Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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Táim fíorbhuíoch as ucht an seans chun an t-ábhar tábhachtach seo a phlé sa Dáil anocht. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as a bheith anseo chomh déanach anocht. Ocht lá ó shin, bogadh bean 90 bliain d'aois ó Ospidéal Pobail Chorca Dhuibhne i nDaingean Uí Chúis go saoráid chónaithe i gCill Airne. Tá Cill Airne os cionn 70 ciliméadar óna baile féin i mBaile na nGall agus beagnach trí uair a chloig de thuras fillte dá clann. Is é Máire Bean Uí Bheaglaíoch an t-ainm atá uirthi. Tá sé dochreidte go bhfuil sé seo ag tarlú in 2021 ach is é seo an cás. Is é an cúis leis an mbogadh seo ná an easpa altraí agus an easpa leapacha san ospidéal a ghabhann leis. Tá níos mó altraí ag teastáil uainn go práinneach in Ospidéal Pobail Chorca Dhuibhne chun na leapacha atá ann anois a choimeád ar oscailt agus na leapacha folmha atá ann a oscailt arís do mhuintir Chorca Dhuibhne agus dár seandhaoine leithéidí Máire ach go háirithe. Níl sé ceart ar chor ar bith go bhfuil Máire i gCill Aire, chomh fada sin óna baile, anocht cé go bhfuil 14 leaba folamh ina ceantar dúchais i gCiarraí thiar. Chaith Máire sé mhí i leaba gearrchónaithe in Ospidéal Pobail Chorca Dhuibhne sular bogadh í go Cill Airne. Bhí sí socraithe agus sásta go maith agus bhí aithne aici ar gach duine. Bhí sí ann a máthairtheanga a úsáid go laethúil le foireann an ospidéil agus le hothair eile. Níl sí in ann é sin a dhéanamh anois agus tá a clann buartha go mór go bhfuil sí imithe síos mórán le seachtain. Níl sí in ann na haltraí i gCill Airne a thuiscint agus níl siad in ann í a thuiscint. Níl sé ceart go raibh Máire ar an liosta feithimh fadtéarmach tar éis sé mhí a chaitheamh san ospidéal. Is cinnte go gcaithfear eisceachtaí a dhéanamh i gcásanna leis na tosca sin go léir.

Tá mé ag glaoch arís anocht chun Máire a thabhairt ar ais chuig a ceantar dúchais i gCiarraí Thiar ar chúiseanna daonnúla.

Chomh maith leis sin, tá an HSE ag rá ar feadh blianta anois go bhfuil siad ag déanamh a ndícheall chun altraí a earcú ag ospidéal pobal Chorca Dhuibhne ach níl na haltraí ag teacht. Tá an HSE ag rá go bhfuil ceithre altra nua ag teastáil uathu chun na hocht leaba ghearrthéarmach agus na hocht leaba fhadtéarmach a oscailt ach tá altraí ag an ospidéal ag rá go bhfuil i bhfad níos mó altraí ná an líon seo ag teastáil, go háirithe mar go mbeidh beirt altraí eile ag éirí as go luath.

Tá an HSE ag déanamh an rud céanna maidir leis an ospidéal ar feadh blianta ag súil le torthaí difriúla a fháil. Caithfidh siad plean a chur in áit chun foireann iomlán a chur ar bun chun na leapacha go léir a oscailt do mhuintir Chorca Dhuibhne agus todhchaí an ospidéil a shábháil.

We need nurses, we need more beds and we need to get Máire Bean Uí Bheaglaíoch back home and we need to make sure that this never happens to any person from west Kerry again. I cannot adequately state the stress this has caused, not just Máire herself, but to her entire family and community. I thank the Minister of State for engaging with me over the past week or so, especially on this case. However, we need the HSE to look at the exceptional circumstances of this case, address it and move Máire Bean Uí Bheaglaíoch back to Dingle, but also urgently address the need for more staff and more beds at west Kerry community hospital.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Tá an freagra seo as Béarla. I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The west Kerry community hospital provides important and valued services for the people in the west Kerry area. As the hospital is one of just two units providing long-term care on the Dingle Peninsula, I understand the significant role it plays in the community and the depth of feeling associated with the hospital. As well as providing long-stay residential care, the community hospital also provides short-stay beds. These beds are used for respite and rehabilitation and the people using them generally stay for a number of days or weeks.

There are currently 34 long-stay residents in west Kerry community hospital and four people availing of short-stay beds for respite, rehabilitation, palliative care or other supports. The current bed capacity at the hospital is 46 and the HSE's plan is to increase this capacity, once more staff can be recruited. I am sure Deputy Griffin will understand my reluctance to speak in any great detail about the specifics of any individual case in the House, given the personal nature and complex circumstances involved.

We have spoken many times on the issue. I know the Deputy is passionate about it and I will continue to work with him on this case. Unfortunately, there is a waiting list for long-stay places in west Kerry community hospital, which I sincerely regret. A total of ten people are currently waiting to access long-term care beds in west Kerry community hospital. In line with legislation and to ensure equity and fairness for all applicants, waiting lists have to be abided by throughout our community hospitals.

There is a process for allocating these limited spaces when they become available, which is based on the date on which a person chooses the centre as their place of choice for long-stay care. Due to the current waiting list, it is an unfortunate fact that people may have to take up residence in an alternative centre for a period of time and await a placement for a long-stay bed in the west Kerry facility. This is what has happened in this case.

Staff recruitment to west Kerry community hospital and many other community hospitals in rural locations can be extremely challenging. The HSE has made extensive and prolonged efforts to recruit staff in order to increase the number of beds in west Kerry. Recruitment is ongoing and interviews are held frequently. There are currently four and a half whole-time equivalent vacant nursing posts and a number of healthcare assistants are also required to open the remaining beds.

The HSE will continue intensive recruitment efforts in order that the services available can be expanded in west Kerry and these efforts will include international recruitment. Unfortunately, the HSE cannot open any more beds until more staff have been recruited. With the current staffing levels in west Kerry community hospital, the maximum number of people that can be safely accommodated right now are being accommodated.

All efforts are being made to increase the staff complement, which would add another eight long-term residential spaces and another eight short-stay beds to the hospital. This would bring the total capacity to 54 beds and would go a long way to providing the services required to all individuals who are in need of these services. Officials from my Department will continue to monitor the situation and I have requested the HSE to keep me updated on any progress.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Aire Stáit for coming in tonight and the energy which she has brought to her role. She really puts her heart into her job. It is refreshing to see and I am grateful for that. I will emphasise my concerns about the crude system the HSE seems to have for long-stay beds. It seems to be based purely on chronological factors alone. Yet, in this case I have highlighted, which is just one case, age is a particular issue. Máire Bean Uí Bheaglaíoch is 96 years of age.

We have an teanga, which is a very important matter, not only in terms of well-being, but the basic day-to-day communications. Nurses in Killarney cannot understand her mother tongue. Her native language is Irish and she has difficulty understanding the nurses. That is both dangerous and very unsettling. In this case, there was also the length of time spent in the facility already and the element of having settled in. There are numerous other factors as well, such as the distance her family would have to travel. One would go from Cork to Dublin in the time it would take to get from Baile na nGall to Killarney and back home again. On humanitarian grounds, I ask that this case be revisited.

On the broader issue, we need to take a different approach. The HSE has to accept it has failed in its approach to date. It cannot continue the approach. It has to do something exceptionally different. The nurses simply are not coming. It needs to look at more flexible working arrangements and providing better incentives for people. I call on the Minister of State to engage for the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the Minister for Rural and Community Development on a cross-departmental approach, as was advocated by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, last week, to see whether we can try to help the situation through a number of Departments combining their efforts.

We need to acknowledge the peripherality of Dingle, in that nurses are located very far away. They will need extra incentives to come there or more flexible arrangements need to be given to qualified nurses in the locality who cannot take up employment. Other ideas are also welcome.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I sincerely regret the situation that Máire Bean Uí Bheaglaíoch finds herself in. The waiting list for the long-stay places in west-Kerry community hospital is of ten people. As the Deputy knows, community nursing units and hospitals are an essential part of our social care infrastructure and will, at a certain point, be a necessary option for some older people in order to meet their healthcare needs. They play a vital role in an overall continuum of care for older people over the coming years, as our older population increases in line with demographic trends. I have visited many of them over the past few months and see the care and support people get in the community hospitals.

Community hospitals, such as west Kerry community hospital, form an integral part of the local community. The ability to hire, support and retain experienced, dedicated staff is essential to the delivery of the essential services that facilities such as west Kerry provide. The HSE has advised it is committed to ensuring, as quickly as possible, that staffing capacity is built in west Kerry and a sustainable workforce is soon in place in order that the residents of west Kerry community hospital can have access to the services they require as soon as they require them.

I will continue to engage with the Deputy and officials from my Department will continue to monitor the situation. I have requested the HSE to keep me updated on any progress.