James Breen (Clare, Independent)

It is very stressful for anyone having to attend an accident and emergency department in any hospital. This stress is compounded by concern about themselves, long delays, overcrowding and lack of adequate resources to deal effectively with the number of patients requesting treatment for a wide variety of illnesses. It is particularly stressful if one finds oneself in the midst of people who are drunk, high on drugs or, more commonly, have taken a mixture of both. It is unfair to ask people with genuine medical needs to tolerate such abuse by some people who are only there because of binge drinking, drug abuse and self-inflicted injuries as a result of their stupidity. We ask people to wait while these people are treated, even though they are usually abusive and sometimes violent towards staff and the public.

It is a sad reflection on society that we allow such situations to happen in our hospitals. It is worse on Friday and Saturday nights. If extra gardaí were present in accident and emergency units on such nights with the power to invoke on-the-spot fines of €200 for threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour, it would soon result in a decrease in such instances. Hitting these people where it hurts, namely, in their pockets, might be one way of getting through to them that their behaviour is intolerable and against the law. Many people are so out of it on the night in question that they do not even appear to know or care what is going on. If they wake up in a cell the following morning and find they are out of pocket by €200, they will think twice before again getting into the same situation.

Many people are afraid to attend accident and emergency units for fear of being abused and intimidated by these people. It is time we stood up for our rights and showed these people that this type of intimidation will not be tolerated. We have a responsibility to protect people from such abuse. If people are found to be drunk but not ill or injured, a hospital is not the place for them. If they cause a disturbance or infringe other people's rights, they should be removed immediately and confined somewhere until they sober up. The hangers-on who accompany such drunks should not be allowed inside the building if they are intoxicated or being abusive.

We owe it to the public to enforce the law and ensure such behaviour is duly ended and the offenders punished appropriately. We must allow the staff who work in these accident and emergency units to do their job in a safe environment. The Government amendment asks us to note the recommendations of the Health and Safety Authority. I ask the Government not just to note the recommendations but to act on them immediately. We cannot tolerate a situation in which hard-working staff in accident and emergency departments must endure threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour during the course of their work. The situation is bad enough without this type of pressure. I call on the various Departments involved to ensure that appropriate legislation is enacted to protect such workers and the public.

It should not take the Tánaiste as long to implement the ten-point plan as it did to deal with my complaint about the MRSA superbug which she undertook to deal with in the Dáil last October. It is now seven months on and I have heard nothing from her.

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