John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in the debate. It was not my intention to mention the briefing that we received today from the care group but, such was the moving personal testimony from people who have suffered from eating disorders and their family members, it would be unbecoming not to mention it. Those who attended became much more aware of the issue today. Many there were already familiar with the issue of eating disorders. There is a specific request. That is for specific treatment and therapies to be provided outside the standard acute mental health facilities for those who suffer from eating disorders. It would be remiss of me having attended that briefing not to raise it here.

I note an issue mentioned by my colleague across the floor, namely, the objective in the programme for Government to introduce tax credits for those who join gyms. We should not be so narrowly focused in that. If we are to look at it - it would have a lot of public health benefits - we should also look at extending such a break to people and families who enlist their children in their local GAA club, soccer club, rugby club or whatever promotes physical activity. We should not have the narrow focus on gym membership and the credit only applying to that area. That is important.

At the outset of her contribution this evening, I heard the Minister speak about a lot of capital investment in healthcare. She used such terms as outpatient departments, primary care centres, trauma centres, surgical hubs, elective hospitals and increased bed capacity. They are terms we are all familiar with. I have been a member of the regional health forum in the north-west region for the past five years and have heard a lot about this, specifically as they relate to my constituency of Galway West and the development of such facilities. They are all welcome. I welcome the Minister's initiative and her determination to see them through. It can be very frustrating following the processes and bringing these projects to fruition.

I saw an example in my constituency when the Government decided to develop an elective hospital in Galway. There is a site in Galway where there is currently a hospital in Merlin Park. I am sure many people are familiar with it. It is 60 acres. When the decision was made to develop an elective hospital in Galway, the local officials were obliged, I understand, to put out a call to the general public to see what site could be used to develop the hospital. That was a three-to-six month unnecessary process. The State, through the Department of Health, held land. It could have been facilitated. The decision was eventually made that the elective hospital would proceed on the site of Merlin Park University Hospital, which is welcome, but that decision did not need that process and the six-month delay. That is the type of bureaucracy I hope the Minister will challenge. I am confident she will. She will have our support should she proceed to do so.

The second topic I will touch on is staffing. We have had statements in the House in the past week on mental health and disability and tonight's statements on health. In each of those debates and statements there is a recurring theme, which is the challenge of recruiting and retaining staff in the healthcare sector. We hear about the lack of therapists, GPs and other such positions. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has advised me that last year, 17,168 critical skills work permits were issued across the employment sector. Some 35% of them, or almost 6,000, were in the health and social work sectors. There is a challenge in us training people to work in our public health sector in Ireland. That must be challenged as well.

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