Fianna Fáil General Election candidate for Kildare North Cllr Frank O’Rourke has called on the Government to address the growing waiting lists for services at Naas Hospital.

Cllr O’Rourke pointed out that patients are currently expected to wait for weeks on end for physiotherapy and other important services at the hospital.

“Waiting lists for hospital services have been on the rise ever since this Government came to power. The latest national figures show that over 13,000 people are waiting in excess of 18 months for an outpatient appointment. Meanwhile close to 60,000 patients are waiting more than a year for an appointment,” said Cllr O’Rourke.

“Naas Hospital has been particularly hit by this problem. I have spoken to numerous people from Naas and the surrounding area who have raised this with me. They report dissatisfaction with the long waiting times they are expected to endure for services at the hospital. Physiotherapy is particularly in demand and many people report that they have been waiting up to six months to access services at the hospital.

“It’s completely unacceptable that people are forced to wait for months to access physiotherapy. The patients who need physiotherapy are in constant pain and urgently need access to services to aid them in rehabilitation. It’s no use telling these people that they will have to wait 28 weeks or more before getting the treatment they need.

“Some patients needing physiotherapy have been advised to try and access similar services in Dublin. However many of these people, especially older people, find it difficult to access these services as they are way outside of their communities.

“The staff at Naas Hospital are doing their best with scarce resources. There is only so much they can do considering the Government is starving the hospital of the resources it needs. I’m calling on the Government to step up to the plate and ensure that Naas Hospital is adequately funded to help drive down these excessive waiting times,” said Cllr O’Rourke.

Fianna Fáil General Election candidate for Kildare North Cllr Frank O’Rourke is calling on Kildare County Council to allocate land banks in its possession for the construction of social housing. Cllr O’Rourke says such a measure would allow the local authority to work alongside private partnerships in order to increase its housing stock and provide much needed accommodation for people at risk of becoming homeless.

“We are in the midst of a serious housing crisis and the predictions are that the number of people needing accommodation will outstrip supply for the coming years. This crisis has already led to an increase in the number of people living in emergency accommodation in Kildare, and the lack of housing supply has led to a major spike in rents,” said Cllr O’Rourke. “

From meeting with people on the campaign trail it’s perfectly clear to me that housing is one of the greatest concerns for the public. People feel that not enough is being done to overcome the crisis. This is understandable when you consider the fact that there are currently 6,681 on the housing waiting list and the number is growing by the day. “Only 11 new houses were added Kildare County Council’s housing stock between 2011 and 2014. This is down from 791 houses which were provided to people on housing waiting lists between 2007 and 2010. The Government is failing in its obligation to provide quality and affordable housing to people in need. “Kildare County Council is finding it difficult to get to grips with the housing crisis in the face of rapidly rising demand.

I firmly believe that there needs to be a co-ordinated public-private partnership effort to help boost housing supply in the county. I am calling on our local authority to allocate land banks for housing, and to bring in outside expertise in order to speed up the design and construction process. This needs to be backed up with firm financial support from Government.”

Fianna Fáil General Election candidate for Kildare North Cllr Frank O’Rourke has accused the Government of continuing to betray medical card holders following the announcement of Budget 2016.

Cllr O’Rourke pointed out that Fine Gael and Labour have overseen a five-hold increase in prescription charges despite promising to abolish them altogether four years ago.

Many people took former Minister for Health James Reilly at his word when he promised to abolish prescription charges in 2011. Instead he decided to treble the charge to €1.50 in 2013, and then added another euro a year later, bringing the charge to €2.50 per item. This massive hike in prescription charges is particularly cruel on many older people who rely on medication on a daily basis.

Fine Gael and Labour insisted that economic circumstances meant it was necessary to triple prescription charges, despite independent analysis showing that there were fairer options open to the Government at the time. However again people took the Government at its word, but they are angry to realise that they have been betrayed yet again.

The Government had the option to abolish these deeply unfair prescription charges as part of Budget 2016. However they decided not to do this and haven’t even reduced the charge by one cent. It’s deeply disappointing for countless older people who were hoping that this unfair charge would be lifted as part of the budget.

“I am calling on our Government TD’s here in Kildare to speak some sense to their Ministers. This charge is continuing to cause deep upset amongst medical card holders and it should be abolished without any further delay,” said Cllr O’Rourke.