Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Nobody here will disagree that we need digital and electronic health records. That is absolutely essential to delivering an operating health service and improving patient safety. We acknowledge the absolute necessity of ensuring we have all the necessary information, whether specific to a patient or beyond that. Holistic information is required for the data analysis that can provide us with all that is necessary for planning.

The issue is that we are not where we should be. In recent times, people have raised with me concerns regarding the accident and emergency department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. I will be chasing up those issues with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. Some of those who spoke to me mentioned the confusion arising at times from people searching for pieces of paper, particularly when they are moving from one section of the hospital to another. That does not make any sense in this day and age. Part of the rationale for delaying the full investment in the delivery of electronic health records and a working system was that we were all waiting on the new children's hospital. There is plenty in the public domain in that regard. We just need to get to the end of that but we also need to ensure we deliver this absolutely necessary move as soon as possible.

The Minister of State will not be shocked that I raise an issue about which we have spoken previously. I got some sort of an answer regarding the plan for a ten-bed extension in the Drogheda department of psychiatry. She will agree with me that we need a timeline. I have spoken previously about mental health services and bed provision. In fairness, I obtained information about the positions that currently need to be filled. There are 55 whole-time equivalent vacant posts across all disciplines. We need some element of a plan for how those posts can be delivered.

I previously raised with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, the issue regarding grade 5 dental patients who would usually have been dealt with in Louth County Hospital. Some of the grade 4 patients, whose cases were not as serious, have been dealt with. I am told that tender processes are being done in regard to a new initiative for the grade 5 patients, who are to be contacted between quarter 4 of 2024 and quarter 1 of 2025. We need some detail on that. Will the Minister of State follow up with the Minister on what this initiative will look like?

In Dundalk, we all welcomed the news that the old Carroll Village shopping centre is to become the primary care centre for which we have been waiting. Planning permission for that is through but we are talking about a need for recruitment in a huge number of disciplines, from mental health right through to disability and community care. We need a timeline for delivery of the centre and making sure all those posts are in place. A building and a plan in regard to that building are not quite what we need.

Where I am based, a huge number of people who have issues with cataracts are able to undergo operations in the North under the cross-border healthcare scheme. However, since 1 September, there has been a drop in funding for patients from €1,928 to €863. I hope there will be a review of all of that. I do not believe the price of operations has been halved.

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