Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)

I am somewhat encouraged to hear that it had been envisaged that the number of beds in County Clare would be reduced by nine and that this was changed to five. However, I am reliably informed by the professional nursing staff at Raheen hospital that they are now a couple of nurses short of the number required to deal safely with the 23 beds that remain, yet other health facilities in County Clare remain over-staffed, and the HSE, in its infinite bureaucracy, does not seem to be able to move nurses from one hospital to another. The problem of a lack of information is not confined to Raheen. The Friends of Ennistymon Hospital group has €500,000 ready to invest in the hospital, but Senator Conway, a former Fine Gael councillor, has been unable to obtain information from the HSE about its long-term plans for the hospital. We have exactly what we want on a political level - public private partnership - but people who are willing to put their money where their mouths are and invest in local care are being stymied by a secretive bureaucracy. The only information I received about Raheen hospital was a message on my voicemail to say that a press release would be going out that night but the contents could not be shared with me. I cannot think of a greater example of contempt - not for me, but for the people who vote for me or bother to vote at all.

I call upon the Minister of State to address this issue. I for one have lost confidence in the ability of the HSE to manage our hospitals. I note the programme for Government provides that the ownership and management of hospitals will be transferred to boards whose members are selected from among local people with an interest in and genuine commitment to the area. It seems the bureaucrats of the HSE do not have a commitment to anything other than pushing pens. If I sound frustrated, it is because I am. This is not something I suffer from alone; it is shared by all Deputies from County Clare and, I suspect, the great majority of Deputies in the House. I urge the Minister of State, therefore, to move ahead as speedily as possible with the transfer of the running of hospitals from the HSE to boards, as provided for in the programme for Government.

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