For young people with diabetes, moving from multiple daily injections to an insulin pump is such a step forward. It is a life-changer. Some 554 children and young adults are serviced by the paediatric diabetic department at Cork University Hospital, CUH, but as of two weeks ago, only 198 of them, 36%, had a pump. As of two weeks ago, 24 under the age of six were being forced to wait for pump therapy. Due to understaffing, CUH was allowed become the only hospital in the country where pump upgrades had to be paused.

I congratulate the parents who campaigned long and hard on these issues and whose efforts have played a key role in winning extra resources for this department. There will be two new nurses this July, a psychologist position is to be filled shortly, as well as an advanced nurse practitioner, and there will be extra administrative resources. However, through no fault of their own, the doctors here have a significant backlog to address. I will watch the progress made like a hawk and will demand extra resources in the coming months should that prove necessary.

In the last Estimates round, and in terms of providing a substantial budget to the Department of Health, it encompassed expanded services across the board, including paediatric diabetic services and a whole range of other services. This is being realised through the recruitment of staff and additional resources at various locations across the country, including CUH. We will continue to keep an eye on that and to keep the pressure on.