O’Sullivan hits out at HSE over disability budgets for 2008

The “failure” of the Health Service Executive (HSE) to deliver 2008 disability budgets is leaving more and more patients ready for discharge stuck in acute hospital beds, according to Limerick Labour TD, Jan O’Sullivan.

The Limerick East Deputy said that on such case had been drawn to her attention involving a 40-year old man with a disability who “has been ready for discharge from Beaumont Hospital for the past two months, but who cannot go home because the disability services have no money to provide home support”.  

“He cannot be discharged because the Community Disability Services have no funds to provide home supports for him. This was confirmed to me in the Dail by Minister of State, John Moloney,” Deputy O’Sullivan said.

“This man’s case is urgent but not unique. Many other beds in other acute hospitals and in the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire have patients long since ready to go home. For instance the Public Accounts Committee was told last week that there were 622 patients occupying beds in acute hospitals nationally who could have been discharged, had step-down or community facilities been available,” she added.

Deputy O’Sullivan said she would be calling for the release of these funds as a matter of urgency.

“The current approach makes absolutely no sense. On the one hand in a hospital like Beaumont, you can have 40 to 50 people on trolleys in A+E waiting to be admitted, while at the same time beds for these patients could be freed up if proper community or step down facilities were available,” Deputy O’Sullivan said.

Lisbon Treaty guarantees full equality for Ireland, insists Fianna Fail deputy

Limerick West Fianna Fáil TD and Deputy Government Whip, John Cregan, has said that the Lisbon Reform Treaty is essential to guarantee full equality for Ireland and small countries on the Commission.  

Deputy Cregan said that many people don’t realise that European law “currently requires the reduction of the Commission’s size but give no guarantee that countries will be treated equally.”