This article is from page 2 of the 2007-07-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
DEMONSTRATING that no matter is too small to be subject of a Dail question, Fine Gael’s Pat Breen has sought parliamentary time to ask the Minister for Health about a hearing ZNlen
In one of a number of Dail questions tabled since the return of the new Dail, Deputy Breen asked the Min- ister for Health and Children when an unnamed Clare person would be facilitated with a hearing aid and if she would make a statement on the matter.
However, in response, Munister Harney said that “the deputy’s ques-
tion relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive un- der the Health Act 2004”.
She added, “Accordingly, my de- partment has requested the Parlia- mentary Affairs Division of the ex- ecutive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply 1s- sued directly to the deputy.”
Other subjects that have been the focus of Deputy Breen’s represen- tations in the past week include the reason an appointment for surgery for a Clare person was cancelled; when a person would be facilitated with toilet facilities and when a per-
son would be facilitated with an ap- pointment for cataract surgery. Earlier this year Deputy Breen was the subject of controversy when he ta- bled a Dail question in relation to the early release of the convicted child rapist, Joe Nugent, while he also ta- bled a parliamentary question on the release of murderer, Chris Cooney. In response to Deputy Breen ta- bling the question on the hearing aid, outgoing deputy mayor of Clare, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) stated, “It costs the taxpayer €250 for PQs to be an- swered and when you consider that you can buy a hearing aid for €25, this appears not be the most efficient use of the privilege that goes with
Dail membership.
“There may be an element of lazy representation to this type of ques- tion that is unsatisfactory, but per- haps Deputy Breen had no choice to bring this matter to the attention of the Dail as efforts to have this ad- dressed through the parliamentary affairs section of the Health Service Executive (HSE) may have been un- successful.”
Deputy Breen failed to respond to questions emailed to him yesterday.
Last year it emerged that Deputy Breen had asked the most parlia- mentary questions of the four Clare TDs in the 29th Dail. He asked 1,989
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