Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister, Mr. Gloster and the officials here this morning. I thank them for their work and assistance in various matters. As I have done a number of times over the last week or two, I wish to raise waiting lists for psychological services for children in Kerry. A total of 217 were waiting back in 2020. That has risen dramatically to 1,022 in 2025, an increase of 470%. That is not acceptable and needs to be addressed. I am raising this in the context of CAMHS in both north and south Kerry. I know many of the families that have been affected by the CAMHS scandal.

I might as well mention the lookback review as well. Is there any update on that? Regarding waiting lists in University Hospital Kerry, I previously raised the waiting times in the accident and emergency department, etc. My understanding is that a new bed block is required there to address the waiting lists. Is there any update on that?

Regarding our senior citizens and other issues I raised, those being discharged are waiting for beds. I understand, because I had to look into it, that the way the system works is that, in the community hospitals and nursing homes, they ring in each morning and say what beds, if any, they have available. Patients are allocated to the first available bed, even though it could be the farthest away bed. That makes no sense at all to me. I have raised this matter on the floor of Dáil Éireann, and the Minister of State with special responsibility for older people, Deputy O’Donnell, has been very helpful in a number of cases. I have dealt with cases, however, where patients are being put two and a half hours away from where they live. It takes the family, their loved ones, two and a half hours to drive there and then two and a half hours to drive back. That is five hours without them even meeting their loved one. This needs to be looked at and addressed as soon as possible. It is happening all the time.

In that context and regarding waiting lists for community hospital beds, every second week there is a protest in Dingle regarding the opening of beds there. Indeed, there are also campaigns in Cahersiveen and Kenmare. Is there any update regarding opening those beds? I know there are staffing issues, and I have been told that our peninsula, like the Dingle peninsula and the Iveragh peninsula, are particularly difficult to attract staff to. If this is the case, then we need to provide incentives to get staff in. The people in these areas are entitled to a proper service.

I will move on to a different type of waiting list. There is a hunger strike outside Dáil Éireann by the survivors of industrial schools. Four people are on hunger strike and this is their eleventh day. One of their issues is that they are waiting on a HAA card. There are other issues, but I think this is the very least they deserve. They have difficult backgrounds, etc., and they are in for the long haul. I know two of them personally because they are from County Kerry. I believe they are not for turning. They told me that. They told me that they were going doing this long before they said it to anybody else.

My last point concerns the huge issue of respite beds in County Kerry and the need for these to be provided and opened. We have St. Mary of the Angels in Whitefield in Beaufort and St. Francis Special School. St. Mary of the Angels is run by St. John of God. It is in the heart of our county and there is a massive waiting list. I know parents who are on their knees begging for respite and it is coming around every six and seven months, and this is not good enough. These parents are dealing with extreme cases. What is really worrying is that I have been told recently that St. John of God wants to sell the place. I think an ad has actually gone into the newspaper.