Before speaking on the matter I wish to raise, I am delighted that the height requirement for gardaí has been changed, a matter about which I wrote to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform for years because Special Branch officers were obvious on account of their height and bulk. It was almost impossible for them to go about incognito.
The matter I wish to raise is of national importance. I want to keep the nation on its feet, as I am sure the Minister of State does. Some years ago the Minister for Health and Children established a committee to examine the statutory regulation of various paramedical professions. He subsequently produced a White Paper covering physiotherapists, speech and occupational therapists, and chiropodists or pediatrists as some are called. However, there has been a considerable delay in introducing regulations for the various groups concerned. The training of chiropodists varies from diploma or degree courses in the United Kingdom to correspondence courses.
A dispute arose within the profession regarding the statutory basis and this led to a High Court case which is still awaiting a final settlement. That is the concern of the profession and the Department of Health and Children. My concern is that those involved in the dispute are unable to be registered to provide services for patients on the GMS list.
The Minister has a list of recognised chiropodists to whom these patients can go, but the list has been closed since January 2000 because of the dispute. This has led to many problems because some chiropodists have retired and others have died. The people who have taken over as replace ments in those practices are not eligible to be recognised for payment for GMS patients even though in all the cases that have come to my attention they are very well trained. This has resulted in a serious loss of service to the patients, particularly the elderly and those with systemic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes.
I am the president of the Diabetic Federation of Ireland and I take a very active interest in the medical problems of diabetics. They can have serious foot problems and the maintenance of good foot hygiene and regular chiropody is extremely important for their health. Sixty per cent of the money spent on treating diabetes goes towards treating the complications of diabetes. Diabetic ulcers on the feet are a serious problem and require hospital admission. Hospital beds are taken up by cases which could have been treated at primary level.
I was concerned that diabetes was not mentioned in the quality and fairness health strategy. There is an international plague of diabetes due to the increase in obesity and lack of exercise. I was pleased when I read the primary care document. Top of the list of proposed membership of primary care teams was chiropody. The Minister therefore recognises that chiropody is extremely important in primary health care. I suggest that it is also extremely important in secondary and tertiary health care because chiropody treatment will keep people out of hospital. Two years is a long time in a patient's life. I ask the Minister to outline his proposals to ensure that the places on the list are re-opened immediately. Too many patients have suffered in the past two years.
