Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I acknowledge the inclusion in it to the effect that "tender documents for the diabetic day unit at Sligo University Hospital have been finalised and are ready to issue to contractors" and that it is due "to proceed to construction in 2019". While that is very welcome news, the next sentence states: "The funding all projects is subject to the availability of capital funding and the progress of other priorities." There is always a little fear in that respect, particularly in the context of what has happened with the national children's hospital, but I will not go down that road. The building of this unit would involve a fairly low cost for the major benefit it can create for people with diabetes. I welcome that it will proceed with all due haste and as quickly as possible.

The other issue I raised is that people are unable to be fitted with an insulin pump because of the absence of specialist nurse to train them on how to use it as that nurse has been seconded to another part of the hospital.

That is a serious problem. One lady I spoke to told me of a situation where she was there along with her child, and another child in the hospital had been diagnosed with diabetes and arrived over in their pyjamas to this unit for an assessment, having walked across what was practically a building site. There are no toilet facilities in the place. At the end of the assessment, another man came in to inquire what was happening as he had been waiting for the insulin pump for several months and had not got it. This is a real issue that needs to be dealt with. While I welcome the proposal that there will be capital funds in place to build this, it needs to happen as quickly as possible.

There is also the issue of ensuring adequate staffing. The Minister of State mentioned that the multidisciplinary team is in place but to my knowledge it is not complete and there are holes in that service that need to be filled. That should be done as quickly as possible.

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