Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Whatever words he chooses, it is clear. That is the vein that runs through everything. In housing, the private sector can deal with it instead of putting the necessary resources into building houses. It is the same in health. Even with the new hospital being developed - a runaway project - it is decided to build a private hospital within the public hospital. That is the ideology. A party can stand on that platform and that is its right, but I completely oppose it. This shows clearly how the Minister, who tells us he does not have enough money to support the thousands of people who have been denied home help this year, has plenty of dosh for these guys. The Minister who tells us he does not have enough money to support children with special needs in terms of the additional resources they require has plenty of dosh for these guys. That is the sickening thing about all of this. That is the reality.

Many sectors of our society are crying out. Respite services are closed down in south Donegal. I get so angry when I have to attend meetings of parents of children and adults with intellectual disability who have to campaign and fight for their rights or the rights of their children. When we talk to the HSE, the Department of Education and Skills or to the Minister, time and again we are told there is a finite amount of resources. There is, but the problem is that the Minister is putting them in the wrong pockets. Respite services are closed and it is ridiculous that a fraction of the money the Minister is spending on this would open them overnight. There were 51 patients on trolleys in Letterkenny University Hospital yesterday and today there were 45. It is a war zone. It is ridiculous what the staff must go through, not to mind the disrespect to the patients who are suffering. Ten beds are lying empty in that hospital. They cannot be filled because of decisions on finances. There is no money for those beds to be opened. The patients are let lie on the hospital trolleys while the nurses and doctors are let deal with the crisis because the Minister must look after this priority in this section of the Finance Bill. He must ensure that these 1,000 people, some of whom are earning more than €3 million, are looked after. That is the priority of this Government, and that is what is disgusting about the priorities of this Government.

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