Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Kenny for raising the matter of the particular hospital. In my tenure as Taoiseach I have been in hospitals, homes and community homes up and down the country. I have seen the enormous improvements and successes but also the enormous challenges. I have seen some of the community hospitals that, by their location or the age of the clientele, have pressing needs. I have also seen enormous increases in staffing ratios, medical and paramedical cover, ancillary facilities, improvements in life expectancy and the physical improvements in the buildings. I will not say that of every last hospital, institution and home, many of which date back to the foundation times. The hospital at Leopardstown is one of them. Most of the hospitals in this city were built from 1860-90 and had their foundation in religious orders. Most have physical challenges in their structures. I note what Deputy Kenny has said referred to physical structure. He is acknowledging that the staffing and loving care and attention level people need in older age is very adequate and that the infrastructure problem is the issue. I will get an update on that.

Specifically on elderly care, the Governments I have been honoured to lead have substantially increased resources for care for the elderly and the capital programme of the health service every year. We must understand that life expectancy has dramatically increased in this country, a fact we should all be proud of, including our health professionals, policy makers and politicians. Because of this, the number of people requiring inpatient and community care is rising dramatically and will continue to rise. The figures for the next 20 years are already known and this is not in doubt. This will take a greater part of the capital budget and resources. A large number of the 30,000 extra people who have been recruited into the health service have gone into care of the elderly. It is good that we can resource that, but it is a challenge. The Deputy asked me about a request and I would be glad to get an update on it.

See this speech in context