Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the motion and commend Deputy Louise O’Reilly on introducing it.

I have been a Member of the Dáil for approximately three years and this is about the 30th debate on health during that time. This Government and its predecessor, led by Fine Gael, have had seven years in office. The Minister talks about a ten-year plan. We are three-quarters of the way through that period and circumstances are getting worse. There are people waiting for appointments, amounting to 670,000 or 680,000. Circumstances are getting worse despite the best will in the world.

I saw the Minister on the television during the Christmas period offering an apology. The Taoiseach also made statements. Apologising will not cure someone waiting on a hospital trolley for a few days, nor will it help the front-line staff who are trying to fight a fire day in, day out because the necessary infrastructure and system have not been put in place.

The GP contract has to be tidied up. This matter has gone on for so long. The Department is weaving in and out. I spoke to a doctor some days ago who explained very clearly the fact that he cannot pay staff to be going around the country and that this is why patients are sent into hospitals. One has to understand that position because the Department is trying to get away with murder.

In the programme for Government, there is a reference to an air ambulance but the Minister has not even carried out the review yet.

As the previous speaker pointed out, the infrastructure in Galway is inadequate . Two years ago, the Taoiseach admitted that Galway hospital, as a centre of excellence, is not fit for purpose. There are 150 acres of land available nearby. I attended a meeting a few months before Christmas at which the problems at Merlin Park were discussed. What is being done? Nothing. I am not blaming the Minister because there are people with responsibilities in the HSE who do not man up and take the decisions. They will not do the work that has to be done.

We also need help from unions. We need the machinery in place to ensure that primary care centres cater for more people. If one compares the hours of work of X-ray machines in private hospitals by comparison with public hospitals, one will note there is a totally different ball game.

It is worrying when one hears consultants saying that they have to decide who is the worst case in an intensive care unit, ICU. I accept that the Minister does not a magic bullet to use. Unless a genuine effort is made, however, this matter will not be addressed. Unless the people in the Department making the decisions - and not only the Minister - step up to the mark, the problem will never be solved. People are dying because those to whom I refer are not making decisions.

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