Peter Roche (Galway East, Fine Gael)

First, I have to say that the statement is quite comprehensive, clear and concise. I feel somewhat relieved that all of the witnesses have such a good grasp of every region in terms of the needs. One of the things we are all reminded about is that the demographics have changed. I am not speaking in the witnesses’ favour but the demographics have changed considerably in the last couple of years. We now have a population of over five million, which you might say is a rapid increase. That did not happen over the past ten or 15 years. Of course, it is also fair to say that more people are presenting to hospitals and GPs, regrettably. That is just the way it is and we have to be cognisant and fair in our assessment of that.

The Minister is not asking for a lot. It is only €300 million. She is pushing an open door in my case because I am quite confident that, based on the report and statement, those moneys will be going to a good home, so to speak. I have a few questions. My first question, which I may have raised before, is that I wish to be confident that the primary care centres that were purpose-built are being utilised to capacity or their best ability. They must be staffed and resourced to a degree where they can take some of the GP referrals, rather than some people having to present to accident and emergency departments and whatever. That was their intention from day one. I would like to think that some assessment or audit has been done in that regard. Regardless of where we live, there is one such centre in reasonably close proximity to us.

I will move on. We all engage with different stakeholders from time to time and, in recent times, I had discussions with people involved in the business of providing cancer care and so forth. One of the things I felt was rather alarming was that we in the west and north west do not have a public PET scan machine or a public screening machine. There is one machine in a private clinic in Galway. In the context of delivering world-class or first-class services and treatment for a region this big, that is one of the basic essentials. My understanding – I stand to be corrected when I say this, of course – is that there is no sight of that happening before 2030, or maybe even beyond that. I will not say that this is something that needs to be looked at, but there is an urgent need for it.

As I engaged with stakeholders, I heard that the LINAC machine in University Hospital Galway, which is the machine that does the radiation therapy, is only operational 40% of the time. It is suggested – again, I stand to be corrected – that some of the issues are related to staffing. The other concern they have regards the age of the machine. What I am reliably informed is that urgent upgrading, or a new machine, is needed. If it is going to be efficient, it has to be available. I will not say it needs to be available 24-7 because that might be an unfair ask. However, the machine is operational for 40% of the time when so many people are presenting with that very need. The basic requirement should be that, if the machine has the capacity and the staff are available, patients would have easy access to it. Those are the guts of my questions because some of the other questions have been presented.

I will say to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, that I and others, including Deputy Martin Daly I am sure, are still anxious that we continue to focus on the need to get Portiuncula University Hospital back to where it rightfully needs to be to service that region. Of course, I am very much aware of the issues there that the Minister is working on. I commend her for that. I am just anxious that everything in the west and north west needs to be as good as it can be or as it is in any other region. In many respects, like I said, they should be world-class standards because that is what is now requested. We are no different from any other country. Those issues, such as cancer and mental health, are very prevalent.