Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It should read acute psychiatric admissions unit in County Wexford. A number of years ago, all Members of the Oireachtas agreed to A Vision for Change. Wexford was the first county to do so. It was the first county to support the closure of what was then the old Victorian St. Senan's institution because we wanted to move away from the old way that people in psychiatric services were dealt with. We believed at that stage that it was the right thing to do. It was the right thing to do but a number of years later, there is an enormous deficit in the plan because there is no acute psychiatric admission service in County Wexford.

If there is a psychiatric admission, the patient goes to Wexford General Hospital. Subsequently, depending on where the patient is from in the county, he or she is transferred to Waterford or to Newcastle Hospital in County Wicklow. People in difficult circumstances or dire straits are moved from Wexford General Hospital to somewhere else. This is not good enough. There is a lacuna in the service and it must be addressed. I am keen to hear the views of the Minister of State and those of the Department. This cannot be allowed to continue.

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