Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. McAnenly for his presentation. I am delighted the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has come before the committee. We will also have a discussion with the Minister and the Department of Health. We requested that NAMA come before the committee but it declined. It has furnished us with some documentation which does not throw much light on what we would like to find out about the offers put on the table and how much it would have cost to secure Mount Carmel Hospital as a going concern and private entity or to have it taken over by the State and placed in the public hospital system.

I do not know what we can do about Mount Carmel Hospital. We all know where it is. It is closed and being wound down. Documents have been transferred in recent days and it is ceasing to exist as a hospital as we speak. It is still important that we find out how much it would have cost to maintain the hospital if due diligence were done by the Department of Health and HSE on whether it would have been an asset for the State in the provision of health care.

I visited Mount Carmel Hospital a number of weeks ago and one could sense the staff were very deflated. They were shattered. Caesarean sections were taking place when I was there. It was a very vibrant and alive hospital. What I found amazing when examining the figures was the number of public patients being treated there under the National Treatment Purchase Fund. These patients will now go back on the waiting list and the National Treatment Purchase Fund is shopping around, examining other private health providers such as the Beacon Hospital and the Mater Private Hospital to see whether they can fill the void. This is why I cannot hold out much hope for the hospital itself. We felt we should try to find out exactly why it closed and whether it was a simple case of liquidation because it was no longer viable or if other avenues were available.

I wish to convey my sympathies to the staff. It has been a part of the community of south Dublin and part of the broader health system for many years. I represent a Cork constituency and people came from throughout the country for specific treatment in Mount Carmel Hospital, referred through the National Treatment Purchase Fund or private health insurance.

It does not make much difference now, but how it was handled by NAMA, the courts and the liquidator and how they informed the staff was very disappointing to say the very least. We should put on record that sending out a press release or informing the media before staff and management is distasteful. It happens all too often in this country that the last people to be told are the staff. A press release is sent out from a PR organisation to inform people their livelihoods have been taken away and it is not good enough. This was badly handled.

Mr. McAnenly stated Mount Carmel Hospital was not just a maternity hospital and this was also brought to my attention when I was there. A large volume of other procedural traffic also went through it. When one considers this, what must now happen will put huge pressure on the public hospital system in the greater Dublin area, and other private hospitals will have to be contracted to take up the void. We have not thought this through. If it came down to €2 million or €3 million, based on analysis done on the cost of social welfare and other Departments, it would raise very serious questions on what effort the Department of Health or HSE made to see whether it could be rescued as a going concern and brought into State ownership so it could continue to provide a service.

The development of the national children's hospital at the St. James's Hospital site is a key issue. I am not an expert on planning, architectural design or engineering but the development of a massive infrastructural development at such a tight site will cause huge dislocation to St. James's Hospital. It will have a major impact on the workings of St. James's Hospital for a number of years while it is being constructed. Mount Carmel Hospital could have taken the overflow or surplus during this construction. Even at this late stage, this needs to be explored. If we cannot reverse what has happened, it should still be seen as a medical facility to complement the public health system in the greater Dublin area.

I do not know what we can do for the staff of Mount Carmel Hospital at this late stage. They have our sympathy. I thoroughly believe it is appropriate to bring the witnesses and other stakeholders before the committee to hear what they have to say about why the facility was allowed to close.