Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste for his reply. He mentioned numbers dropping, but they are dropping because people are going to Belfast as quickly as they can for operations that should be carried out locally. He also referred to cataract operations. Those should be taking place in Bantry, Mallow and elsewhere in west Cork. They are 20 minute procedures. The Government has failed in its duty to look after our elderly. It will let them go blind before it will look after them.

The Tánaiste stated that money was being invested in elder care, but I question that. The simplest way of approaching this is by speaking to those who need that care. I will outline a sample of the crisis that we are experiencing in west Cork. Last night, I spoke to someone from the Bandon-Kinsale area, one of whose parents was suffering severe dementia. She has been trying in recent weeks to get long-term care for her loved one, but no beds are available. In Skibbereen, another person who is desperately seeking respite care for a family member with dementia has been unable to do so, as community hospitals are not equipped to take such patients. An elderly lady who looks after two elderly family members in their homes in Skibbereen and Bantry needs extra home help for just one day per week to go shopping, but she has been refused it. The stunning new Bandon Community Hospital opened just a few short weeks ago, but while those essential works were under way for up to a year and a half, the family of a lady of 90 years of age could not get respite care. Now her family members hear that there were 12 to 14 beds available in Clonakilty Community Hospital that are currently being designated as step-down beds.

See this speech in context