Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

The reason I put this forward as a Topical Issue today was because I heard on radio this morning that staff had refused to go to work as they could not provide the care needed in a safe environment due to a lack of staff. I felt it was a cry for help from these workers who wanted to raise this issue. They would not have taken this action this morning unless there was a chronic problem within the services in Galway University Hospital. It seems there are other issues in relation to other services in Galway University Hospital. Is there a need for the Minister to make a statement about what is happening across the services in this hospital?

The PNA representative, Mr. Derek Cunningham, stated this morning that 36 staff had been assaulted since January and that this had been raised with the HSE. The HSE has condemned these workers for taking this action and for not working in unsafe conditions for the patients and workers. The Minister must respond to this and say to the Dáil, the patients in the hospital and the workers that he will do something about it because this has been going on too long.

As other Deputies have said, the matter has been raised over the past two years. A Vision for Changedoes not seem to be doing what it is supposed to do in terms of mental health services. The annual report of the Mental Health Commission is due in June. I would like to see that report to know whether there have been advances since last year when there was condemnation by the PNA and the workers in the HSE.

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