchard who deal with this issue. They are in an impossible position. They are trying to cherry-pick who should receive help and when they should receive it from very limited and diminished resources available. The pressure they are put under is not fair. They are trying to decide how the resource should be divided between two families.

The HSE's national service plan indicated clearly that it would provide 50,500 home support service packages in the year. In response to parliamentary questions I have been told that 52,500 people are in receipt of home support service packages and that another 6,000 are on the list. It appears that at the beginning of the year the HSE grossly underestimated the level of need, yet no attempt has been made during the year to correct the position. That is the underlying and persisting problem.

Another problem is that the HSE is unable or unwilling to state for how long people are on waiting lists. In response to parliamentary questions I have been told that slightly in excess of 6,000 are on waiting lists. My area is serviced by CHO 7. At the start of the year while 6,000 were waiting nationally, 650 of them were in CHO 7. By April the figure of 650 had risen to 857. The latest figures I received from the HSE this week are to the end of August. In total there are 6,200 waiting, but the number in CHO 7 has increased to 1,111. There is a very specific and particular problem in CHO 7 where the numbers are spiralling out of control. Will the Minister of State, please, examine the issue?

See this speech in context