Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State's statement and acknowledge that he has been given it to read out. I do not blame him for its content but I do not accept the position in the cases of the Fitzgerald family and the other lady, whom I will call by her first name, Louise. In both these cases the patient is not able to communicate or talk, so there is no question of their not wanting visitors. In both cases there has been arbitrary barring and there is no appeals process. In the case of Louise, her father is dying. When I met her on Sunday she said her father was very seriously ill and would pass away soon. She cannot visit him and was not allowed into the nursing home, which is private, although it is a HSE bed.

There are serious issues here. If the HSE is serious about examining these cases, why has it not contacted the families since Thursday of the week before last? There is an absolutely ruthless disregard of the care and love these families want to show their family members, and it is entirely unacceptable that there is no independent appeals process. Thankfully, there are only 11 such cases. The two cases to which I refer are among them. This is destroying human beings who love and care for their loved ones and cannot show that love in a way that the Minister of State, I or anyone listening to this debate would wish to do. If there is an issue - and I am not talking about these two families - there should be an independent appeals process. It should not involve someone from the HSE or the private nursing home sector. Given that these cases are rare in the first place, as the Minister of State said, appeals should be exceptional. Perhaps a judge or retired judge should look at these cases independently. There should be an appeals process in any case because these families' hearts are broken and the people to whom I talk do not and will not accept that Pat Fitzgerald and his daughter should not be able to visit Anne. That is at the heart of all this. Louise should also have the opportunity to visit her dying father before he passes away.

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