Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I wish to raise the really significant issue of podiatry care in west Cork and will begin by providing some background information. There are more than 300 people in west Cork on a waiting list that is going nowhere. The majority of the people on the list are elderly. Many suffer with arthritis and diabetes and they need podiatry care. Last March, 15 out of 25 whole-time equivalent posts were vacant and because of that, people are waiting over a year to access podiatry care. It is bizarre that elderly and vulnerable people are waiting for nearly a year to access this service. I am concerned about the provision of podiatry services in the short term. In the longer-term, we have been told that a recruitment campaign is ongoing. I ask the Minister of State to outline the position with regard to that campaign over the last six months. Six months ago there were 15 vacancies. Have we made progress in filling those posts? What are the short-term care options for the 300 people who are so badly affected by this issue? At the moment, the service is firefighting in its efforts to ensure that people can see a podiatrist.

The way in which the service is organised is also a matter of concern. I have been contacted by people who are travelling from Clonakilty to Bantry and from Skibbereen to Clonakilty to access podiatry services. Where is the joined-up thinking here? We need to make sure that where there are podiatrists in a town, they are not travelling 30 or 40 miles to another town for an appointment. People have contacted me who would have had three or four podiatry appointments per year previously but now they are only getting one appointment every 18 months. This is a really significant issue. I realise that a recruitment campaign is ongoing but 15 vacancies out of a total of 25 posts is a really significant number and the knock-on impacts are enormous.

I ask the Minister of State to provide an update on the filling of the aforementioned vacancies. What is the short-term plan? We know the long-term plan is to fill the vacancies but we need to see some movement here. The 300 people in west Cork that I am dealing with need to see this service up and running.