Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I wish to share my time with Deputies Seán Sherlock and Liz McManus. I am very glad a Minister of State from the south east is present.

I have a good understanding of the Minister's position and she made a reasonable speech in the House last night. However, I wish to spend the time I have talking about reconfiguration, a process that has been under way in the south east for almost two years. The people of, and the elected Members from, Wexford engaged in the process of reconfiguration in a rational, open and non-locally focused way. We agreed to the centralisation of cancer care in Waterford Regional Hospital. Many years ago we agreed to the centralisation of acute orthopaedics in Waterford Regional Hospital. The people of Wexford do not have a parochial attitude. The criteria we applied to the entire process has been that there would be a rational health outcome, a best health outcome for the people we represent.

After almost two years of discussions, it was shocking to come into possession of a leaked document, which was about to be brought to the south east reconfiguration group last week, and to discover that decisions, which had at least been committed to paper, had no basis in a rational health decision and no basis in any conceivable good health outcome for the people of the south east as a whole.

Looking at the geography of the south east, Wexford is the largest county and has the largest population base. It must have access to 24 hours per day, seven days per week accident and emergency services. The distance is compelling on that point and we understood that was agreed.

There was a commitment, subsequent to the furore caused by that leaked document, that planning permission would be submitted this week for a new accident and emergency department in Wexford. We will judge the bona fides of the HSE on that and on the new obstetrics facility. We will engage on a reasonable basis but the HSE is putting at risk the possibility of any consensus on these matters. There is genuine concern among the people of Wexford about what might emerge from any decisions made behind closed doors by clinicians acting in their own interests rather than in the best health care interests of the people.

To give an indication of the concerns of the people of Wexford, I wish to bring two cases from my clinic list this week to the attention of the House. A child aged four has had throat problems for the past 24 weeks, has been on antibiotics for 13 weeks, has had numerous GP visits and has been hospital once during this period. Her GP referred her to the specialist in the regional centre, Waterford. On 4 October, this child was notified that she has been given an appointment to see the ENT specialist in 2013, three years from now. This four year old child is constantly sick and in pain.

The second case is of another child waiting to have a hearing test in Waterford. The reply I received to my query about when this child would be seen for a hearing test in Waterford Regional Hospital and which was signed by the network manager, hospital group south east, stated that the Waterford Regional Hospital routine waiting list for a hearing test in audiology services was two years and eight months. If that is centres of excellence and regionalisation of services, we will not have it.

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