Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

I wish to address the specific issue of St. Vincent's hospital. The second tenderer is already constructing something else on the site. We all hope that this will have a satisfactory conclusion. It is extremely important for these patients that this unit is developed as quickly as possible.

I refer to a reply we received on 18 May with regard to this issue. The estimated construction, equipping and commissioning time is still approximately 18 months. I ask the Minister to clarify if it will take that long once the tender has been accepted.

I put in a plea in the meantime for a better arrangement than the one described by Orla Tinsley so well. Some effort should be made to isolate these patients or at least to treat them in wards where they will not be open to infection. It should be arranged that they do not have to be admitted to hospital through the accident and emergency department. There has to be a system whereby they can be referred directly to hospital without having to expose themselves to infection.

I refer to a letter I received from a person in County Donegal who had a lung transplant 18 years ago and who has written a long letter in which he makes suggestions from the perspective of the patient. Some of these suggestions are very simple.

We are all aware that with cystic fibrosis when antibiotics and home treatment fail, it is normally a trip to the hospital. In many cases this will be a local general hospital and a long wait in a busy accident and emergency unit. This can be a disaster for such patients.

What needs to happen is that after the family doctor sees the patient he should be able to write out a letter of admission and on the strength of such a note, patients, especially with cystic fibrosis, should be sent straight to a ward.

That is a very simple plea from somebody who has experienced this. This person is obviously a long distance from access to centralised services. He also makes a plea that assessments should be done much earlier for those going on transplant lists. He suggests this would be a very positive development from the point of view of having successful outcomes. The isolation unit is needed but there are many other practical things that can be done to help people who are gong into hospitals around the country.

I received a detailed reply this time last year referring to proposed developments in Waterford, St. Vincent's hospital, Beaumont hospital, Temple Street hospital, Cork University Hospital, Galway and a four-bedded isolation facility for the in-patient accommodation of children with cystic fibrosis to be advanced in Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, with the support of charitable funding. Will the Minister say if this has been developed and if there is progress to report regarding the other issues around the country?

Deputy Reilly has raised the issue of the paediatric physiotherapist in Limerick who was not replaced and the 70 children who need that service in the mid-west region. It is vital that these patients receive the treatment they require as it is literally a matter of life and death. It is well recorded that the life span of patients with cystic fibrosis here is very much below par when compared with other countries. I welcome the debate as it is an opportunity for us to raise these important issues. These patients need positive and practical responses and they need isolation units and access to organ transplants. Where they are dispersed around the country, they should be afforded the best possible opportunity to have the appropriate treatment.

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