Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

A community hospital for Tralee has been promised since 1999. Since that time, Tralee senior citizens, campaigning for the hospital, have met with three different Ministers, all of whom have given their word that the project will go ahead. The last meeting was as recently as May with the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. Many of the senior citizens who initiated the campaign in the mid-1990s have since passed away.

Despite the undertakings given by Ministers and the high status of the proposed hospital in the Health Service Executive, HSE, capital programme, it is feared the project will be further delayed. The HSE has informed the campaign of unresolved revenue costs implications of the project. It is feared this may be used by the HSE as an excuse to abandon or further delay the project.

Given the ongoing crisis afflicting Tralee General Hospital, any further delay in the building of a community hospital will place further strains and pressures on the provision of health care in Kerry. Many in the county are unable to access care, particularly in emergencies.

Tralee General Hospital is the second largest of the southern region's seven acute hospitals and provides services to County Kerry, as well as a proportion of people in west Limerick and north Cork. Statistics have shown a marked increase in demand, yet the hospital is forced to get by with the same number of medical staff as 20 years ago. Facilities are stretched beyond limit with an unsustainable nurse to patient ratio. I commend the staff and physicians who are doing fantastic work in spite of these factors.

A full-time consultant cardiologist with necessary support services is urgently needed in the area. A long-promised consultant cardiologist was appointed in March 2005 and shared with the Bon Secours Hospital in Tralee but has since resigned. A replacement is being sought but again that consultant will have to be shared with the Bon Secours Hospital. County Kerry has the highest rate of coronary diseases in proportion to its population. The 2003 national cardiovascular strategy report recommended the appointment of a full-time cardiologist for the county. The strong support for such a provision was proved by over 30,000 signatures on a petition that a cardiologist be appointed.

Tralee General Hospital services a large catchment area of north Kerry, parts of west Limerick and into east Kerry as far as Killarney. However, it has no public community service for elderly people in need of full-time care. This week, a 72-year-old woman attended my constituency office. For the past ten years she has minded her husband, who suffered a stroke, at home in north Kerry. He was recently moved to a community hospital in Killarney. If she wanted to visit him, she would have to drive 75 miles on a round trip. Due to her health and age, she is not in a position to do so. Instead, she is dependent on family members and neighbours to take her to visit the husband with whom she has shared 40 years of her life.

This is the situation across north Kerry where there is no facility for elderly people in need of full-time care. Anyone in that situation will find themselves located to St. Columbanus's Hospital in Killarney. People living as far away as Tarbert must drive to Killarney to visit their loved ones. It is an intolerable situation. I appeal to the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Seán Power, to make the funding available for a community hospital to be built In Tralee to allow elderly people live their lives in dignity and security.

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