Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for accepting this Adjournment debate. There is major concern about the changes that will take place in respect of respite care in the Kildare and west Wicklow area. Respite care will no longer be provided at the Drogheda Memorial Hospital. There are concerns about people who have attended the hospital for a period of time. In that time, people create friendships with staff and others in receipt of respite care. Changes are now being implemented and patients are being told that the liaison public health officer or a nurse will be in touch with them. Patients are not sure if the dates on which they were entitled to respite care will be honoured or where they will be sent. This is a major upsetting factor for senior citizens. The families involved are deeply concerned about the upset and torment this creates for senior citizens.

The Drogheda Memorial Hospital has served Kildare well. It was originally referred to as the jockey hospital. Anyone involved in the bloodstock industry who was injured was brought to the jockey hospital and the facility progressed to what it is today, a wonderful facility with wonderful staff and care. The INMO is deeply concerned about the suggestion that respite care will be stopped and the uncertainty about the future of the hospital now that there will be ten empty beds. I hope the Minister for Health and Children, through the Minister of State, Deputy Martin Mansergh, can give us a clear indication that there is no threat of closure to the hospital and that this is a short-term solution to financial circumstances of the HSE.

I am loth to hear arguments about why this hospital should be closed. It would have major implications for health care in Kildare. At the moment there is Baltinglass District Hospital and St Vincent's Hospital, Athy, which is practically impossible to get into for long-term geriatric care. Nevertheless, there are ten beds that seemed to be unused. That the HSE has determined there will be no more respite care provided at the facility adds to the worries and concerns. I hope the reply clears up the position in respect of the hospital, the patients, the families and the staff involved. I hope the Minister of State indicates this is a short-term solution to a financial position. I hope the hospital is not under threat so that we can move forward and see the hospital retained as a central focus point in the services supplied at the three hospitals in Kildare and west Wicklow. Those three hospitals are of paramount importance to providing services to senior citizens, especially to those in receipt of respite care.

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