Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this really important issue. As we know, diabetes is a complex and pervasive condition that can require management across the healthcare service. This includes care delivered by general practice and community specialists, hospital inpatient specialist care, as well as self-management support. As we know, many people can live very well with diabetes and can self-manage it.

The increasing prevalence of diabetes poses a challenge to our health service, with increasing costs driven primarily by hospitalisation and treating associated complications. The Department of Health supports the HSE national clinical programme for diabetes in the planned delivery of diabetes services. The GP chronic disease management, CDM, programme, which commenced in 2020, includes type 2 diabetes as one of four chronic diseases in respect of which General Medical Services patients receive ongoing planned GP care. From last Thursday, 30 November, the CDM preventative programme has been expanded to include all women who have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes or pre-eclampsia since January, a cohort at particular risk of developing diabetes. The women that subsequently develop diabetes will be treated under the CDM programme, regardless of whether they hold a medical or GP visit card. I know the Senator will welcome that. In addition, under the enhanced community care programme, 30 new diabetes community specialist teams are being established within specialist ambulatory care hubs. These teams will be staffed with clinical nurse specialists, dieticians and podiatrists to enable specialist care closer to the patient's home.

Currently, as the Senator stated, Ireland does not have a national diabetes register. It is acknowledged that the absence of a register represents a barrier to improving care for those with diabetes in Ireland. With a diabetes register, the HSE could better track the prevalence of the condition and measure outcomes. This would improve planning for future services and potentially reduce costs.As part of budget 2023, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, allocated funding to commence the development of a national diabetes registry. A multidisciplinary HSE and academic team, with clinical public health and IT representation, commenced work on phase 1 of this multi-year project this year. However, progress has been delayed due to the pause on recruitment of grade 7 and above for management and administration posts. Nonetheless, the development of a national diabetes registry remains a priority and will have long-term benefits for the improvement and delivery of diabetes care by providing reliable data for healthcare planners and policymakers.

As part of budget 2024, €500,000 in further funding has been provided for the development of this important initiative, including in respect of the recruitment of the necessary staff, which is very welcome. I also make mention of the all-party committee for diabetes here in the Oireachtas, which is chaired by Deputy Devlin. There are many members of that all-party committee. I previously chaired the all-party committee on dementia, and we have made great progress since. In the all-party committees, politics are left at the door and we just discuss the real, important issues.

I thank Senator Conway again for raising this matter. This is something that is very close to my own heart. In the previous Dáil, I tabled several questions about diabetes. People can live very well with it. I agree wholeheartedly with the Senator that we need a specialist register.