Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister well in his role and every success. It is a challenging portfolio, but I do not doubt that he will be successful and effective. I look forward to engaging with him in a constructive manner and, I hope, finding solutions for some of our ongoing problems.

The Revised Estimate being presented to us indicates the staggering levels of funding that are going into the Department of Health and the management of the HSE. This is of major concern to many, including me. Can this issue be examined? We must take responsibility and ensure that adequate funding is being directed to where it needs to be. For example, I constantly hear that disability services are being left short and that the services themselves are inadequate. The same applies in the case of mental health services, which have been mentioned a number of times in this debate, and home care. Elderly people are being failed and are left languishing on long waiting lists for home help.

In terms of speech and language therapy and occupational therapy, children with special needs are waiting unacceptable lengths of time, which affects their well-being and educational attainment. I attended a meeting of the Laois Offaly Families for Autism organisation before the election.

I gave a pledge to those people that I would continue to raise this issue on the floor of the Dáil as a Deputy for Laois-Offaly. It is distressing to hear what many parents have to go through and the fight they have with the system in terms of getting basic services for their children. We have a serious ongoing problem in Laois-Offaly. Perhaps therapists could be brought from areas or regions where there is not a problem to areas or regions where there is a backlog. There should be ongoing recruitment of therapists to make sure we are ready for when there is an urgent need. At present, I can assure the Minister there is a long waiting list in Laois-Offaly that badly needs to be tackled. I have no doubt he will try to do that.

Since its post-crisis low in 2015, gross Voted spending on healthcare has risen by almost €5 billion. The concern of many people is that we are not seeing value for money and we are not seeing the services. A change of approach is needed to ensure we see value for money and adequate services in all those areas I mentioned.

Will there be room in today's Estimate for the appointment of an independent external facilitator in respect of Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise? This hospital has been left in limbo for so long and the issue has been raised on the floor of the House many times. I have raised it since I became a Deputy for Laois-Offaly. The hospital is unable, because of the uncertainty, to develop and expand other services to the extent that it would like and the recruitment of specialist staff is difficult. I appeal to the Minister in this regard, and I would be grateful if he could bring a final resolution to this ongoing issue. The future of the facility has been in doubt for too long.

With regard to the Estimate, we know that primary care and mental health services have been receiving comparably smaller shares of additional funding. However, mental health services receive a small share in overall terms. As I understand it from the Parliamentary Budget Office, PBO, analysis, this is the result of a €46.5 million fall in capital budgets, which offset current spending that is expected to rise by €51.3 million. I hope this increased budget can be maintained. There is simply no point in rolling out mental health strategies if the funding is not there to make the ambitions a reality, because people have been let down for so long and the gap in our services in terms of mental health has been filled by many voluntary organisations that have done fantastic work. We have men's sheds, Jigsaw, and many GAA clubs that are embracing this issue and helping in every way they can, but we urgently need more.

With regard to attendance at masses and other church services, I appeal to the Minister to make sure a common sense approach is adopted. I have been contacted about this issue often over the past few weeks, and I agree it is unfair that restrictions are imposed that we do not see in any other sector. I ask the Minister to make sure a common sense approach is adopted and parishes are allowed to make the decisions for themselves.

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