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

In an earlier reply to Deputy Harty, the Taoiseach said there are many vacant posts in the HSE that are not really vacant because there are people already working in them. I know of one post that is definitely vacant, namely, that of specialist diabetic nurse in the north west diabetes services. People who have type 1 diabetes and have been prescribed an insulin pump are unable to avail of diabetic services training because there is no specialist diabetic nurse to provide them with that training. I have raised this matter on numerous occasions, including with the CEO of the HSE north west, the manager of the hospital and by way of parliamentary question. I sent a copy of the reply to that parliamentary question to the Minister for Health a couple of months ago. It states that an application for funding for the specialist nurse had been made. There are dozens of people in the north west who have been prescribed diabetic services and insulin pumps but they are unable to avail of them because there is no training available to them. This is a scandalous situation and it needs to be resolved urgently. As I said, I have raised this issue before on numerous occasions, including by way of parliamentary question, but I have not received an adequate response. I ask the Minister for Health to ensure this situation is resolved.

See this speech in context