Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. She makes a very fair point. I will speak to the Minister following this discussion and I will try to get a handle on the national picture. The answer I have given the Senator is very much focused on CHO 3 but the Senator makes a very valid argument that if there were better alignment between all nine CHOs and a streamlining of the available funding, that might improve the situation. Ultimately, we want to ensure that the three people to whom the Senator refers and the other people on the waiting list of 25 in the CHO 3 area are dealt with as quickly as possible. I will have a conversation with the Minister in terms of the HSE looking at this issue from a national perspective in order to try to get better alignment between the CHOs to better utilise the system. Each CHO working on its own is not going to solve the problem and better collaboration may be required. I will speak to the Minister on behalf of the Senator.