Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I raised this matter two weeks ago during Questions on Promised Legislation and got no reply from the Taoiseach. That is why I am raising it today. I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath, for visiting the excellent facility in Beaufort in County Kerry. I requested him at that time to do so and was very glad that he did. He also called to other facilities in County Kerry.

Students with profound special needs or requiring round the clock medical attention are being forced to miss days at St. Francis Special School in Beaufort, County Kerry as the HSE provides only general nursing hours there three days a week. At least two students living in constant danger of medical emergencies cannot attend St. Francis Special School on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the absence of general nursing care. Funded entirely by the Department of Education and Skills with St. John of God's as its trustees, St. Francis Special School is dependent on the HSE to provide the vital medical assistance its students need. While many students benefit from individual nurses the general nursing service is crucial to the delivery of education at St. Francis Special School. Currently, however, it is provided only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and staffed by two part-time nurses. Parents are also seriously concerned about the loss of physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy hours that occurred under the HSE's reconfiguration plan. They signed up to this in 2013 on the understanding that the service they were then giving would be fairer for all students in the mid-Kerry area, students in St. Francis Special School and those in mainstream schools with less profound needs.

It is crucial that the absence of general nurses at St. Francis Special School on Tuesdays and Thursdays is rectified and that nurses are provided on these days. Children should not have to remain at home on those days. It is simply wrong. I compliment the staff at the school from the bottom of my heart. They do excellent work but they are not trained medical experts and can only do so much. I ask the Minister of State please to ensure that on Tuesdays and Thursdays general nurses are provided for St. Francis Special School in Beaufort. This is of vital and paramount importance.

I want also to highlight the fact that the structure in Beaufort is coming under attack because of the policy on congregated settings adopted in 2011. I have said before in the House that this policy should be changed because if new people are not allowed to enter the excellent facility at St. Mary of the Angels, whose campus includes St. Francis Special School, over time the facility will close. That will also affect St. Francis Special School. I have said on numerous occasions that one shoe does not fit all sizes. The Government should change this policy to allow St. Mary of the Angels to take in admissions again because when a centre like that is closed by stealth, a centre of excellence is closed. Beaufort and St. Francis Special School are centres of excellence. The personnel, the management, teachers, nurses, the staff working in the kitchens and those taking care of the personal needs of the patients make it a real centre of excellence. I would like the Government to acknowledge that and revisit the congregated settings and deal with the issue I have raised, to provide the necessary nursing care on the days when the nurses are absent.

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