Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to start by immediately raising the case of Alan Clifford, which has been brought to my attention by his mother Kathleen. Alan attends an adult day service in Nenagh, run by the Daughters of Charity. Since 3 March of this year, Alan has had no access to services whatsoever as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown. His mother Kathleen is Alan's sole carer and she was left in a situation of having to seek out different sorts of help from friends and leave from work to take care of her son, while also trying to juggle her job commitments. At this stage, all of Kathleen's leave has diminished and there is still no sign of a service resuming for Alan. I have corresponded with the Minister and had phone calls and different correspondence with Kathleen. It is noteworthy that there are a lot of families in Kathleen's situation and it is upsetting to see that the budget that was to be used for day services and residential services is now exclusively being used for residential services. This is not right. Day service users are in desperate need of this facility reopening and in order to ease the pressure on families such as the Cliffords, this has to happen. It is of vital importance in my constituency that the adult day service on Stafford Street in Nenagh opens as soon as possible and that families, carers and service users need clear communication on this matter and a clear roadmap for reopening.

It is vital that Shannondoc services are resumed in the areas of Templemore, Thurles and Roscrea as soon as possible. This is an issue about which I am being contacted daily in my constituency. As it stands, my constituents have to travel from different parts of north Tipperary to Nenagh. I also spoke to an ambulance driver who is based in Thurles who stated their calls have increased dramatically as a result of the lack of Shannondoc services in Thurles or Roscrea. We need this full service to be restored as a matter of urgency.

I mention Nenagh General Hospital and the 24-7 accident and emergency services there. As it stands, University Hospital Limerick is serving north Tipperary also, outside of the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. As we enter what will be a unique winter for us with unique challenges and with Covid-19 still present in our community, I urgently request that the accident and emergency department in Nenagh General Hospital would be open on a 24-7 basis. This is essential to take some of the huge pressure off University Hospital Limerick. This needs to happen as a matter of urgency.

I welcome the common-sense approach that has been adopted in Cashel to use Our Lady's Hospital again. This is something I talked about in this House many times and thankfully the advent of Covid-19 has got Our Lady's Hospital back into use. It has been used to ensure that patients can isolate with Covid-19 if needed and it is up to HIQA standards for the patients who were in St. Patrick's Hospital. St. Patrick's Hospital has been promised a capital development and I urgently ask for a roadmap for that development. Our Lady's Hospital can then be used as a respite, palliative care and step-down facility for South Tipperary General Hospital. It is urgent that St. Patrick's Hospital gets the capital investment that is needed.

I mention Dean Maxwell community nursing unit. I know the Taoiseach spoke about this matter in this House in recent weeks. This facility urgently needs to be brought up to Covid-19 standards and it needs urgent investment. Whether a greenfield site is the most appropriate solution or not is up to others to decide but we need a firm roadmap for the investment and timeframe for the Dean Maxwell unit in Roscrea.

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