I thank my colleague for tabling this question. We recently had CHI and the HSE in the committee on this issue. In the Gallery were representatives of the hip dysplasia advocacy group. Afterwards, I met one of those dads in the car park, a young dad and an awful nice guy. He was in a ball of tears. I do not know this man. I had never met him before and he had never met me. That is the level of distress these parents are under - crying to a perfect stranger in the car park of Leinster House. It is not something I ever thought I would see or something I ever want to see again. I ask the Minister for two things. First, will she meet with the hip dysplasia advocacy group? Second, the HSE gave me a commitment that day to make all supports available to the parents. I ask that each and every one of them be offered psychology or counselling supports, given the level of distress these parents are under.

Sentiment score: 0.01

I cannot fail to take the opportunity to speak further on the issue I raised with the Minister at committee yesterday around the emergency supply scheme, where somebody from a virtual clinic, or leaving as a previous inpatient of a hospital, has 24 hours to get to their GP if they are a medical card holder and will receive only a seven-day supply of medication. There is a very real opportunity for our pharmacists to be more involved in this scheme. It is absolutely bonkers, to be quite frank, that you would have only 24 hours. It also does not reflect the reality of the prevalence of virtual appointments and the lack of need for forms to be filled in triplicate at this point. There has to be a better way of doing it, and a very important part of that would be our pharmacy network.

Sentiment score: 0.25