Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am afraid this will be a very short interaction on my side; I apologise. I looked into this in detail and asked the HSE to come back with more but at the moment all I can tell the Deputy is that there is a proposal, as of course she will be aware, for an externally contracted satellite haemodialysis unit for Ennis. It is under review and that is really all I have. I am sorry; I am not trying to avoid the question at all. The answer at this point is short. It is under review, it is being looked at. There is no new development funding in the budget for it. It would be a new project. It is not something that was flagged back in September.

It would be of great benefit to patients. We have talked about the trip from Clare to Limerick, particularly for those in north Clare. It is quite the trip for anyone who is undergoing dialysis. We are looking at it. It is the kind of measure that fits very well with our push for universal healthcare, Sláintecare, and making sure people can get the treatment that they need either at home, with home dialysis becoming an increasingly common service, or in their local hospital. In this case it is in the model 4 hospital and I fully accept that, particularly for north Clare, it really is quite the trip into University Hospital Limerick, UHL. I cannot say anymore on the review other than that I think it is a good idea. It would be good for the people of Clare to have this and it would be good for Ennis hospital. Ideally we would not contract the services in. We would have them within the HSE as publicly provided services but, even as temporary measures, these services can sometimes provide a lot of benefit for patients.

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