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

First, I personally wish the new Minister for Health every good luck. As I said in my first address on his nomination, he made a massive transformation. He certainly played his political cards in a very special way and I compliment him very much. I hope he will be able to represent not just his constituency but the people of the country, who are looking forward to better healthcare, in a special and hard-working way. My office is near his old office and I know he was extremely focused and hard working. When one is near another person's office one gets to know the person's modus operandiand his was second to none in my humble opinion. I wish him well.

I will again remind him of an awful special case, as it would be neglectful of me not to do so. People always say one should not pick particular cases but our job is to represent everybody. I remind the Minister again today of a young boy who has a 90° curve in his spine. He is Ronan Foley from Dungeel in Killorglin. I ask the Minister to take that case under his wing and ensure he gets urgent care. He has been waiting for 20 months and has been in agony for every hour. He should not be enduring agony.

With regard to Covid-19 and the people we have lost, every one of us has known personally people who have died during this crisis and their families. We sympathise with them. I have heard the previous Minister for Health and others praising our nurses and healthcare workers.

What drives me mad is to see ads being put up praising them. I say we should stop praising them and pay them. Pay the nurses the money. There is money owed to our nurses, so pay them. There are people working on the catering side of our hospitals who have not received an increase in 13 years - that is, 13 years ago they were getting a wage and they are getting the same wage today. That is not right and it should not be the case. Stop the praise and start the pay.

We have people waiting to have operations who are in pain. There has been a doubling of the number of people on inpatient and day care waiting lists for operations in University Hospital Kerry. I want to thank the Bon Secours Hospital in Tralee and Kerry University Hospital for working in tandem during this crisis. The model will be of great interest to the Minister. The model in Kerry is unique in that we have a private hospital and a public hospital within sight of each other in the town of Tralee. I brought one of the hospital managers to meet with the previous Minister for Health and very good suggestions were made as to how the hospitals could work better together. Very unusually, it came to pass during the crisis, when the State took over the hospital and they worked very well together. I am sure there are lessons we could learn from that to improve the healthcare we are able to offer the people of Kerry.

The figures I gave the Minister with regard to the doubling of the number of patients show there are 12,000 people on inpatient and outpatient waiting lists in University Hospital Kerry. Those 12,000 people are not living in comfort and they are not living pain-free. Many of those people who are waiting to have operations are in pain. One of the worst things any society can do is leave citizens in pain, whether they are waiting for knee operations, hip operations or to have cataracts removed from their eyes.

I have been very glad over a number of years to facilitate the passage of people from here to the North for operations, which should not have to happen. This has now expanded, not just for cataracts but for hip and knee operations and other procedures. We should not have to do that. Older people should not have to get on a bus. We try to make it as pleasant an experience as we can, but it should not have to be that way. If people need an operation to have cataracts removed, my goodness, it is a simple procedure and it should be happening here in a timely way. The number waiting for operations in Kerry has increased by 1,041 persons. I do not want that to continue.

With regard to mental health, I know the Minister will take particular care of this part of his brief. There are young people who fall between the cracks in our healthcare system because of their age. When they are going from teenage years to young adulthood, they fall between the stools and the services that should be there for them when they need them are not there. I deal with parents who have children and young adults with difficulties, including mental health difficulties. It is an awful thing to witness and an awful thing for the young people, and it can lead to addiction problems and other personal difficulties. As politicians, we should be doing anything and everything to take care of people with mental health problems, whether they are younger, middle-aged or older. Unfortunately, and it is an indictment of the society we live in, these problems are becoming more common.

I look forward to working with the Minister in a workperson-like way, not in a critical way. When I see the Minister for Health doing good, I will be the first person on my feet thanking him and complimenting him and his Department. If I see ways in which he can be encouraged to do things differently, I will be the first on my feet in a positive way, encouraging him to do things differently.

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