Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I wish to record my utter disgust, as well as that of the staff and patients of the Heatherside Hospital in north Cork, at the HSE's unilateral decision to close the facility which has housed 42 patients for many years. The decision is illogical and without any common sense basis. It was taken without any consultation with the stakeholders, the nursing staff or the patients. This is a facility that has looked after patients with mental health issues for several years. What is happening in society is disgusting. These 42 patients will be moved into a facility that was already closed down, unfit for human habitation and with Dickensian conditions.

I do not know what the Government or the HSE is at, particularly when they give us much rhetoric on how well they look after mentally ill patients. I am calling on them to put a stay of execution on this decision until such time as there is consultation with the patients' representatives, the families and the community to ensure everyone's rights and entitlements are vindicated. If we have any sense of decency, this issue will be re-examined. I call on the Minister for Health and Children to intervene directly with the HSE to ensure the rights and entitlements of the affected patients are protected and common decency prevails.

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