Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The issue I raise relates to Shannondoc services in north Tipperary. It is a follow-up to a parliamentary question I tabled a couple of weeks ago. In Tipperary, there are three centres, comprising one core centre in Nenagh and regional centres in Thurles and Roscrea. As the Minister of State will know well, given my constituency stretches into her home town of Portumna, the geographical area of north Tipperary is just too large for one core centre to cover efficiently. This is in no way a criticism of the staff of the HSE, who are doing a very good job in Shannondoc providing a service, but it is unfair on the staff and the population of north Tipperary to have just one core centre. Will the Minister of State ask the HSE to make Thurles a core centre as well? The area, which stretches from Lauragh to Gortnahoe, is very large, with a lot of rural countryside. Expecting that one core centre could provide an adequate service for the area is unacceptable.

The core centre in Nenagh opens from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m., but the two regional centres open only from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends and public holidays. That is just not providing the cover we need in north Tipperary. I have been contacted by numerous constituents stressing that when they get through to Shannondoc, they do not get a level of service that is satisfactory for patients. It is about the geographical size of north County Tipperary. It is just impractical to expect one core centre to cover the entire county, from Nenagh to Lauragh and Portumna and then back to Gortnahoe, which is a huge area. The fact that just one core centre operates at night in that area means it cannot provide the level of service we rightly expect from Shannondoc. The staff are doing their very best, but if butter is spread too thin, it affects the service that is provided.

I urge the HSE to consider making Thurles a core centre to cover the southern part of north Tipperary. If this improvement were made and the resources put in place, that would greatly impact on the services Shannondoc could provide to north Tipperary. I ask the Minister of State to convey this message to the HSE and urge it to seriously consider providing a second core centre in Tipperary.

See this speech in context