Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What stands out in the prepared reply on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, is the statement that the services are delivered in buildings that are less than ideal in the modern context. The Minister of State will see this evening, when he visits St. Joseph's, that the facilities there are adequate. I believe that, as do those who have their loved ones there. The Minister of State decided a number of months ago that those facilities would have a derogation so that the HIQA standards would not apply there. I believe the facilities there are as good as those in any other part of the country.

There is also a question mark here over the future of other hospital services, apart from long-term services. This adds to the confusion. In short, we want clarity on this issue. The political decision of 2016 must be reversed, and we must have a plan which is acceptable to all. It needs to be drawn up and put in place to guarantee the future of long-stay accommodation units in the three hospitals. They need to focus on the future-proofing of the long-stay accommodation beds, restoring the bed numbers to what they were a number of years ago and restoring the services for all three hospitals. The facilities in Letterkenny and Ballyshannon which were mentioned are red herrings, because in addition to those, the beds in these three hospitals are required to meet the demographic trends and the aging population in Donegal.

See this speech in context