Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I am shocked at this intervention. However, I am not surprised. In any event, the fact is that drunks go to accident and emergency units. As I stated earlier, in Cavan, 14 patients were on trolleys and beds this week. In Cavan, the room used to deal with drunks late at night is the children's play area to which the children must come the following day. This is not right and no matter how one tries to clean it, this is impossible. We must change the situation and deal with the problem of drunkenness but we must also provide the facilities in wards where drunk patients can be dealt with. There are only two toilets in Cavan General Hospital so one can guess what the situation for staff and patients is like. I support this motion and I will address other issues later.

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