Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As Deputy Browne did, I pass on my sympathies to all families who have been affected by Covid-19.

Forty-nine residents of St. Patrick's Hospital in Cashel have been transferred to Our Lady's Hospital in Cashel. Can the Minister clarify that the planned capital investment for St. Patrick's will proceed as normal? It is great to see Our Lady's eventually being utilised to near full capacity after years of lobbying by my colleagues and I in this Chamber, and by the community activists who never gave up on it. However, it would be a mistake if the good news for Our Lady's came at the expense of St. Patrick's, the staff of which have, for generations, been looking after residents and patients. I would like confirmation that the capital programme for St. Patrick's is unaffected by recent developments and that the 50-bed unit promised for the hospital, plus the ten-bed dementia unit, will proceed as per the HSE capital plan.

The confusion around St. Brigid's District Hospital in Carrick-on-Suir continues because the HSE has been vague in its responses which has led to uncertainty. The resulting vacuum has been filled with rumour and fear for the future of this excellent facility. St. Brigid's was to be used during the Covid-19 crisis as a step down facility for recovering Covid patients as they left the acute system. However, my understanding is that only four patients used the facility. Thankfully, those patients are now well and have returned home. The Minister can understand the fear that is generated when there is no activity at the hospital and no clarity from the HSE on its future. We do not need a specific date for its reopening but we want a commitment that, when the Covid crisis is over, it will return to its previous use.

When will we begin to see a return to normal activity in our hospitals so that regular and routine appointments will be kept? There is great fear out there that people who are suffering from potentially serious illnesses have lost almost three months in their care and treatment with down-the-line concerns about their making a full recovery. There is also fear that many illnesses have gone undiagnosed during the lockdown which is a serious problem. Health screenings of all kinds have been on hold which means that we could lose the ground that had been made on illnesses such as breast cancer. We need a clear roadmap that outlines when we will begin to return to normal and lays out clearly where each health discipline is positioned on that map. We owe a clear outline to the public who have worked so hard to control the virus.

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