Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. Over a long number of years the delivery of incontinence wear has been hugely important to people in various parts of this country, including in very remote areas, where this service has been made available by the HSE. It has been invaluable, especially for families that are vulnerable or may have a vulnerable person in their house who needs the service.

Unfortunately, I and other politicians have been made aware of the service required not being as good in its delivery of incontinence wear to people in various parts of the country. One cannot just say one will come today or some other day with this service. Unfortunately, from what I understand, the satisfaction rate, which the HSE examined, is low at present. The Minister of State may be able to confirm this. I believe - and the Minister of State can also confirm whether or not this is the case - that two HSE management people have looked at the situation in recent days. There has been a kind of cloud over this for a while, with temporary contracts rolling over and over. With these temporary contracts, my understanding is that there is a large amount of money due from the HSE to a company. I also believe that under the contract, the manufacturer and the supplier were not to be paid directly but that payment was to be made to the person who got the contract. My understanding is that this has all changed now. Unfortunately, with all that is going on in this situation, it appears that the most vulnerable person, that is, the person who needs the incontinence wear, is the person losing out. I know from some communities and some people who telephone me that they do not know what is going on. Is there a fear in the HSE that there is a problem that needs to be sorted? I believe that the contract, even though it is a temporary one, has been changed twice in recent months. I do not know how this can be done, but that is what appears to have been done to try to solve problems. Where is the HSE in all this? Will this situation be sorted out? Regardless of who manufactures or delivers a product, it is the people at the end who need the product who are of the utmost importance, and it needs to be delivered on time. My understanding is that something like 18 boxes were to be delivered. It has been pointed out that the previous contract was wide open to interpretation. Where is the HSE in all this? Will the matter be sorted out shortly? As I said, down through the years this has been a very good service. We must ensure this matter is resolved once and for all.

See this speech in context