Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I hope the Taoiseach takes the opportunity to go out there.

In respect of the elderly in general, every Deputy has serious problems with the HSE. Deputy Naughten received two letters from the HSE in the last period, one of which told him that two weeks of respite care in a nursing home had been withdrawn because there were adequate home help allowances and home care packages whereas the other, which he received from the other wing of the HSE, told him that the allowances and packages were no longer available because of a shortage of money.

If one goes to the hospital in Leopardstown at 8.30 a.m., one will find cramped and confined conditions and staff who are doing the best they can. Of the commodes in operation, there are four toilets, two washbasins and two showers for every 20 people if they are ambulant. It is concerning that, if anything occurs in the hospital at night when there are only two night nurses on duty, there will be a catastrophe. It is physically impossible to remove people in time were something to go wrong. The HSE has never inspected the premises and there has been no health and safety or fire check. When staff have met HSE officials to discuss the physical building — there is plenty of land on which to build — they have never got past the starting blocks.

Why does it take so long for action to be taken after the Government has decided on something? The Government has introduced legislation after 11 years, but there are still no regulations for the hospitals and homes in situ. How long does it take for there to be action? The cranes along the skyline that those being cared for will look at this morning will still be there when the people are being carried out of the hospital. The situation, cramped and physically intimidating conditions and the stripping away of dignity, respect and integrity, should concern every Member of the House. I would like to believe that, when the Government makes a decision, it is carried through effectively. I would like to believe that the HSE's officials will listen to these words and see to it that a catastrophe does not occur in the four wards in question, that the institution receives the attention it deserves and that the elderly, as a microcosm of many other situations around the country, are given some sense of dignity and respect in their remaining days on this earth.

See this speech in context