Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 304: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the estimated number of fatalities from head injuries that have occurred in each of Counties Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon and Donegal as a result of prolonged delays in accessing neurosurgical services in either Dublin or Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41555/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The information requested by the Deputy is not available in my Department. My Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to check whether the information is available and, if so, to provide it directly to the Deputy.

The Health Service Executive recently published a Review of Neurosurgical Services in Ireland. The Report states that information in relation to neurosurgical inpatient and daycase discharges in 2004 indicate that inpatient access to neurosurgical service is almost uniform from all areas of the country, except the South and South East where access is slightly higher. It also indicates that problems in accessing neurosurgical care are more closely impacted by availability of beds and other resources rather than geographical distance from a unit.

The Report recommends that the future development of safe, high quality neurosurgical services would be best served by a two-pronged approach of increasing capacity in Dublin and Cork and improving access to neurosurgical units, including transport and telemedicine facilities for referring hospitals.