Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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500. To ask the Minister for Health the details of his engagements in relation to funding the appointment of clinical psychologists for each acute hospital diabetes multidisciplinary team; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12433/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Diabetes is a complex condition that can have a profound impact on the quality of life of people living with the condition, the management of emotional and psychological well-being is an important part of diabetes care and self-management. Self-management education programmes such as DAFNE (for people living with type 1 diabetes) and DESMOND and Discover Diabetes (for people living with type 2 diabetes) help provide psychosocial support for many people living with diabetes.

The Model of Integrated Care for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes sets out that diabetes is to be managed within the acute system by the diabetes multidisciplinary team including access to psychology support where available.

Budget 2021 and Budget 2022 provided funding for a large permanent expansion of the workforce, both for the shorter-term needs brought on by COVID-19 and the long-term needs to build capacity to deliver healthcare needs for the population. 2021 and 2022 have seen the largest and second largest annual increases in the workforce since the foundation of the HSE. Funding will continue to be provided in 2022 for the staffing requirements of the health service, staffing increases are determined by the healthcare delivery needs of the service areas providing care.