Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)

I am glad to have an opportunity to speak about this Bill, which deals with very serious matters that affect every community, especially in Kerry. There are many failings and many issues. The Minister has said the HSE's annual service plan is to be replaced with an annual performance delivery plan. An issue I have encountered in this Chamber since I came up here is that, every budget time, we vote for X millions of euro to go to the HSE to provide health services for children, the elderly, people who have had accidents and everybody else who needs medical attention. We know about all of the failings of the system. It seems to me there is no real accountability for all the millions of euro given to the HSE. We, as elected Members, have no recourse to really challenge the executive as to what it is doing or has done with the money.

We see nurses going at full belt day and night in hospital wards. They are doing their level best but there never seems to be enough of them or other front-line staff. However, any number of millions of euro is provided for administrative staff. The Minister will correct me if I am wrong but it seems to me people are being appointed or reappointed to vacancies on the administrative side but when it comes to people on the working side, such as the nurse or someone else on the floor who needs to be replaced, the HSE are only allowing so many appointments. That is what we have been told is the reason we do not have as many nurses as we should.

There is an issue with Kenmare Community Hospital going back to when it opened in 2012 or 2013. It is located only 7 miles from my door and I am very proud that my father secured the funding for it. He fought hard and stuck it out to the bitter end until he got the funding. Sadly, not all the beds in the hospital are in use. We are told the problem is that the required number of staff cannot be obtained to operate all the beds that are idle upstairs. This community hospital services an area from Poulgorm Bridge, which is situated where one leaves the N22 to head towards Kilgarvan and Kenmare, all the way back to the county bounds in Lauragh and on to somewhere around Caherdaniel. It services all the families in that area in which somebody needs respite, but there is only one respite bed available while other beds lie empty.

We see the same with the community hospitals in Killarney and other places. We are waiting for the new community hospital to open in Killarney and to see to what use the old district hospital can be put. We are looking for a minor injuries unit and a primary care centre. We have been promised different things by the HSE at different times. We need finality on these issues sooner rather than later. Councillor Maura Healy-Rae is constantly raising this issue, as, indeed, are other local authority members from Killarney municipal district.

Things like that are very important. I remember when my father was on the Southern Health Board. The elected members on the Southern Health Board at the time visited hospitals and were involved in the running of the board. That is one of the questions. The Minister said there will be ten new members on the board. Will there be any elected members on the board? It is important there is.

On the old Southern Health Board – and it was the same with the Eastern Health Board and all the different health boards at the time – the elected members went around with the doctors and surgeons, where they interacted and found out what was wanting. They then contacted the Department of Health and worked together to address those issues. We need more of that because although many HSE officials are grand, more of them are not. They are not fulfilling the needs of the people. They are just not doing their job to achieve the outcomes we want for the people who deserve it.

People are living longer and have additional needs. We see all the problems that are coming along with autism and all of that. There seems to be any number of children presenting with autism. I wish we could find out whether anything is causing it. We need to help those people who present with autism. I feel for young parents who want the best for their child and want their child to be the best. It is a real ambition for them to want the best for their child. The time to be assessed is taking too long. We need to speed that up.

We are looking forward to the Minister taking a new look at the whole health system. It is a daunting request. I know that. Many Ministers have been blamed in the past. There are many intricate and different aspects we need to address.

Another issue we have is a lack of GPs at any time. If it were not for South Doc in the off periods, many people would be left unattended. We just do not have enough GPs. At weekends, accident and emergency departments fill up because there are no doctor services available. People are referred to the accident and emergency department where they have to wait long hours, including elderly people.

On the issue of elderly people, sometimes they have to leave their bed, including old men and women in their 80s, or maybe close to 90, to go to the accident and emergency department in Tralee. They end up sitting in a chair, or maybe on a trolley if they are after coming out of an ambulance, for hours before they are seen. That is not fair on people who have come out of their warm bed only to end up in a chair in the accident and emergency department. I am asking for that to be rectified.

I know the beds are there. It is the staff who are not there. We do not have enough staff. That is a real hurtful thing and I feel for people. I leave my phone on every night. I never turn it off because I often get a call at 12 o'clock or 1 o’clock at night from a family, whose elderly father or mother has been waiting in a chair to be seen from early the day before, telling me they will not have a bed again tonight. While these people are bedridden, as it is called, they get sicker and need attention. Where do they find themselves? They are put in a chair in the accident and emergency department. I am asking that a full stop be put to that.

There is another aspect giving me great concern. Long ago, when people got sick, some could be treated in the district hospital. People cannot get into the district hospital now unless they were in the regional hospital first. I cannot understand that and many others cannot understand it. I am asking the Minister to look at that because, more often than not, these people would be looked after in the district hospital in maybe one or two weeks and then they would be good enough to go home again for another spell. I know you are not going to make a young person out of them, but it would suffice. It would be more useful, make more sense and maybe stop the clogging up of our accident and emergency departments in the regional hospitals.

Many of the Deputies who spoke asked for all their wants to be met and to try to rectify everything. I am asking the Minister to do her best on these issues, especially for the older people who arrive in Tralee hospital after coming out of bed and may have to spend 24 hours in a chair waiting to be put into another bed. That is wrong. I also ask her to look at the issue of people not being able to get into the district hospital without going to the regional hospital first. Does the Minister know what often happens when there is no bed available for them? A taxi brings them home again. That is wrong. We have the beds. It is just a matter of more staff. I thank the Minister very much.

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