James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 25: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the fact that 133 terminally ill patients are seeking access to hospice care and are being forced to wait days for inpatient, home care and day care services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26720/09]

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I apologise for the fact that the Minister of State, Deputy Áine Brady, cannot be here to respond to this question.

There is no doubt that when people are diagnosed with a terminal illness or when they are in the last stages of their treatment, it is so important that they receive the appropriate care in an appropriate setting. This is important not only for patients, but also for their families.

Last year, 2,655 people were treated in specialist inpatient palliative care units. Some 7,575 people received home-based specialist care. Some 729 people received intermediate palliative care and a further 1,865 received day care services.

I am aware of a recent newspaper article in which the Irish Hospice Foundation suggested that 133 patients were awaiting hospice care. The Department and the HSE work closely with the Irish Hospice Foundation to develop these services. Historically, there have been parts of the country where inpatient palliative care services are underdeveloped and other areas of the country where the services are well developed.

The aim of the Minister and the Government is to develop these services by prioritising areas in the country such as the Louth-Drogheda in the north-east, Laois-Offaly in the midlands and Waterford in the south-east for the capital development of specialist inpatient units, and other areas where the home-care service is underdeveloped, including Wicklow, Laois-Offaly and Longford-Westmeath.

Additional inpatient palliative care beds have been opened in the past few years in existing hospices, including six in Blackrock and an additional ten beds opened in Milford Hospice, Limerick, in 2006. The Department is also working with the HSE to open four beds in the Athlone hospice later this year.

The provision of appropriate end-of-life care has been, and continues to be, a priority for the Government.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The Irish Hospice Foundation's figures do not suggest, but show, that there is a palliative care shortage of 610 and a bed deficit of 237. They point out that the palliative care budget needs to be doubled to meet this shortage. I find this poignant because money was allocated by the Oireachtas to palliative care in the past. We found out subsequently, however, that the HSE siphoned that money off to use in other areas. Since that time the Minister has given us an undertaking that this cannot happen again, which I welcome. The reality, however, is that people now have to queue to die. It is something none of us could have envisaged in the past. They cannot get into an appropriate service for the last days of their lives. What does the Minister or Minister of State propose to address this matter? In particular, why are we now means testing terminally-ill patients for medical cards? This is something that was not done in the past.

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I certainly cannot compete with that nonsense about queuing to die. I am not into the quotes-----

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State should say that to the 132 patients who are currently waiting for services.

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I will come to that. Each week there is a tear jerker. I will respond to the Deputy's assertions, but I will not be saying things like "queuing to die". I did not want to mention this in my initial response. I wonder about the 133 inpatients. The HSE cannot substantiate this figure, and I wonder about creating this impression and I am worried about families that have to read this sort of stuff. It is not the case-----

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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They can never substantiate the numbers on trolleys either.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Allow the Minister of State to respond.

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy may laugh and sneer, but I am just presenting the facts. For those who are genuinely concerned about this, funding is ring-fenced and has been committed already. I will not go into the detail for the record, but it is important to look at the yearly funding from 2004 to 2008. Nobody should suggest that we are trying to park the huge demand for funding. The additional funding has doubled each year from €1.2 million in 2004 to an extra €3 million in 2008. I can also show the levels of funding by way of commitments to hospice funding. The monthly average number of people receiving palliative care treatment for the past year was 286, which is again an increase. Therefore, I cannot accept the Deputy's claims. An average of 133 people received immediate palliative care, and a further 291 received day-care services. Funding has been increased, funding is ring-fenced, and I do not buy for a second the claim that people are queuing to die.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I do not accept HSE figures regarding trolleys, and I would have much more faith in Irish Hospital Foundation figures than I would have in HSE figures. The Minister of State alludes to funding figures between 2004 and 2008, but this was the same period in which the HSE siphoned off funds for other areas of activity. Again, that is sleight of hand and misrepresentation. The Minister of State did not answer my question as to why terminally-ill patients are currently being means tested for medical cards.

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I apologise for not answering that question. I slipped my mind because I was so carried away with the initial statement made by the Deputy. Everybody over a particular figure is means tested for a medical card. As the Deputy knows well, once medical evidence is presented to the HSE, that is taken into account.