Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak to this motion. When we speak about psychiatric institutions there would have to be a consensus that in terms of a shelter which provides a service, the Central Mental Hospital is unsatisfactory. It is also important to note that, prior to last February, the first Minister ever to visit the Central Mental Hospital was the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin. That speaks volumes. That tells it all in a nutshell.

As I happen to be a member of a health board, I had better declare my interest. I had better declare a further interest in that I am a former psychiatric nurse and therefore know a little of what all this is about.

We must be very careful in speaking about the facility known as the Central Mental Hospital as against the care provided there. In fairness to the staff, there is quite a range of services provided. I will talk about the standard of the facility in a moment.

The service currently provides the highest known national rate of transfer from prison to hospital of any jurisdiction. A multidisciplinary team approach to care is being developed, with the hospital providing an active programme of assessment and rehabilitation geared towards each patient's needs. That is as good as one will get in any psychiatric setting and I have no reason to believe that is not the case.

Individual care plans are in use addressing the physical, psychological, interpersonal and social needs of the patient. Rehabilitation is encouraged through the use of the hospital school, woodwork, industrial therapy and recreation departments. There are daily clinics in the prisons in the Dublin area, while community psychiatric nurses provide liaison supports to the prisons and the community mental health services. That is the situation in most psychiatric sector areas. Out-patient facilities are provided at Ushers Island in Dublin city centre. The hospital has a gymnasium and a swimming pool. I could go on.

My colleague, Senator Bannon, spoke about other psychiatric hospitals. However, when planning the future of psychiatric services commenced, there was uproar over the closure of psychiatric wards. Some argued that it should not happen, that too many lights were turned off and there were too many dark windows at night. The important thing, however, is that the patients were going to a better care setting. It is about the people who are there and those who are providing the service.

Community care might be a more expensive service but there are differences of opinion even about that. Professor Alan Maynard of York University says it is more expensive, but other experts will tell one it is cheaper. I prefer to believe Professor Maynard. When, with the stroke of a pen, the word "psycho" was split from "psycho-geriatric", the staff of certain geriatric hospitals were the first to object that they would be sent to geriatric settings. The Constitution refers to cherishing all our children equally, but I regret to say that psychiatric patients have often been treated as second-class citizens.