In an earlier reply to Deputy Harty, the Taoiseach said there are many vacant posts in the HSE that are not really vacant because there are people already working in them. I know of one post that is definitely vacant, namely, that of a specialist diabetic nurse in the north west diabetes services. People who have type 1 diabetes and have been prescribed an insulin pump are unable to avail of diabetic services training because there is no specialist diabetic nurse to provide them with that training. I have raised this matter on numerous occasions, including with the CEO of the HSE north west, the manager of the hospital and by way of parliamentary question. I sent a copy of the reply to that parliamentary question to the Minister for Health a couple of months ago. It states that an application for funding for the specialist nurse had been made. There are dozens of people in the north west who have been prescribed diabetic services and insulin pumps but they are unable to avail of them because there is no training available to them. This is a scandalous situation and it needs to be resolved urgently. As I said, I have raised this issue before on numerous occasions, including by way of parliamentary question, but I have not received an adequate response. I ask the Minister for Health to ensure this situation is resolved.

I thought Deputy Martin Kenny was going to rise today to welcome the decision to grant planning permission for 50 new beds at Sligo hospital. On the important issue he has raised of a diabetic specialist nurse, I acknowledge that the Deputy has raised the matter with me previously. I have asked my officials to come back to me on it and I will revert to the Deputy by the end of the day on the matter.