Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As my time is limited, I will have to omit some of the material I was going to use this evening. We all accept that the Minister is a decent man and that he wants to do his best for the health service. At the moment, however, that simply is not good enough. As Deputy Rabbitte and more of my party colleagues and the Sinn Féin Deputes have said, we need to reopen those beds. In this House earlier today, the Taoiseach said 2,500 beds would be added by 2031. That is 13 years. We will have an older population. Furthermore, I see that a number of services that were being provided in various towns and counties are being closed down. The beds are not being used. These include services for people with Alzheimer's, dementia, and some mental health issues. I am aware of a service in Castlerea, which I will bring up with the Minister another day. I know he is aware of it.

I will give the Minister one or two very brief examples as I am sharing time with Deputy Scanlon. A 90 year-old woman was left on a trolley at Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe for seven hours recently. She was brought in for a minor X-ray. She was moved to the accident and emergency department and left on the trolley there for seven hours. At that stage it was decided they were going to do nothing with the lady there and they gave her an appointment for Merlin Park the next day. When she went to Merlin Park, it was something very minor and she is now home and well. During that period, however, her blood pressure rose and other problems arose. Luckily, one family member was able to come in and help settle her down. That should not be happening. Why was that lady left in the accident and emergency department for seven hours after coming in for a minor X-ray?

The staff members in all those hospitals are working hard and are trying to look after people. We all want to make that clear. The staff members are doing their best. I have another constituent who is desperately ill and cannot get a bed in Tallaght. He is in Sligo hospital at the moment. That man is very ill. His family and his doctors are very worried about him. I urge the Minister to look up that case as well and see if he can help that man.

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