Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Reilly for bringing this motion before the House and commend him on all his campaigning work for cystic fibrosis sufferers. I fully support this motion, which calls on the Minister for Health and Children to ensure the much needed and life saving cystic fibrosis unit at St. Vincent's Hospital is brought on-line immediately.

This Government gave a public commitment in 2008 that it would build 34 single, en suite rooms for cystic fibrosis patients. Last week the Government stated it will not provide these beds until 2011 at the earliest. This is devastating news for all cystic fibrosis sufferers, as only eight en suite rooms are available to cystic fibrosis patients. It was promised that this unit would be delivered by 2010 and now it has been put back until 2011. There has been no tendering for the project and we are not sure whether it will happen by 2011.

Last week, the Cystic Fibrosis Association was forced to take renewed action in a bid to get the promised services its members require to survive. It launched the campaign, Irish War Crimes, which is fighting against political negligence of their illness. I commend Ms Orla Tinsley who launched this campaign and has urged this Government to deliver on its promise to provide this much-needed unit. Approximately one in 19 people in Ireland are carriers of the cystic fibrosis gene and where two carriers parent a child together, there is a one in four chance of the baby being born with cystic fibrosis. As already stated, Ireland has the highest incidence of cystic fibrosis in the world, with 1,135 sufferers. Life expectancy is much lower in the Republic than in Northern Ireland, and the Government must tackle this.

Because of a lack of neonatal screening, home care and supports for sufferers and families and isolation beds for suffers of the disease, it is more difficult for somebody who suffers from cystic fibrosis to lead a normal life. We were promised a neonatal screening process for cystic fibrosis patients, but just like the Government's failure to deliver the beds at St. Vincent's, it has failed to deliver a roll-out of this national neonatal service for cystic fibrosis patients. This could be changed overnight if the political will existed to deliver proper cystic fibrosis services.

I raised an issue in the Dáil on a number of occasions, once with Deputy Reilly and once on the Adjournment. The issue involves a parent who has two young daughters, one aged two and a half and one aged ten months. These children were using the high-frequency compression vests which the HSE was providing, however, sadly, this support is no longer being provided. These vests cost only €13,500 each, including VAT. They made a major difference to this family. Where only one parent was available to provide the physiotherapy to one child at a time it took much longer and the children did not like being moved around for physiotherapy. The vests greatly improved the quality of life for the children. This must be re-examined by this Government considering the amount of money that is being squandered.

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