I ask the Taoiseach and the new Minister for Health, in light of the very disturbing article in yesterday's newspapers which highlighted that disabled and elderly persons' applications for home help would be delayed until later in the year, that this issue be dealt with in a proactive fashion, because elderly and disabled people do not have much time on their side. When they need help to get out of bed they need it immediately; it cannot be delayed. The programme for Government provides that a review of the operation and funding of national home help services is to be undertaken. I ask that this be dealt with urgently.

Operations and serious medical interventions and procedures are being delayed at Cork University Hospital and Mercy University Hospital in Cork due to a lack of beds. Surgeons are ready and waiting to undertake operations but they do not have beds available for patients after their operations. I ask that these two matters be dealt with urgently.

In respect of the case of disabled people which Deputy Healy-Rae rightly raises, I am not sure whether he is referring to the disabled person's grant from the local authorities-----

No. I am talking about home help for these people. It is in the programme for Government.

-----or the home help service. They are often related, depending on the nature of the application, in terms of what is the best package for each individual person. I do not see why those applications cannot be followed through speedily. As the Deputy rightly pointed out, in many cases the people do not have much time left and they deserve to have the best facilities made available to them as quickly as possible. I will take up the issue with the Minister for Health.

The number of cancellations is a small percentage of the number of operations carried out. The Minister is about to carry out a review of bed capacity nationally in the hospitals. That work will be under way reasonably soon.