Shortly after Christmas, what we would classify as a fit young woman of 39 years of age was in a gym in Athlone. When she came out with her two young children, she fell to the ground. I compliment the paramedics and air ambulance staff who brought her to Beaumont Hospital, where they found a bleed in the brain. I compliment Beaumont Hospital for all of the work it did. The hospital stabilised her and did a lot of work but, unfortunately, where walking and speech are concerned, her speech and one side of her body were affected. Physio and rehabilitation were required.

She was told that going to Dún Laoghaire was an option, but the wait there was very long. Then, she looked at Clontarf. Peamount was out of the area. Unlike what often goes on in here with the bickering, I want to be a bit different. I want to compliment my constituency colleague, Dr. Martin Daly, because both of us know the family. This is not about votes or politics. This is about two people working together who have at heart the interest of a young person with young children and who has been left in a situation that is very difficult.

Since then, we have been frustrated by the HSE systems. Under them, Beaumont cannot transfer a person to Merlin Park. You have to go through another hospital in the west of Ireland, such as Ballinasloe. In fairness to Deputy Daly, thanks to the calls he has made, the girl has been transferred to Ballinasloe. However, it is an horrific situation. An insurance company has walked away from the insurance the lady had. One top of that, this woman is trying every day. Her husband goes up and they go for walks. She is powering on, so determined to make a full recovery. The problem here has to do with a bed space, speech and language therapy and physio.

I ask the Tánaiste to work with us and to ask the Minister for Health to work with us. This needs resolving for someone who has gone through a tough situation. She is a determined, fit, young person of 39 who wants to make a full recovery. She has worked all her life, as has her husband, and they are in the hospital every day trying to defeat the hard situation they have come through. She walked with a Zimmer frame, then threw that away and walked on her own, but the hand needs help. Speech and language therapy is the big one. Once again, I compliment my constituency colleague for the work he has done because I might know a lot about agriculture, but I have to hand it to him on health in the way he would guide you.

This is not about me, him or anybody else. This is about a person - a human being - with young kids of seven- and eight-years-old whom we want to see has a future that makes them better and gets them what they need. I ask the Tánaiste to help us in this situation.

It is important to say that Deputy Fitzmaurice knows about a lot more than just agriculture. He knows about being a decent human being as well. I thank him for the way he is approaching this issue and working with his colleague, Deputy Martin Daly. That is one of the finest contributions I have heard in here in awhile.

I obviously do not know the young woman the Deputy is talking about, but I can only imagine the absolute nightmare she, her husband, their young children and their wider family have endured. I hope one day, when she recovers, that I will get to meet her because she sounds like she has an extraordinary determination in her recovery journey. As we all know, albeit without knowing anything about the clinical situation, the progress people can make after the most incredible injuries is quite remarkable. I appreciate and will pass on the praise the Deputy has levelled on the air ambulance and Beaumont Hospital, and the many interactions the woman has had with the health service.

The short answer is I will ask the Minister for Health to engage with the Deputy and Deputy Daly on this woman's pathway of care and what can be done. As a rule of thumb and for good reason, we do not comment on individual clinical plans in the Dáil but I can certainly ask that the Minister engage with both Deputies and the HSE on this. Based on what the Deputy has said, it sounds like much progress is being made, but there are clearly pinch points in key areas. Deputy Fitzmaurice referenced the speech and language therapy, physio and other areas. The Deputy mentioned a transfer to Ballinasloe, which I think has happened. I am hoping that transfer helps. I will try to work out what that means with regard to Merlin Park.

The best thing I can do is ask the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to engage with both Deputies and the HSE on this. I offer the woman every good wish.

I thank the Tánaiste for his response. The one thing I will say is, in the overall context, for people who go through a traumatic injury like that, it is about the facility. It is not about that one person alone; it is about people right around the country. If you leave a person in a hospital that does not cater for something, then you are holding a bed that may be able to help someone else. It is a question of putting in resources around the country.

I am appreciative of what Beaumont and all of the paramedics have done, but when the family looked at Peamount, whatever system that is in place in the HSE said it was outside the area. Ironically, if a person came from Roscommon or elsewhere in the west, you would imagine that the likes of Beaumont could ring Merlin Park and ask it to facilitate this, but no. The Tánaiste might bring this to the Minister's attention. The systems here mean that you have to go to one place in the CHO 2 area before you can jump into another place there. That is the problem. Neither Deputy Daly nor I might have a lot of hair left, but we are pulling our hair out trying to get around this to help this family.

I thank the Tánaiste for his comments and I ask him to get the Minister to please engage with us, because we want to get this person back to full health, which I believe will happen.

I hope that is the case. Certainly, I will ask the Minister to engage with both Deputies Fitzmaurice and Daly.

I will just make a couple of comments. The point the Deputy made about the physical environment was a very important one. One of the happiest days I had as Taoiseach was the opening of the newly refurbished National Rehabilitation Hospital, NRH. It has always been an incredible hospital in Dún Laoghaire. To a layman like me, it has performed miracles in people's rehabilitation journeys. However, the facilities were not where they needed to be. For somebody who has to spend a long period in a hospital on that journey, you need to have your bit of privacy, space, an en suite and access to therapy spaces. Real progress has been made in that regard.

I take the Deputy's point, and will bring it to the attention of the Minister and the HSE, regarding the system and the need for more co-ordination. My own view on this is that there are certain areas where it is so specialist that there needs to be a national approach whereby people can move seamlessly to the most appropriate place across the country. I will certainly ask the Minister to engage with both Deputies on that.

I wish the woman all the very best.