Margaret Conlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the discussion today. We must recognise there has been significant progress in recent years in the development of services in all areas of illness but particularly for people with cystic fibrosis. There is always room for improvement and for further advances.

I know and have met sufferers, female and male, young people in their teens and 20s, who are suffering from this disease. I know the considerable challenges and concerns they have and the dilemma they face on a daily basis. We have been modernising our hospital facilities so that patients requiring admission can be treated in the best possible environment.

However, inaccurate reporting and political game-playing during the past week gave rise to the notion that the Government was neglecting cystic fibrosis sufferers by not providing the facility under discussion. No decision to halt or delay it was taken by the Government at any stage. When it emerged that the project might be delayed, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney, took immediate steps to ensure it would go ahead.

Although we are not where we want to be regarding the life expectancy of cystic fibrosis sufferers, there has been steady progress over the past 20 years. Matters continue to improve as new and improved treatments are developed. The Minister pointed out today that the oldest person on the register is 59 years of age and there are 35 people with cystic fibrosis who are over 40 years of age. All of us would like to see those figures increased.

In recent years, the Government provided additional revenue funding of €6.78 million to the HSE for the development of services. A further €1.6 million has been provided by the HSE in its 2009 service plan, including provision for the introduction of a screening programme for newborns. I welcome this programme.

The investment to date has facilitated the recruitment of 48 additional staff, including consultants, nursing and allied health professionals across a number of hospitals. This week the Minister announced that the St. Vincent's project will proceed on the basis that payment to the contractor will be made at the end of the construction phase of the new cystic fibrosis centre. This is a totally changed way of funding such a project with the construction company financing the development up to the final phase. The former model of payment to the builder would have involved staged payments throughout the construction period. We are constantly presented with new problems and must find innovative ways to try to move along national priority building plans such as this centre.

There has been major development in services for cystic fibrosis sufferers and the approach taken was informed by two significant reports. The first is the Pollock report, commissioned by the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland, which was a review of existing hospital services for cystic fibrosis patients in the context of accepted international standards. The second report came from the HSE's working group which examined a detailed review of cystic fibrosis services across the country. It identified a range of necessary service improvements, including the need to increase the numbers of consultant, nursing and allied professional staff in cystic fibrosis units nationally.

With regard to screening, the HSE's expert advisory group on children and families has produced a well crafted document on the introduction of a cystic fibrosis screening programme. Recommendations include the establishment of a steering group to oversee the implementation of this programme and to ensure coherent development with other relevant services. The steering group will be established later this year and will oversee the roll-out of the screening programme.

As a Deputy from a Border area, I am especially interested in examining further North-South co-operation. The Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland has made representations to the HSE in respect of persons living in Donegal for whom attendance at the cystic fibrosis centre in Belfast might be more convenient. The HSE is pursuing this through the co-ordinating body for North-South co-operation, CAWT. At present, services for adults and children with cystic fibrosis in the north east are provided in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. A paediatric clinic is held here weekly in a dedicated space which allows for the segregation of people with cystic fibrosis based on their microbiological status. An outreach paediatric clinic was set up in Louth County Hospital in 2006.

I welcome the fact that this project is moving full steam ahead. It was always a priority for the Minister, Deputy Harney, and I share her view that it must progress with urgency. I look forward to the centre being opened as quickly as possible so that those people who suffer from cystic fibrosis may get the high quality care they deserve.

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