Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As the election is approaching us, the perennial and biggest issue in the mid-west will be the health services, as the Taoiseach can appreciate. The issues in UHL cross over into counties Tipperary, Limerick and Clare and further afield. I have direct experience of these. I have spoken on no other issue more than this. My direct experience currently is that my dad has been in the UHL suite of hospitals for the past four weeks. I had to convince a crying 85-year-old man, my own father, to actually go in because of all the reports relating to the hospital of which the Taoiseach is well aware. I really want to know the following. As we head into the election, I would like a series of dates to be provided. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, said the new 96-bed block will be open in the first quarter of next year, but the head of the HSE, Mr. Bernard Gloster, said it will be the middle of next year. Which date is accurate? The people of the mid-west need to know.

Second, the nursing home in Nenagh, which was taken over by the HSE for acute care, is going to open whenever the 96-bed block is open, yet it is offering one-year contracts with €5,000 incentives for foreign workers to come in.

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