Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

It is time for the Government to end the hypocrisy regarding the future of the 24-hour accident and emergency services at Ennis General Hospital. I support my party's spokesperson on health, Deputy James Reilly, and the position he has taken on this matter. I commend him for bringing this motion before the House.

The Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, stated in this House last night that the reason County Clare people are worried about what will happen when services are removed from Ennis General Hospital is because politicians are telling them that patients will die. That was an outrageous statement for a Minister to make. If the Minister had bothered to come down to meet with the people of County Clare, she would know they are worried about their health and the health of their children. They are also worried about the promises they got from Government politicians in election after election. Government politicians stood on the steps of the O'Connell monument in the square of Ennis promising that Ennis General Hospital was safe, but as soon as the election was over, the promises went out the window.

When former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern breezed into County Clare in 2006 he pledged his support for the hospital to a local journalist. He said:

The hospital is safe. People should be supporting this Government which is investing in this hospital instead of chasing rabbits and hares around Clare.

He even proclaimed that this commitment was written in stone when he said, "I have given this commitment in writing and people should stop beating the drum." The former Taoiseach has plenty of time now for chasing rabbits and hares. I was elected by the people of County Clare and I will never stop beating the drum for them. Sadly, the people of County Clare will pay a high price for the reckless abandonment of pre-election promises by Fianna Fáil and the Green Party.

The under-investment in Ennis General Hospital by the Minister's Government over the past ten years is testament to this Government's lack of political will and ability to speak up for the people of County Clare. The management and staff at the Hospital have been starved of resources for years and every request for funding from the Government and the HSE has been met with resistance. In October 2004 this lack of resources prompted the consultants working in Ennis General Hospital to comment in an open letter:

Consultants working within the mid-west region noticed a marked superiority in the resources available to patients presenting to Limerick Regional Hospital compared to Ennis General Hospital. This inequality of access to health care is wrong.

Last night here the Minister said the HIQA report will be published shortly. I hope it will have some comforting news for the Moriarty and Kelly families. They deserve this after their tragic losses. Lessons must be learned, but I hope the Minister will not use this report as a means of closing services at Ennis General Hospital, or even closing the hospital.

I will give an example of something that happened this week in south-east Clare, in Deputy Jan O'Sullivan's constituency. The HSE confirmed that the health centre which was built in Westbury in south-east Clare at a cost of €500,000 will not open due to a shortage of funding. Yet the Teamwork report requires €380 million. This plan to remove services from the hospital from 1 April must be an April Fools' Day joke. As a Councillor I served the people in west Clare, and the area is long and far from Limerick Regional Hospital. I welcome the members of Ennis General Hospital who are here to listen to this debate. The Ennis General Hospital development committee recently tested the "golden hour". It took one hour and 43 minutes to get from Kilbaha in west Clare to Limerick Regional Hospital. Some time ago a constituent of mine from west Clare told me it probably would be easier to phone the undertaker if we are to depend on this level of service.

In the absence of 24-hour accident and emergency services at Ennis General Hospital the ambulance service is expected to deliver mobile emergency care throughout the county. How is it expected to deliver this with the service already operating on a shoe string? On several occasions I have pointed out to the Minister, Deputy Moloney, the over-reliance on on-call services, private ambulances being called in from time to time and the lack of 24-7 cover in Scarrif ambulance station. The Minister has not invested one cent in upgrading the ambulance services. He says he will provide six extra advanced paramedics to cover County Clare. That is totally inadequate. It will not work with shift work and sickness.

This Government has lost touch with the people. Last night a patient was left on a trolley at Ennis General Hospital overnight because Limerick was not able to accept more patients. What will happen after 1 April? Where will the patients go? I urge the Minister to get real. This plan cannot work because the resources are not there. I appeal to the Minister to abandon it. It is time for the Government politicians to end the double-speak on Ennis General Hospital. Last night here my colleague, Deputy Dooley said, "It is incumbent on all of us to ensure that these changes are made without delay." He went on to say, "If the changes are to be successful, they should be supported by investment." Where is the investment? No wonder the people of Clare are confused and worried about what they hear.

There are very few of our colleagues over there tonight, but I invite them to come over here and stand with us in favour of the motion at the end of the night. I ask them to join us, to take one small step across the floor. If they do that it will be a giant step to secure the services at Ennis General Hospital. I invite them to join the people of Clare and Tipperary, and in the words of the great Munster anthem, "stand up and fight." They must fight for what is right, for what is in the best interests of the people of Clare and Tipperary, and support this motion.

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