Dáil debates

Tuesday, 10 May 2022

Ceisteanna - Questions

Cabinet Committees

4:40 pm

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I believe Deputy Boyd Barrett was the first to contribute on this group of questions, and he raised the issue of medical laboratory scientists. There are a number of labour relations mechanisms to deal with outstanding issues related to industrial relations pay claims and pay and conditions. It is not an issue that gets resolved in the Dáil Chamber. I appeal to both sides to engage with a view to resolving it. From experience, I believe these are never simple issues. There is always the potential for relativities to be involved in addition to other factors and implications; that said, it is an issue that we want and need to have resolved. I appeal to people on all sides to get around the table at the appropriate forum, avoid strike action and resolve the issues.

On Deputy Paul Murphy’s comments on long Covid, he made a fair point that the information is not held centrally, although we have to bear in mind the intense pressure on health services during Covid and, even worse, after it, because as it receded many people presented with a range of conditions and were affected by delayed diagnosis. There has been a lot of pressure on emergency departments but also on basic services since the ending of the emergency phase of the pandemic. We need a clear focus on long Covid in time to get a central register of people who have the condition, because that would inform better practice and protocols on its treatment and also enable more informed allocation of resources to the health service and a better focus. I will engage with the Minister for Health on this.

Deputy Bacik raised the issue of the roll-out of free GP care. I do not believe funding was provided in 2017; I think the policy was announced then. Negotiations and discussions are ongoing or beginning with the IMO in respect of the extension to six- and seven-year-olds. We need to change the way we announce and deal with this because it becomes an annual negotiation once it is announced at budget time. Very often, the leverage of the State or taxpayer in the negotiations is weakened by the prior announcement. There needs to be common sense and perspective regarding this among all parties. In our view, we want to increase eligibility. There has been very significant engagement with GPs throughout Covid, and there was a beneficial co-operative agreement, but essential additional resources were provided as well. It is in that context that I hope we can get the six- to seven-year-olds dealt with relatively quickly and then assess how to deal with our collective aspiration to increase universal access to GP care, in particular.

Deputy Crowe raised the issue of University Hospital Limerick. There is no doubt that it has been the scene of far too much overcrowding. Notwithstanding the very significant investment in the hospital in recent times, the Minister has sent down a specialist team to determine how the hospital can develop an optimal model for governance and dealing with the issues and the pressure on it. In the medium term, there is a need for more inpatient beds and capacity in the hospital group covering the region. The hospitals in the group, namely Ennis, Nenagh and St. John’s, have a role to play in alleviating the pressure. Sometimes that means some hospitals must take on specific roles or develop additional services that do not need to be provided in the tertiary hospital. The Beaumont group of hospitals comprises a good example of how services are spread. However, there are particular pressure points in Limerick that have to be acknowledged.

Deputy Barry raised the issue of disability services. Progressing Disability Services took therapists out of the special schools. More latterly, that has been alerted to the public representatives in terms of the diminution of provision within the special schools themselves. The figure of 60 therapists, which the Deputy mentioned, is not one I have heard from the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, or the HSE-----

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