To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to an issue in Tipperary CHO3 and CHO5, in which diabetes-related lower limb amputations and in-patient foot ulceration treatment have increased significantly between 2020 and 2021 (details supplied); if he will provide an update on the number of permanent full-time podiatry posts in CHO3 and CHO5; the number of posts that remain unfilled in CHO3 and CHO5; if his attention has been drawn to reports that a shortage of podiatrists in these areas is causing extensive waiting lists for community-based therapy and is resulting in no local referral pathways for GPs, which eventually leads to hospitalisation if left untreated; the measures being taken to recruit podiatrists in these CHO areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
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