Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Daly. I remind members of the need to be brief and give sufficient time to delegates to reply to the questions put to them. We are here to avail of their expertise.

In my constituency of Cork West and other constituencies the home help service has delivered cheaply and efficiently for the people, but it has not been rolled out in a way of which we can be proud. I have been inundated with requests for a home help service or extra hours for people who are ill. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae reminded us that he had heard of a blind gentleman who was availing of a five-day, not a seven-day, service, but a person does not regain his or her sight at the weekend. I am informed by the Minister that extra funding was allocated a couple of months ago, but it is not happening on the ground. Many people worry that they will lose their rural clinics. Given the lack of doctors coming to rural areas, it is more difficult to keep them open. We must maintain them for the people living in these communities.

The question of employing nurses on the islands will be very important. The delegates may elaborate on how it will happen.

There are positives. In rural communities such as Goleen, from where I come, funding is available for meals on wheels services and social centres. There were 50 people in a social centre that I visited yesterday. Without funding from the HSE these things would not happen. The 50 people to whom I refer suffer from rural isolation and such centres are good for their physical and mental health and well-being. Thanks must go to the HSE for providing the funding required, but the local community does 90% of the work.

Bantry General Hospital has a massive catchment area, but a few years go it lost its emergency unit overnight, which has had a serious effect. We spoke to representatives of An Garda Síochána earlier about the fear of crime, but there is also a fear of bad health or an accident. A person living on the Beara Peninsula is over two hours from the nearest hospital. The day services available in Bantry General Hospital are second to none. I recently met a person who usually travelled to Cork, but they had gone to the hospital in Bantry for an X-ray and were out after half an hour. They could not believe it as they would have been in Cork University Hospital for six or seven hours. There is, however, an issue with services at night time and I hope the delegates can tell us that there is some light at the end of tunnel in the case of services at Bantry General Hospital.