Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I was struck by a statement of the late Martin Luther King Jr., who was buried on this date. He said: "Our lives begin to end once we become silent about things that matter". The Taoiseach will be reflecting on his years as Taoiseach and head of the country in the next period and he must look back on how we as a nation have treated our elderly. A number of years ago Deputy O'Dowd exposed a number of scandals in the area of care of the elderly.

I took the opportunity to visit a hospital not far from here. I looked out the window and saw the skyline crowded with high-tower cranes and new buildings in close proximity. This is a hospital in Leopardstown, with four wards in an old house with added extensions. The wards are called after local townlands: Tibradden, Enniskerry, Kilternan and Kilgobbin. Each of these wards has 21 beds, 13 inches apart, which is less than the width of an A4 page. There is neither privacy, dignity nor respect. The medical staff and carers look after these people to the best of their ability. At 8.30 a.m. every day, when one talks of the Celtic tiger and the huge amounts of money generated in this country over the past 20 years, reality dawns in this institution more than in any other.

There are ten to 15 commodes operating in each ward, where there is neither respect, dignity nor integrity. It has been stripped away by the physical limitations of the building. The management board has spoken to the HSE for a number of years but nothing has happened. They have not got beyond the starting blocks. The hospital is located in an area where land is worth multi-million euro sums per acre. This is not the symbol of the Celtic tiger that the Taoiseach wishes to leave behind when he moves on. This is not the way our elderly people should be treated. This is not what they should have at the end of their days: cramped space, curtains at the end of the bed and neither respect, dignity nor integrity.

I know the Taoiseach is a caring person. I have not made many personal requests to the Taoiseach but I make this one. In his remaining tenure as Taoiseach, will he visit Leopardstown hospital, meet the management and staff and meet the patients who bear their indignity with great fortitude? I was shocked to see the proximity of bed to bed. It is not the symbol of the Celtic tiger or of Ireland that the Taoiseach wishes to leave behind. I ask him to visit and return to the House to tell us what he can do about this.

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