James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

Excellent care is being provided in both facilities, of that there is no question. However, the facilities are not up to the standard described by Deputies. On Deputy Stanley's remarks in regard to the Mater Hospital, some €200 million is currently being spent on refurbishing the core of the old hospital. The facilities of which we are speaking, which were built during the 1930s as sanatoria, were not built to last the duration of time they have been in use. The Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, has strong views in this regard, which will come to the fore in due course.

Given the cost of refurbishing these facilities, it would be more cost effective to knock them down and rebuild them. I have been assured by the HSE - it is important the families are aware of this - that all patients in the Abbeyleix facility who wish to do so will be able to stay together and retain their community relationships. I acknowledge and accept that this facility has been home to people for a long time, that relationships have grown and that moving is stressful. We aim to minimise that stress. The facilities to which these people will be moved will be modern and well run. People wishing to stay together will be able to do so. They will have a choice. There will be consultation with them and their relatives.

Similar options will be made available to people residing in the facility at Shaen. We want to give people plenty of time to come to terms with this. As I have stated nothing can happen within six months and people can move within that time if they so choose. However, there will be plenty of time for people to consider this. The reality is that once a communication is made with patients or staff the information is out in the public arena, following which public representatives from the Opposition try to make as much hay as they can of it. That may suit their purpose but it does not help-----

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