Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I echo what Deputy McConalogue has said. It is important we represent the best interests in Donegal and this cross-party approach is welcome. There is huge fear in these communities as a result of the announcement made two days ago. The announcement of that level of investment should have been positive news in terms of refurbishing the existing community hospitals to bring them up to HIQA standards so that they are able to be licensed post-2021 but it is not a positive news story in certain areas. The community will not stand for the ending of long-stay beds in Ramelton, Lifford and St. Joseph's community hospitals. I want to be clear because we have been speaking to people working within those institutions and communities on the ground and they will not allow an end to long-stay beds in the community hospitals in those areas. We are asking the Minister that instead of generating fear and panic about those three institutions he would confirm to this House that long-stay beds will remain open in those three areas and will not be closed down once the new facility in Letterkenny opens in 2018, which is the projected date.

There is also another problem in Donegal. We are already at peak capacity in the county. I have seen internal documentation within the Health Service Executive, HSE, which refers to people in long-stay beds going into hospital for routine surgery in Letterkenny General Hospital and when their surgery is complete and they have been released from the hospital, their long-stay bed is no longer available. Why is that happening? It is because we are already at peak capacity.

The HSE pointed out to me and to other Members four years ago that we needed 500 additional beds in the county within five years. We are now about a year away from meeting that target. We cannot accept closure of beds and facilities on a county-wide basis that have been operating for many years. We do not want to hear "if", "but", and-or "maybe" from the Minister.

We do not want to hear about rehabilitative or step-down facilities, or respite care in these institutions. What we want to know is that the community hospitals in Lifford, St. Joseph's and Ramelton will have long-stay beds in the future, and those people who call these community hospitals their homes will be there for the foreseeable future, and that people from these areas will not have to travel for long-stay beds in the years ahead.

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