Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I think it is 17 or 19 but I am not sure. They have given the Minister of State an answer simply because I raised it in the Dáil, like other Deputies do. I have received no reply from the Minister. I know he is busy and I know exactly how busy the Minister of State is. I pay tribute to her work all the time but this is the most serious situation. This is spin upon spin. If the ward is closed because of a lack of staff, and I welcome that it is reopened, then how did it suddenly reopen? Where did they get the staff from? Why did they have to close it in the first place?

There was mention of communications in the previous Topical Issue matter and I understand the communications unit had no idea St. Monica's ward was closed since March. I did not know it was closed. The person who told me said in great fear that it was closed for three weeks. It was closed since March and nobody was going to tell us that. It was not going to reopen on whichever date the Minister of State gave us and we do not know if all the beds have reopened. I am a female Deputy and I have read all the reports, including the report on the series of deaths in Portiuncula University Hospital and the long-term consequences of practices there. I have read the report on the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise, the report on Savita Halappanavar and all of the reports, and here we are. Two years ago I was obliged to bring a motion before the Dáil for the implementation of the national maternity strategy, following on HIQA's condemnation. I will take the word "condemnation" back because HIQA is not inclined to condemn but it had serious concerns with the failure to implement the national maternity strategy more than halfway through its term.

The Minister of State does not engage in spin and that is the last thing I want. When I raised this two weeks ago, I got all the good news. I read the strategies and I do not need to be told about these things. I am here to highlight an unacceptable situation, disingenuous communications, the most serious consequences for women and a pretence that they are being treated in other wards that are at capacity. I visited someone in hospital a few weeks ago and there were 17 people there, men and women, in various stages of distress and undress, and the nurses were run ragged. There is something seriously wrong with our model in the hospitals in Galway generally but I will stick to the point today.

See this speech in context