Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

There was a danger for some time that the Tánaiste's ten point accident and emergency plan would turn into a ten year plan. I am glad she has focused her attentions on the nub of the problem in the accident and emergency departments in the greater Dublin region.

Her reply did not refer to MRI scanners and everything else that went into this ten point plan, but mentioned that she has focused on the problem, that is, looking after those 400 patients who are taking up beds inappropriately in the acute hospitals.

I want more detail on what she means because this looks at long-term care, both low and high-dependency level care for these patients. What plans has she for a community care nursing home setting, hopefully run in the public sector in the greater Dublin region and how will she look at that problem in the future? There may be 400 patients in these Dublin hospitals now — the figure has always been between 400 and 500 — but what is the Tánaiste's plan for the future, especially when we have an older population? The matter of how badly this job has been done by Government has cropped up in many parliamentary questions in recent times. For example, the health strategy promised community care support and extended care beds at a rate of 800 per year. To date, since 2001, only 531 of these beds have been delivered — less than 10%. During those years, the former Minister for Health and Children and the Ministers of State, Deputies Martin and Callely, continued to answer questions on the issue by saying what a great job they were doing in delivering these beds. However, less than 10% of the expected beds have been delivered. I ask the Tánaiste for a clear answer on how we will develop community care nursing home beds in the public system for the greater Dublin region, both now and into the future.

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