Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I express my appreciation of the opportunity to participate in this debate. There is a need for action in the development of services to support further the great work being done by the National Rehabilitation Institute in Dún Laoghaire. There is no doubt that excellent services are being provided there but it is always frustrating for us as Deputies to have to constantly get on to the hospital to try to get people admitted from hospitals in the west for proper rehabilitation. Once people are admitted to the facility, however, it is an excellent service and the progress being made there by patients who in many cases have been seriously injured in tragic accidents is very welcome.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel. In Galway, for instance, a new rehabilitation unit is planned for Merlin Park Hospital but unfortunately it is taking too long to have that facility delivered. The planning started when I was a Minister of State in the Department of Health and Children and it has still not commenced construction. One of the significant issues is that these facilities are costing massive amounts of money. The Galway facility was costed at approximately €30 million for 30 beds. It is clear that the intensive care provided in those facilities means that a significant current cost goes into staffing. There is no doubt that the facilities are urgently needed, however, especially in the west where there is no such facility. It is vital that the HSE should proceed with the construction of this project. I welcome the recent announcement that it would put the project to tender.

The number of acute beds being occupied by people waiting to access the facility in Dún Laoghaire or proper rehabilitation facilities represents a terrible waste of acute beds in hospitals throughout the country. From time to time in Galway there could be anything up to ten patients occupying acute beds awaiting a transfer to Dún Laoghaire or a facility in which they can get the proper services. That is a waste of money and it is one of the areas where reform must take place.

I share the views of everybody in the House that these extra services must be provided as quickly as possible but that must be done in the context of the fundamental reforms the current Minister, Deputy Harney, is trying to bring about. The Taoiseach was asked this morning if he was happy with the establishment of the HSE. I am convinced that the HSE structure, although it is experiencing problems, is the only way forward. We must have a properly planned health service. It must become much more efficient. We must change the old habits and prejudices of a lifetime which are to be found across the health system. We must cut out the existing wastage in terms of expenditure.

In Galway last week there were a large number of people in casualty. I called the hospital on three occasions about a patient who was holding down a bed for six days waiting for an MRI scan. Eventually the patient was sent home and told to come back a week later. Holding an acute bed while waiting for an MRI scan is ridiculous. Unless and until we get these reforms, and unless the health care workers are prepared to operate this very expensive equipment for more hours each day to cut down those waiting lists, we will not see reform. Regardless of what anyone says, we can throw as much money as we like at the health services but until reforms such as that are carried out -I see my good friend, Deputy Michael D. Higgins, agrees with me — we will not see the necessary progress in this area.

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