Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to zone in on the private and the public hospitals in Galway and their underutilisation. I welcome the decision to review the contracts in question at the end of June. I have raised it many times already.

The Minister described the virus as a villain. I do not think it is helpful to contribute human characteristics to a virus. A virus is a virus. It is a matter of our reaction to that virus and how we deal with it. The Minister spoke about highlighting inequality. Many of us have highlighted inequality repeatedly in this Chamber, pointing out its effects on health, the effects of no housing on health and so on. In March, when we started our journey on this pandemic, I highlighted the letter that most of us received from Fórsa on the appalling conditions of primary care facilities which are not fit for purpose.

Merlin Park hospital in Galway was set up in 1950, thanks to the work of Noël Browne and his small team. In this context, it is interesting that it was set up as the first dedicated TB hospital. It is now practically empty. I have pointed this out to the Minister. Its rehab centre has been shut down. Not alone has its rehab been shut down, the patients were put into the private Bon Secours Hospital. When I asked the Minister on the last occasion about this, he gave me some figures and said he would come back to me about the Galway Clinic, Doughiska. That has not happened, unfortunately. I understand the Minister is busy but he might come back on that.

Last week, in the course of representations, a person, who has given me permission to raise his case today, ended up in Limerick hospital because of fog and so on. He could not get back into Galway. Why? There was no bed in Galway. We have all these contradictory stories. I have a letter here actually still confirming no bed. I think things are changing today.

We have Merlin Park half empty. We have Doughiska with a 20% occupancy. We have Bon Secours filled with public patients from the public hospital. These are all contradictions. We have the front pages of the Galway Advertiserencouraging people to go into hospital but then we have no bed available. I am finding it difficult to get my head around it.

What in God's name is behind the decision to shut down the rehab unit in Merlin Park hospital? The Minister might recall the whole debacle over two operating theatres in Galway. I read out letters from consultants, not known for their radicalism, speaking about a catastrophic situation and a catastrophic orthopaedic waiting list with unimaginable suffering. That is the context in which we are shutting down Merlin Park.

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