Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. I would like to also acknowledge Deputy Nolan who put this question together for me.

We hosted the Parkinson’s Association of Ireland and the Minister met representatives from it outside the gates before they came into the audiovisual room. They were from Cork, Dublin and elsewhere in the country. We were told that there has been no Parkinson’s consultant in Cork University Hospital, CUH, since 2016. There has been a promise of replacement time after time for years, but still nothing. We were also told there have been no specialist Parkinson’s nurses in Cork since 2021. That is an astonishing situation that Parkinson’s sufferers are finding themselves in. Imagine that there has been no consultant there since 2016. This an unfair situation that the people of Cork and Munster find themselves in. I know it is a national issue that there is a lack of specialised nurses, and the Minister said there are only five in total. It is a national issue, yes, but it certainly is a crisis issue in Cork. I would appreciate if the Minister might address that in his answer.

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