Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy McGinley for sharing his time with me and allowing me to speak on this important issue. He said he had been visiting St. Luke's for 40 years. I cannot say I have been doing it as long, but I have been visiting it for a long time. Many relations and close friends have spent some time in St. Luke's. I recall something a neighbour of mine who was in St. Luke's 20 years ago said to me. He was there at a time when the place was not at its best. He was the owner of a machinery hire company and at this time of year he would have to deal with machines that broke down. He said to me that if he was cutting silage for somebody and his machine broke down, he would have to get it fixed or hire in a new machine and would not be able, like hospitals, to delay the work or send people home for another week to wait for their cancer treatment. He pleaded with me, if I was ever in power, to ensure the system was improved.

I am glad to say that since that time, St. Luke's has improved dramatically. In the short time Fine Gael was in Government, the then Minister for Health, Deputy Michael Noonan, made a major commitment to St. Luke's and it has improved dramatically since then. Over the years, despite various glips or hitches from time to time, St. Luke's has provided a tremendous service to people from all parts of Ireland, particularly from my part of the country. In recent years, the lodge at St. Luke's, which was provided by the Friends of St. Luke's, provided a homely atmosphere where people could relax. Relaxation is important for people with cancer as tension does not help their situation. The lodge has provided a great service. For the past number of years, the matron of St. Luke's has been a lady from my village of Newbliss, County Monaghan. She has been an example to all her staff on how to deal with patients in what is often a delicate situation. I wish to pay tribute to all those who down through the years have given service in St. Luke's. Circumstances for cancer patients are often quite tragic, but thankfully many people now recover from an illness which seemed to be a death sentence some years ago.

Mention has also been made of St. Anne's Hospital. I remember my late mother bringing her mother to St. Anne's. My granny knew everything that was wrong with every patient around her in the hospital, but she never suspected for a second what she was being treated for herself, and she lived to 98 years of age. She got cancer at 50, but she lived to tell the tale, even at that time.

I wish the cancer service well. The Fine Gael Party spokesperson has agreed we must take this route, but personally I am extremely disappointed that St. Luke's is being closed. I have been concerned with the winding down, if not the closure, of Monaghan General Hospital, so I know what this closure means. The Minister has given many promises as to what she intends for the service. I hope those promises will become more of a reality than the promises made to us in Monaghan when the new developments were proposed. We were told that no services would be removed until a better service had been provided and were told a centre of excellence would be provided before any closures would take place. We are now in a situation where the Monaghan hospital has been literally wound down and has only 26 beds for rehabilitation and respite, but no extra beds have been provided in either Cavan hospital or the Lourdes hospital in Drogheda. Both of these hospitals are chock a block, with people on trolleys or being sent home early. They also have other difficulties. However, the staff in both hospitals are doing everything they can and if one can gain access to the service, it is a good service.

The situation in Monaghan provides a warning that it is important that St. Luke's is not closed until Beaumont and St. James are ready and capable of dealing with cancer patients. Whatever about other illnesses, when people with cancer are held back from getting treatment, they have less chance of surviving their cancer. When my late mother was in the nursing home in 1999, she was visited in October by her niece. She said then that if her niece did not receive treatment soon, the treatment would be too late. My mother was completely blind then, but she knew by feeling her niece's hand and by listening to her breathe that she had a serious illness. Her niece was diagnosed the following January in a hospital in Northern Ireland and was told by the doctor that if her illness had been caught two months earlier, she could have been saved. Therefore, it is from personal knowledge and grief as a result of knowing what can happen to a patient if there is a delay in treatment that I make my comments.

I hope and pray that unlike on other occasions the Minister will deliver on her promises on time so that when St. Luke's is eventually wound down, people will be guaranteed as good a service, if not better, in Beaumont or St. James's. I cannot pay adequate tribute to St. Luke's for what it did for so many families and patients. I remember being there when a cousin's daughter, 17 years of age, was being nursed through her final weeks. The care and attention given to that family by staff at every level was excellent and could not be surpassed. I hope that same capability will be available when the change is made from St. Luke's to the other units.

I could go on at length on the issue of the health service. We have a ridiculous situation currently where a surgical ward is being wound down in Cavan hospital. The senior staff there are extremely worried about the whole future of surgical services there.

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