Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is only one mention of public health nurses in the whole programme of Government. Many parents have contacted me in recent weeks to say their children are not getting the vital developmental checks they need from public health nurses. When a baby is born, developmental checks are carried out at regular intervals. During the baby's first week, a public health nurse visits the home and typically checks the baby's weight and overall health. The public health nurse then carries out a developmental assessment when the baby is three months old. Babies in my area, Dublin Mid-West, are not getting this assessment due to a shortage of public health nurses. Parents are concerned that there could be a delay in diagnosing certain conditions. Developmental checks are crucial to identifying whether additional supports are needed. The brain develops most during the first five years of a child's life. I raised this matter directly with the HSE and was informed the developmental checks in Dublin Mid-West are basically suspended. I put it to the Minister of State that this is simply not good enough.

I will raise the case of an elderly lady from my area. She is 86 years of age, has Alzheimer's disease and is at risk of falling. She has already fallen twice. She is waiting for an appointment with an occupational therapist to be able to make her home safe. I made representations to the HSE in June last year, outlining the urgency of the case. It was so urgent the HSE did not get back to me until last month, six months later. The response, when I got it, stated the current waiting time for occupational therapy is 184 weeks for this lady. That is three and a half years of waiting time for an 86-year-old Alzheimer's patient. That is simply not good enough. I put it to the Government that, not only has it failed but it has broken the social contract with this lady and other people like her. The onus is on the Government to fix the broken system that has allowed this to happen. I have seen nothing in this programme for Government that gives me any confidence that this will be resolved going forward. I urge the Government to go away and really look at how it can resolve this. We cannot have a situation where an 86-year-old lady who has Alzheimer's disease and is at risk of falling is waiting three and a half years for an appointment. It is simply not good enough.

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