Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this very important issue. If one thinks back to dealing with the old southern health board, it was a board that had teeth. There were politicians, medical staff and consultants on the old southern health board. I was very privileged to have given many years with our late father, Jackie Healy-Rae, to sitting on the southern health board. It had teeth. When one went to a meeting, one had a say at the time of budget. It had to pass a budget the same as any local authority. They were meaningful boards but lo and behold a genius of a Government at the time thought it was right to do away with it and scrap it because it was working. The first HSE debarred politicians completely. When they realised they were making a right dog's dinner out of it, they decided they better bring the politicians back in. That was some bit of a help because we had politicians who were genuinely worried and concerned about their constituents and they worked on the new HSE boards. They are in no way related to what was there in the past and the structures that were there on the old health boards. When we talk about having confidence in the health service, how could we have confidence in a Minister or Department when one looks at what they are doing with the children's hospital and the massive over-run? What Deputy Danny Healy-Rae said is right. Somebody will have to pay for it. In other words, will the likes of the community hospital we are promised for the great town of Killarney be affected? The first thing that will happen is that other infrastructural projects that have to go ahead in the county of Kerry and throughout the rest of the country will be slashed and cut and will not be delivered on at all because the story will be that everything will be needed to pay for the over-runs in the hospital they are putting in the wrong place. We have seen over the past number of years the difference coming into Dublin city in the morning. It does not matter whether it is 5.30, 6.30, 7.30 or 8.30 in the morning, one is choked coming into the town. Here we are telling people we have compounded it further by locating the new children's hospital in a place where a helicopter cannot land and where we will not be able to bring people by ambulance. It is absolutely insane. The over-run is totally insane.

I have to raise the fact that in County Kerry, we have two fine hospitals in Cahersiveen and Kenmare where they are crying out for more long-stay beds. We have excellent matrons and staff. Every one of them is operating to their maximum. At the same time the hospital is not because there are rooms and beds that have never been opened. The funny thing about it is when one talks about Kenmare there was an urgent situation where in the space of one day, upstairs had to open because of an eventuality. There was no problem. It was able to open in a day. It was filled but then it had to be closed again. There is total and absolute mismanagement and insanity by people in charge, not the local people on the ground. A massive amount of money is being wasted.

There is a new system in place now in the HSE which I want to tell the House about and put on the record. Before if one was operating in a community hospital, whether in Kerry or Donegal, when goods were delivered, one signed off for the goods. If ten boxes came in, whoever was responsible counted the boxes and signed for them. That does not happen anymore. The ten boxes are delivered. No one in the hospital can sign for them. A person has to travel out to sign for them. When I say "travel out", that could be 20 miles, 40 miles or 50 miles. The person has to travel from an office to sign for goods being delivered to a community hospital. It is a fact. I would not say it on the record of the Dáil if it was not a fact. It is more waste and insanity. The people working in our health service know it is happening and it is shocking. When will we see proper management? Money is being thrown at the health service but it is not being spent wisely. That is why I am asking how we can have confidence in what is happening.

Last Saturday, I saw 24 people from around Kerry who need to come to Dublin to have their cataracts removed. How can we have confidence in a health service when we cannot do that in the south and have to send them up to Dublin? We can give them the money back and they can avail of the service in the North but we cannot carry out the operations in the South. It is absolutely crazy that people awaiting hip operations and children waiting for tonsils to be removed have to be sent to the North. That is extremely unfair. There is discomfort on these people even though we have tried to make it as comfortable as possible. It is crazy to tell people in their 80s that they have to go to the North to have cataract removed.

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