Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)

I thank the office of the Ceann Comhairle for accepting this issue, and the Minister of State for attending.

As we speak, and in recent weeks, the accident and emergency ward in Letterkenny General Hospital has faced another crisis situation. Staff are working in impossible conditions under severe pressure. Many of them, speaking off the record to the local media, have spoken of being at breaking point due to the pressure they have to endure.

Whenever the accident and emergency ward in Letterkenny is overcrowded patients remain on trolleys. I understand that in one case a patient had to stay on the trolley in the ambulance waiting to be admitted to a trolley in the actual ward. Privacy and dignity are denied to patients, qualities they should expect from a modern health service. Patients, many of whom are elderly and unwell, have to wait for long periods. Then there is the knock-on impact the next day when outpatient clinics are cancelled, with all the accompanying inconvenience. It is a very serious situation and happens all too often at Letterkenny General Hospital.

If that was not a big enough problem there is another. Only dozens of yards away is a state-of-the-art, brand new building with an accident and emergency ward unit and, two floors above, modern wards. However, there has been a delay of a year beyond what we expected would be its opening time because the builders, McNamara, went bust. Given the need for this building the issue should have been resolved much more quickly by the HSE in terms of the bonds and all the insurance and legalistic matters involved. It is in place now and fully completed. I urge the Minister of State and the HSE to ensure that this building is opened as soon as possible and that the necessary financial and personnel resources are provided to the management of the hospital to ensure this happens. We have already waited a year and cannot wait any longer.

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