Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I welcome the commitment that the position is being advertised and will be filled. I hope the delay in filling it will not affect the service in the interim. We are all well aware that diabetes is a very costly issue for the health service. The easiest and most effective way to deal with it is through personal management of the illness rather than expensive interventions. In Longford alone, over a four-year period, there have been 24 cases of lower limb amputation as a direct result of diabetes. In the same period, there were 124 cases of diabetes patients dealing with severe foot ulcers. I am concerned that there has been a delay in filling the post but I accept the Minister of State's commitment that the service will not be affected.

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