Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will let Deputy Murphy in during the next round.

Abbeyleix is the one Deputy Burke is talking about, the old nursing unit there. That was pencilled in to be closed this time 12 years ago, but that was revisited and kept open, and rightly so, after a local campaign.

It is recognised by the HSE that it was the right thing to do. It is a brilliant site and a brilliant location. The issue is that there is underutilisation at the site. I do not want to go into every detail but one issue the HSE might get on top of is that there is still underutilisation there. The hospital used to have a capacity of 50-plus beds. The HIQA rules mean that if the day care centre is not there, there can only be 28 beds. The day care centre has been reopened and we want it kept on site. The HSE was eventually convinced to do that. It was the right thing to do, which it has acknowledged. It is there as part of a health hub, with all the services on site. It is good news that the day care centre is reopened and is busy. That leaves room for 22 beds.

There are a couple of issues in this regard. The first is that only ten of the beds are operational at the moment. Public representatives from across the political divide, including myself, have been trying to get the facility up to full capacity. If the HSE's estates section does one thing, I ask that somebody there gets a handle on this situation, for God's sake, and gets the 22 beds open. Up to recent weeks, only seven beds were open. That is one of the reasons there is a higher cost involved in operating this facility. I realise it is not possible to flick a switch and get everything up and running, but the issues must be addressed. I have been to the hospital and met the new young manager, who is excellent. She has worked in this sector before and has really taken Abbeyleix on as a mission. I expect it to be very successful under her.

There are various works to be done. One side of the building will offer step-down services for people leaving the acute hospitals. That part is not ready. There is plumbing work and different things to be done. It is a lovely building and it is ready to go but it needs to be fitted out. The other side of the building, in which the ten beds are now open, is under the control of Abbeyleix hospital management and provides respite services. There is one elderly patient resident there. There used to be a lot more resident patients in the past but there is only one now. On that side, people from the HSE estates section discovered the shower heads were not working, which held things up for months. Then they discovered ramps were needed at the door. After that, there were doors that had to be changed. Each of these issues took time to address. Why can an engineer or clerk of works not go in to assess what is needed and then procure it? I know there is a problem with getting builders and tradesmen at the moment but it seems to take forever and a day to get things done. That side of the facility still has issues that need to be dealt with but it is almost fully operational. The side that will be used as a step-down facility to take people out of acute care is not ready. People at senior level in the HSE estates section need to get their finger out and get it sorted. The delays are part of the reason costs are high.

The good news part of the Abbeyleix story concerns the people who have come to the nursing unit. I do not mean to say anything bad about private nursing homes, which are generally good. Some people have been sent to Abbeyleix from private facilities for specific reasons, including that their condition was not getting better and they needed more intensive treatment and more services on site. I recently had a letter from a woman who said she could not thank the staff of Abbeyleix enough for the care her mother has received there. Her mother has not only recovered but she is now back living in her own house after spending a few weeks in Abbeyleix. She got the services she needed on site. A multitude of services are provided there that are not provided in private nursing homes. I am not trying to defend anybody here but we have to compare like with like. As Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts and as a Deputy representing County Laois, I am asking the HSE estates section, for God's sake, to get the bloody place open. The staff want to get it up and running.

I have a final point to make regarding Abbeyleix. The facility is to operate under a dual management system. This is an operational management matter for the HSE to handle. It is not my baby. However, it does not make sense to have a 22-bed unit with two separate management structures and with corridors crisscrossing each other. There needs to be a single manager. Will Mr. Gloster come back to me on these issues to do with Abbeyleix?.