Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to make a brief contribution to this important debate. I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I remind him that it is a little while since he has been in Tallaght.

I was going to make a general speech on this issue, but I noticed other colleagues, including the main Opposition spokesperson on health, made very parochial contributions so I will speak about Tallaght for a little while. I represent the third largest population centre in the country. Dublin South-West embraces Tallaght, Firhouse, Templeogue, Greenhills and Brittas. The catchment area for Tallaght hospital stretches through Kildare and Wicklow, all the way to Carnew. The Ceann Comhairle, who was Minister for Health in 1987, developed the project and made the decision to appoint me to the board. At the time, I was the first person with a Tallaght address to be appointed to that board.

Tallaght hospital is very important for the local community and I have been proud to be associated with the hospital through membership of the planning board, which was only wound up last year. I pay tribute to the members of that planning board, including Des Rogan, the project manager and the former Senator Richard Conroy, who chaired the board. I was also proud to be a member of the new AMANCH board when it was set up, following the move of the Adelaide, Meath and National Children's Hospital to Tallaght in 1998.

Last weekend, the Tánaiste pointed out that we should be very careful not to speak badly of the services as that will help nobody. We all get political pamphlets in our letter boxes making political points about the service, which is fair enough, but I am upset that these people run down the services and those involved in the provision of services. There should be a different way of making political points. I am a politician and I understand the thrust of politics, but we should not throw the baby out with the bath water. I am a Government backbencher and I am proud to be a supporter of this coalition, but I am not afraid to admit that there are problems with the health service. Tallaght hospital, with the other Dublin hospitals, often gets bad press and we should continue to press their needs.

Tallaght hospital has one of the busiest accident and emergency departments in the country. In 2005, there were almost 75,000 accident and emergency attendances, 29,000 attendances in the children's accident and emergency department and 45,000 in the adult department. The hospital has 350 acute adult beds to manage this workload. This equates to one bed for every 600 persons in the catchment area. In contrast, Beaumont Hospital has one bed for every 350 persons. The past few years have seen a significant increase in the number of patients admitted from the accident and emergency department.

New services have been established in Tallaght hospital, such as the very busy oncology service. However, no additional beds have been provided to cater for the needs of the new service or the increasing needs of emergency admissions from the accident and emergency department. Tallaght hospital has taken a very proactive approach in an attempt to reduce the numbers of patients who must wait on trolleys. The HSE's figures confirm that the number of patients waiting on trolleys has been reduced significantly, as has the waiting time. The figures also confirm significant improvements in the long-term care waiting list in the hospital. Much of this has been achieved by the establishment of a multi-disciplinary discharge team at the hospital. This initiative has not yet been funded by the HSE.

A 41-bed temporary transition unit is being constructed at Tallaght hospital, which will be operational by July. This will be used to accommodate acute admissions from the accident and emergency department. When it is opened, it is expected that patients will not have to wait on trolleys for more than six hours. A number of key issues for Tallaght hospital have also been identified that must be put in place if an optimal acute service is to be provided for patients in the area. These include a new CT scanner to improve speed and quality of diagnostic services, an extension to the ICU unit which currently cannot meet the demands of critical care beds, the establishment of a permanent acute hospital admission unit for which funding has long been sought, an increase in consultant numbers, particularly in the acute medical specialties, and diagnostic support services. The management and staff at Tallaght Hospital are committed to providing for the acute care needs of people in the community and the wider catchment area. Many of the difficulties experienced over recent years have begun to ease and the hospital has a plan and a strategic approach for the future which will minimise many accident and emergency problems by the second half of this year. It is hoped that elective surgical and orthopaedics practices, which have been severely curtailed in recent months, will be restored to full activity. The hospital is confident that it can obtain the necessary support and resources from the HSE and the Department to progress these plans. I ask the Minister of State to inform the Tánaiste of my strong support for these activities because it is important that she understands the special needs of Tallaght Hospital. My colleagues will discuss other areas and hospitals but I am not afraid to express the concerns I have with regard to Tallaght Hospital.

Recently, there has been a great deal of speculation about plans for a new paediatric hospital. In terms of the criteria and infrastructure, the case for Tallaght is very strong. Tallaght Hospital can be accessed from all parts of the country, is connected with Limerick by a good road and accessible from Dublin's train stations by Luas. I hope those who are charged with the responsibility for making important decisions on the future hospital care needs of our children will take account of Tallaght's potential.

The contributions of different disciplines and the role of GPs has been subject to extensive discussion in recent times. I support local GP services and often visit my local GP. It is important that we realise difficulties can arise at each end. In a community such as Tallaght, with its busy and active hospital, there is a role for GP services. In my local GP clinic, the Mary Mercer Health Centre in Jobstown, a successful service is run by Professor Tom O'Dowd which could be a great model for the rest of the country. We should try to relieve the pressure on hospitals by providing good GP and other medical services in modern and properly equipped facilities. The Mary Mercer Health Centre was partly funded by the Mercer's Hospital Foundation. Anyone who walks around St. Stephen's Green will remember the old Mercer's Hospital and it is great that the foundation is making a contribution to communities in Tallaght and elsewhere.

I want to be upbeat about the future but must also acknowledge the problems. I often visit neighbours in Tallaght Hospital, who recognise that they are being provided with a tremendous service. I have no sympathy for those who go to accident and emergency departments when they are not ill but have cut their fingers or have taken too much drink. However, when people genuinely need care, we all have to stand up to say that something has to be done about a system which, to some extent, has let people down. I hope the Minister of State will take my message about the needs of Tallaght to the Tánaiste.

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