Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

They should not be trying to insinuate that everybody on social welfare is in a similar situation.

The debate I would like to call for today concerns a serious issue. Many health issues are raised here on a daily basis, but we need a specific debate on the structure and management of the HSE. We need this debate so that we can make significant savings within the system. We had a wonderful, though harrowing, presentation yesterday in the AV room from a vascular surgeon from Galway, Sherif Sultan. He indicated that due to cutbacks in HSE west, an ArtAssist technology which could be used to ensure that people do not need to have their legs amputated has been cut back. That technology would cost a lot less than it would cost to bring people into the acute system and treat them. The cost of using the ArtAssist technology to treat a person would be ¤1,200 over the 90-day period needed to complete the treatment, whereas bringing the person into the acute system costs ¤60,000. The problem appears to be that the community sector management does not talk to the hospital management and they do not sit down together to sort out the issue.

We have a similar situation with regard to alcohol and addiction services in Galway. Reports have come from consultants that it costs hospitals approximately ¤6 million to deal with people who present themselves with problems that are alcohol related. At the same time, community services are suffering cutbacks in services dealing with alcohol addiction. This is a systemic problem and we need to examine it and the management of the HSE. We must consider why certain sections of the HSE do not discuss the issues with each other when they could save the HSE millions of euro within its budget. I would like the Minister, Deputy Reilly, to come to the House to discuss this. We can give him the specific details on these issues on that day. I am sure every Senator could raise management issues within the HSE, where the lack of a manager or where sections do not talk to each other leads to the waste of millions of euro. More importantly, we do not provide patients with the proper care they need within the services.