Vol. 430 No. 2
15 Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for Health his views on the tremendous work undertaken throughout the State by the hospice movement; and if he has any plans to encourage the provision of appropriate hospice care in each health board region.
I am acutely aware of the very valuable contribution made by voluntary groups under the aegis of the hospice movement in the provision of hospice and home care for the terminally ill.
In many instances, multidisciplinary care is provided for such patients in co-operation with local hospital and community care services. Partnership and co-operation between the statutory agencies and voluntary bodies working in this area is essential to ensure that services for the terminally ill can be provided in a planned and co-ordinated fashion.
The Deputy will be interested to learn that I recently launched the newly formed Irish Association for Palliative Care which will provide a network of support for all those involved in palliative care services throughout the Thirty-two Counties.
It will encourage the development of palliative care services nationally and will seek to promote educational and research initiatives in this area.
I also had the pleasure of launching the association's booklet Guidelines for the Development of a Palliative Care Service, the publication of which was partly sponsored by my Department. This booklet was written to provide guidelines for existing and developing palliative care services throughout the country and should prove an invaluable source of help and information for those involved in the provision of hospice care.
Will the Minister confirm there is a palliative care movement in each of the health board areas? I accept that every group and body seeking funding asks the Minister for it and that it is not possible to accede to all requests but will he address the question of funding for this group? Perhaps he could make a sum of money available to the hospice movement through the national lottery? The hospice movement does excellent work but is not established throughout the country. How is it proposed to extend the palliative care service to all the health board regions and, ultimately, to each county?
I am very glad there is a national association for palliative care, which I launched. I was able to fund at least some of its work. A number of initiatives throughout the country have been funded either directly by my Department or by the health board — the list runs into many pages and I will not incur the Deputy's wrath by reading it into the record. However, I will provide it for the Deputy's information.
I will look at any request for funding to see how this very important area can be assisted within the limited funds available. I will certainly look kindly at any application for funding for a national initiative.
