John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)

There is a very enthusiastic bench here. I am delighted to speak on this motion and applaud Deputy Reilly and my party for bringing it forward.

I welcome the Minister's and Government's reversal of the decision to postpone the building of the dedicated cystic fibrosis unit at St. Vincent's Hospital. I applaud Orla Tinsley for leading a masterful campaign on behalf of cystic fibrosis sufferers in this country that brought about this reversal. No doubt this Fine Gael motion and the pressure from the House had a part to play too. Will the Minister of State confirm whether the completion of this project by 2011 is conditional on finding a developer who can wait two years for the money or are we going to find in nine months' time that there will again be a problem?

I ask because the Government's record in caring for cystic fibrosis sufferers has been appalling. Cystic fibrosis sufferers and their families have, on the one hand, had to try to look after their family members who are suffering and on the other, lead campaigns on radio and TV shows to raise awareness and keep their campaign going. The promises are made when public opinion is on a high but when it dies down the Government backtracks and the cycle must start again. I hope that this latest commitment is not another part of the cycle that has continued for many years.

Cystic fibrosis sufferers and their families are exceptional people. Many parents of CF sufferers have given up their jobs and careers to care for their children, without complaint. They seek only basic supports. In my constituency, for example, the Mayo Friends of Cystic Fibrosis are attempting to build a standalone, three-bedroom unit for the 40 or so sufferers and patients in our county. The group needs in the region of €300,000 to complete the project this year. All the money is being raised voluntarily as the agency with responsibility for health care, the HSE, will not contribute to the cost of the project. I do not need to list the examples of wastage in this country in the past ten years, ten months and I presume in the past ten weeks, that would completely pay for this project.

In some ways the care situation for CF patients in Mayo is good because of the dedication of the team under Dr. Michael O'Neill, but there is only so much that can be done when the facilities are found wanting. When an adult CF patient in Mayo needs hospitalisation he or she has to attend the paediatric ward. There is only one medical treatment room for the entire ward. That can mean waiting a long time to be seen by a doctor which increases the chances of exposure to an infection. There is no outpatient facility apart from the CF clinics which are held three times a year.

Most patients are treated under a dual care system with a Dublin hospital. That means visits to Dublin and because of the many horror stories associated with such trips, patients are, naturally enough, reluctant to travel. One patient was admitted to Beaumont Hospital last year for vital treatment but on arrival in Dublin there was no bed for him and he was given a bed in a nursing home. He was exposed to potentially lethal infections and did not have the treatment that he was supposed to have.

CF care in Ireland, despite the best efforts of the professionals and the families, is light years behind what it should be. It is underfunded and underresourced. It is as if, because of its being a life limiting condition, the authorities do not really believe that they should be investing in it for the long term. It is an appalling indictment of a system that is supposed to care. If this is caring then I would hate to see what non-caring is.

I have given some of these facts relating to my own county to help people understand that although Ireland has the biggest incidence of cystic fibrosis in the world, sufferers here die an average ten years earlier that their counterparts in Britain or the US.

I ask for support for this motion so that cystic fibrosis sufferers will finally get the medical care they deserve.

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