James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for coming to the House at this late hour. We again find ourselves in a situation where promises were made but were not kept. There can be all the excuses in the world but the reality for the patients is that they will continue to suffer.

In April 2009, Fine Gael brought forward a Private Members' motion seeking the construction of the cystic fibrosis unit at St. Vincent's hospital. At that time, the Minister, Deputy Mary Harney promised the building of the unit at St. Vincent's hospital would commence "within the next nine months", that a Government guarantee to pay for a project on completion was "as good as money in the bank" and would be attractive to the construction industry, and that while the project would have to be financed, notwithstanding the current banking difficulties there was "no question that a bank would not forward money on the basis of a Government guarantee". The reality now appears very different. The original preferred bidder has claimed difficulty getting finance for the development, has suggested the deferred payment nature of the tender was unusual, which did not allow them enough time to raise funds, and that the hospital took four months to respond to the original tenders.

It is sadly now the case that, far from building starting within nine months of the motion, as the Minister promised, 15 months later a contract has not even been signed. It can never be forgotten that cystic fibrosis patients are fighting for their lives and in this country they are losing that fight ten years earlier than their counterparts over the Border. They do not have time for broken promises. If the Minister, Deputy Harney, meant what she said in April 2009, why did she not make it happen? Instead she handed it over to the bureaucratic nightmare that is the HSE. Bureaucracy does not care. The Minister's litany of broken promises about this unit over the last number of years is yet further evidence that she shirks her responsibility on an ongoing basis while patients suffer the consequences. It gives me no pleasure to say that.

See this speech in context