Michael D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a terrible thing to call someone a gombeen man. A far superior service is available. In respect of whether what is available in Wexford can replicated in the areas in question, I will not get into a debate about whether it should be Roscommon or Ballinasloe. That is unfortunate party politics that we normally do not do in this Chamber. I feel a bit aggrieved and annoyed. I do not know Senator Mullins particularly well but I know he is an honourable and decent fellow.

He has been put in a stupid position because of a motion that carries no weight.

I wish to put on the record the reason the service is far superior. In my part of north County Wexford, where we serve 35,000 people, there are no acute beds, nor is there any in County Waterford. Rather, they are in Wicklow. The number of admissions in 2013 was 46, one third of the national average. This is the direction of A Vision for Change. We do not want to put people into institutions like St. Senan's. I know nothing about St. Brigid's, but St. Senan's was a terrible place to put people.

In my area, the average length of stay is 11.67 days, 44% of the national average. This is the direction of A Vision for Change. The bed occupancy rate in Newcastle in County Wicklow is 14% of the national average. In Gorey, 54% of all admissions are for one week or less. The old way of people being somewhere for a prolonged period of time and having a stigma attached to mental health services is not the way forward. If what we have in Wexford is put in place for the people of Ballinasloe and Roscommon, they will have a far superior service, but they must buy into it and the Minister of State must provide the services.