Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)

I am glad she is not at a Labour Party rally tonight. Did the party deliver? It did not. What confidence and trust can the people of north Tipperary now have in Fianna Fáil's ability to deliver, aided and abetted by Deputy Lowry? I say they can have none and I offer an example, although Deputy Lowry has left the House. This time last year, capital funding was planned to provide for a 20-bed stay unit in Borrisokane. Such step-down facilities to get people out of hospital are so important, as we are told in the Teamwork report. On 31 December, this plan was withdrawn in another example of reneging.

Can we be assured of the funding? The word is that it will be announced presently, as part of a deal by Deputy Lowry, just as the unit for Borrisokane was. We are to believe it will be announced, for sure, and that there will be great drama over it, but will the plan ever go ahead? How long must we wait before it is withdrawn as in the case of Borrisokane?

That is the problem with this report. Deputy Lowry mentioned different consultants and the advice they have given. I, too, have listened to consultants. I have spoken to Mr. Paul Burke and have met him. He said he was quite happy because 80% of the people in the mid-west region were within 35 minutes of Limerick. The 20% who come from north Tipperary and from County Clare did not matter to him. They may live more than 50 miles away and be well over an hour away from Limerick Regional Hospital. Before this year is out, they will matter to Mr. Paul Burke, the HSE and the Minister of State, Deputy Hoctor. I know she is concerned about the people but these issues must be addressed and that is not happening.

We have heard about the ambulance service. Deputy Lowry will speak of another deal and say he secured an ambulance base for Thurles. The ambulance personnel there are working in deplorable conditions. What happened to that promise? Why is that not being delivered? The same applies to an ambulance base in Nenagh which was not delivered in times of plenty. The Minister of State has told the House that all will now be implemented at a time when the Government is on its knees, having broken the country and with not a penny left in the banks. Who is codding whom? One can cod some of the people some of the time, but one cannot cod all the people all the time.

I know Mr. Burke well, but I wish to deal with some of the issues. If Deputy Lowry gets his way, we will have a day care centre in Nenagh. That is fine, but we will not have a hospital because there will be no surgery in that hospital. Is it not ironic that the Teamwork report states clearly that acute services will be transferred from Nenagh General Hospital to St. John's Hospital in Limerick? Deputy Cregan said no parochial element or politics were involved. We heard it from the Minister of State, Deputy Power. What kind of politics is that? It is not considered good enough to operate on people from north Tipperary in Nenagh General Hospital. Instead they are to be moved to St. John's. The Deputy called out the figures which are less than those in Nenagh. Where is the critical mass we are told is so essential for safety? Of course it is a political matter.

The people of north Tipperary deserve better and the Minister of State knows that. We have our hospital that has served us well, and other generations too, throughout the years. I listened to the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney, last night. She spoke with passion and I admire her for that. She talked about delivering quality medical care, and we all want that. I share that wish with the Minister, but the difference lies in how and where it is provided. We want quality care as it was, and is, provided at present in Nenagh. We want that care to be continued there. What we have we will hold. The premier people of the premier county will rise up and speak and the Minister of State will know this well before the matter is out. She knows the anger that is palpable among the people of north Tipperary about the way they are being treated.

I recently had experience of Nenagh General Hospital. Late on a Saturday night I was brought into the accident and emergency department there. I could not have been treated better. I was stabilised, comforted and diagnosed, and was sent to Limerick Regional Hospital the following Sunday evening for an operation on Monday morning. I will say two things about that. First, when I got to Limerick on the Sunday night I had to go through the accident and emergency department for an X-ray. By God, I was horrified. It was worse than a Beirut battlefield, with the bodies strewn on the corridor. The trolleys were all used up as were the beds and the chairs. Everything was thrown about everywhere. When I met the professional who was to treat me she told me that, as a public representative, I must take action and do something about the situation. She said that staff could not stand the pressure, which she described as unreal. She had 83 patients to attend to after treating me.

The second reason I mention my experience is because in Nenagh we got such wonderful service. Last night, I listened to the Minister, Deputy Harney. She implied criticism of the four emergency consultants who lead a wonderful emergency department in Nenagh and questioned their professionalism and abilities. When this service was put into Nenagh as a cutback, the same Minister and the same Fianna Fáil Party told us it was the answer to all our needs and our medical requirements in north Tipperary. It is quite a turnabout to hear the Minister imply criticism of professionals, as if they were not doing their job correctly. It is amazing.

The problem here is trust in the Minister and in Fianna Fáil who are hiding behind the HSE concerning the delivery of their promises. A man said recently at a public meeting that if he were fed on Fianna Fáil promises, he would weigh 50 stone. I am fairly overweight but I would surely weigh 50 stone if I were fed on the promises that have been reneged upon by Fianna Fáil. The people cannot trust, and that is the problem with the proposal in front of us. It puts the cart before the horse, closing down the services that are there and have served the community well without putting in place what was promised, and which is unlikely ever to be in place. The only way these promises will ever be put in place will be when Deputy Reilly moves over to the other side of the House. Fine Gael will deliver as it has done in the past.

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