Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation Dail Éireann — 2020-07-23 ============================================================ Patricia Ryan (SF), Kildare South I wish to ask the Tánaiste about the detail of the promise in the programme for Government to "[i]ncrease the number of specialist palliative care beds countrywide over the next five years, ensuring that there will be a hospice serving every region in the country." I was very disappointed when reading the programme for Government that there is a lack of detail throughout the document. There are very few numbers, which means there are very few clear targets. I feel that this is just a way to avoid being held to account when little or no progress is being made. What is meant by a "region"? Is it a county, a province or a major town? County Laois does not have an inpatient hospice or a specialist palliative care unit but we need one. We need a clear plan as to how and when it will be delivered, and we need one that is fit for purpose and for the future. In developing end-of-life services, the care and dignity of a dying person and his or her family must be our focus. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2020-07-23/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:28+00:00 Sitting date: 2020-07-23