Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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I have listened to the first speaker and will get straight to the point because I do not mince words. Dr. O'Brien mentioned the reasonable distance for services. There is St. Catherine's ward in Cork city and St. Stephen's Hospital, Glanmire, is very rural. There are also services in Kanturk, Mallow, Fermoy, Macroom, the Western Road, Cork, Blackrock, Cork, and two places in Skibbereen. It is farcical that we will have no services in east Cork. I have a basic question for whoever can answer it. Has the HSE bought a premises in Carrigaline that is being refurbished at the moment? That is a "Yes" or "No" question. Why the HSE has not invested in a premises in Midleton is beyond me. Dr. O'Brien mentioned that there is a decrease in demand for services. There will never be a decrease in any area. In our current Covid pandemic, the demand for mental health services has gone off the Richter scale. People will get sick no matter what you do. The services are not being fully resourced. It is very timely that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, announced €500,000 for mental health day services in east Cork this morning. That is pretty good timing. What will that be spent on? The HSE does not have a plan. It is a secret when it comes to the day services and what building it is going for. The people watching this meeting this morning need to know whether that centre is closing. If it is, will there be 24-7 respite care services in east Cork and the Midleton area, serving from Youghal up towards the city, including Cobh and Carrigtohill? Is that going to happen? If not, the HSE should let us know now because this will end up a talking shop and I do not want that. My biggest fear is that when the services are gone, they are gone. I submitted nine parliamentary questions on this issue. Luckily, I got the replies yesterday. Each one of these questions was different but six of those nine have an identical response and the other three are also identical to one another. In other words, the answers are being copied and pasted. Even we as public representatives are not getting replies to the questions we are asking on behalf of the families and residents in that centre or the people we represent in east Cork. It is very disappointing. Did the HSE buy a premises in Carrigaline and is it refurbishing it?