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

I say without fear of contradiction that I speak for the majority of people in the communities when I say they will not accept this. What the Minister has just announced to the House is that these facilities will be considered in the context of planning for short-stay rehabilitative, respite, step up and step down facilities. What the communities want is long-stay beds kept in their area. This is what they want. People have been going to St. Joseph's for generations. It is what is colloquially called the county home. People will not accept this. We have heard spin from the Government that this is not what it means, although the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, made it very clear in her statement that long-stay beds in these three facilities are being replaced by the beds in Letterkenny. The Minister has just confirmed this to us.

I am asking the Minister, who is noted for his straight talking, to explain in plain English that the plan for St. Joseph's, Lifford and Ramelton is not the continuation of long-stay beds. This plan will be resisted. I will resist it, along with communities and front-line services. We need investment in beds. What is the net number of beds that will become available in the county? How will we deal with the crisis at this time where people are being turned away from long-stay beds in the county? People lose their long-stay beds when they go for a simple operation in Letterkenny General Hospital. We cannot afford to close beds in these communities. Will the Minister please listen to my call and the calls and pleas of the communities involved? Will he also spell out in very clear language the plan for long-stay beds in the three institutions in Lifford, Ramelton and St. Joseph's in Stranorlar?

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