John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Maureen is 76 years old and has small cell lung cancer. On 30 December last, she started to vomit blood. Unable to have a palliative care team provided until 2 January, her daughter tried to contact the general practitioner out-of-hours service. The family was left waiting for 16 hours because of the Minister's failure to put in place a dedicated GP out-of-hours service.

On 4 January, an ambulance was called for Jay who was experiencing severe chest pains. It took two hours for the ambulance to arrive because it travelled all the way from Baltinglass to Arklow where there is no rostered ambulance on Thursdays. Jay's case is another of the Minister's failures. Jay and Maureen are two of the Minister's constituents. Jay's ambulance bypassed St. Colmcille's Hospital, where the 24-hour accident and emergency department has been closed, and brought him to a trolley lined corridor at St. Vincent's Hospital. This is another failure by the Government and the Minister's colleagues in the previous Government, including Labour Party Ministers. At the same time, the Government is railroading through the closure of St. Brigid's nursing home in Crooksling, a critical step-down facility that has provided excellent service to people in west County Wicklow and the Brittas area for many years. The closure of this facility follows the closure of other homes, including the Orchard welfare home in Bray and Wicklow District Hospital.

County Wicklow is a microcosm of what is taking place across the State. The slash and burn policies of the Government and its predecessor are the cause of the current crisis and unless they are changed, we will find ourselves in the House next year debating more cases involving people like Maureen and Jay. There must be change and investment.

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