Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

I am grateful to Deputy Reilly for putting this motion before the House. I hope Deputy Shatter is wrong in saying that Monday's commitment by the Minister to deliver the project in St. Vincent's hospital is a con job. This is literally a matter of life and death for many people, and young females in particular. It is frightening to think this unit, which held out the prospect of solace and hope, will not be built.

Last week Deputy Reilly and I visited the cystic fibrosis facilities in St. Vincent's hospital and inspected the plans for the new unit. There is great excitement among front line staff about the unit because they have been part of process in terms of working with architects to design a state-of-the-art facility which will deliver life saving services to their patients. We also visited some of the relatively new isolation rooms and saw the potential for prolonging the lives of people suffering from cystic fibrosis through providing them with decent health care. We spoke to several consultants, one of whom moved me with stories about the recent fatalities of three cystic fibrosis patients, all of whom were young women. That takes a toll not only on families and loved ones but also on the staff who are doing their best to provide first class treatment in substandard conditions.

I am more than aware of current budgetary constraints and acknowledge the Opposition's responsibilities in this regard. We cannot call for reductions in spending or controls on the public finances while demanding that every service be protected. As I said at the outset, this is a matter of life or death; it is not in any sense an optional luxury. This project must go ahead and, as Deputy Shatter pointed out, it has already been long-fingered. I hope the Minister's announcement can be believed and delivered upon. I hope the Construction Industry Federation is wrong, but we need more than words. We need concrete commitments so that the desperately needed cystic fibrosis beds in St. Vincent's Hospital can be delivered.

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