Hospital Staff Dail Éireann — 2026-02-18 ============================================================ Mary Butler (FF), Waterford I thank the Deputy for raising this really important issue and giving me the opportunity to provide an update to the House on paediatric dermatology services in the HSE south west. Those services are provided through primary care services, regional dermatology services and specialist dermatology services based in Children's Health Ireland, CHI, in Dublin. Paediatric dermatology services in the south-west region are primarily provided in Cork from the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, which serves as the regional hub for the specialty. As the regional centre, it treats a wide range of conditions in infants, children and adolescents, including eczema, psoriasis, acne and rare genetic skin disorders. While SIVUH is the regional hub, Cork University Hospital also hosts outreach clinics and integrated care for children with complex needs. Public dermatology services from the regional hub centre also extend to Bantry General Hospital and University Hospital Kerry. In addition, CHI manages and delivers paediatric dermatology services across the three paediatric hospitals in Dublin. CHI is currently focused on reducing the numbers waiting, as well as reducing the waiting times, on the dermatology outpatient lists. I acknowledge the impact on patients and their families who have to travel to Dublin. I am not sure whether those having to do so are those accessing the specialist dermatology services based in CHI. I assure the Deputy that the delivery of high-quality patient-centred care and best practice remains at the centre of all hospital activity. Having said that, I see exactly the point he is making. I checked this morning and the waiting lists are extremely high, especially for children seeking dermatology supports. There has been a small reduction in the waiting list of 58 young children and adolescents. In January 2026, there were 227 people waiting between six and 12 months and 601 waiting from nought to six months. That shows the massive demand for this service. On the Deputy’s question regarding the recruitment of paediatric dermatology consultants to the south-west region, the HSE has advised that while it currently has no plan in this regard for 2026, the matter will be kept under consideration for the future. That seems to be at odds with what the Deputy has said. I certainly will look into it. Obviously, the HSE will use waiting-list initiative funding to take some of this list down. I will bring back to the regional executive officer, Dr. Andy Phillips, and the Minister for Health the Deputy's contention that there are no plans to hire an additional paediatric dermatology consultant given that it is clear that this waiting list is forever too high, especially for young children. --- 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/2026-02-18/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-18