Dáil debates

Tuesday, 12 March 2019

National Children's Hospital: Motion [Private Members]

 

10:15 pm

Photo of Danny Healy-RaeDanny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I believe this is the biggest single scandal that ever happened in this country. In March 2017, our group told the Government that this was going to happen. Many of the members of parties, who are jumping up and down now, voted against our motion when we asked that the hospital be moved out to some greenfield site. They voted against our motion and now they are jumping up and down as to what happened and why has the cost escalated to such proportions. We clearly identified what was wrong at that time.

We clearly asked as well that this children's hospital should be for children from all parts of the country. I spoke to a Deputy from Dublin here the other day and he said that he thought the reason they went for it and why in their opinion it was the right site to use was because the Luas was servicing it. We do not have a Luas out west in Kerry or along the western coast, and we do not have many other modes of transport that the people in Dublin have. Certainly, what we would need, when there is a crisis and when a child needs to be brought up, is to use the largest helicopter which can fight the winds and land at the hospital door but we are told now that type of helicopter cannot land at this site.

We have the debacle whereby many projects will be delayed, held up and put back. Many years ago, I had a request at the HSE south forum that there would be a community hospital in Killarney. It was progressing away well but now we know it will be deferred. The population of Killarney quadruples in summertime and we need a new community hospital to enhance the services that we could give there.

I am not aiming at the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, but am directing my venom at those who are not here who should be here and that is a scandal as well. They should be sitting here. Certainly, if we were talking about abortion, the Minister, Deputy Harris, would be there. There would be no doubt about it. I suppose that is what happened. The Minister took his eye off the ball because all last year his only concern was abortion and he forgot about the children's hospital. He only left it plough on whatever way it would happen.

In Tralee, we are waiting for extra beds that have been promised but they are not materialising. There are many patients on trolleys in pain, waiting for proper attention. After all their life given to working for this country, it is wrong that so many of them finish up dying on a trolley because we cannot put them into a proper hospital bed in Tralee general hospital.

We have people who need eye treatment and could not manage, except for the number of buses as these days, we again have three buses going up to the North of Ireland. There were three in February, three in January and there will be two more in April so far. The story goes on. We cannot deal with those patients in our own country.

We will see Dingle hospital half opened. As for all the other projects, I mentioned today the Kilcummin sewerage scheme that has been promised to the people for the past 15 years. That has been put back and that is because of this issue. We have the site, with props holding up the sidewalls in the hope they will keep the houses from falling in. That is not right. What we asked for and what we wanted is a greenfield site which would be accessible for all the children of the country.

I am taking someone else's time. I could go on here for a long time.

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