Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this important matter. I am delighted the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Deputy Treacy, who comes from the west, is present. I hope he bears good news and will be sympathetic towards the cause of Mayo General Hospital as he has many friends in the county.

This issue dates back to 1994 when the people of County Mayo took to the streets to protest about the level of service being provided in Mayo General Hospital, or Castlebar County Hospital as it was then known. They did so to get additional facilities and a better service for the people of the county. In 1996, my colleague from Castlebar and current leader of the Fine Gael Party, Deputy Kenny, and I attended a meeting with the then Minister for Health, Deputy Noonan, at which he gave us a commitment that the Castlebar hospital would be included in the multi-annual financing for the Mayo General Hospital. This has been the position since and the hospital has developed into a state-of-the-art facility in many respects.

The people of County Mayo are very disappointed that the proposed opening of an orthopaedic unit on 1 July has been abandoned. The Minister of State will be aware of the county's size and population and the amount of work carried out by Mayo General Hospital. No reason was given for this retrograde step by the health board but I believe the forthcoming second Hanly report played a part in the decision.

The current position is that the orthopaedic unit is fully built and furnished. It has the largest ultra clean air operating theatre in the country and all equipment with a lead time of more than four weeks has been ordered at a cost in excess of €500,000. The budget for 2003 and 2004 was €3.9 million and more than €10 million has been spent on the unit to date. The only reason preventing the unit from opening as scheduled on 1 July is the failure to issue contracts to 68 nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers, porters, secretaries etc. The staff concerned have already been interviewed and selected and approval was sought and received from the chief executive officer of the Western Health Board at each stage of the recruitment process. She gave permission for the process to start, advertisements to be placed, interviews to take place and then for selected candidates to be notified of their success at interview but will not now issue the contracts to the successful candidates without receiving formal approval from the Department of Health and Children. Successful candidates have already been told to give notice to their current employers, a consultant surgeon has been employed and two full surgical teams are under contract to start work from 1 July and are, therefore, being paid.

The credibility of Mayo General Hospital and the Western Health Board is at stake. What credibility does the board have when it appoints, and in some cases pays, surgical teams for a unit that is not yet operating? The consultant appointed has been paid from January this year, yet we are told the proposed opening has been shelved.

It is even more of an outrage that people seeking orthopaedic services in Mayo General Hospital are being told they will be placed on a waiting list for treatment in Galway. This is a lie as they are not being placed on a list and will never be called to Galway. If the people of Mayo lose the orthopaedic unit in their general hospital, they will never get it back because no consultant will have the confidence to take a post in the county under the Western Health Board. The complicated procedure of recruiting 68 staff from all professions has also been completed. Where does this leave the orthopaedic unit in the Mayo General Hospital?

I am very disappointed. The people took to the streets in 1994 and I have no doubt they will do so again on this serious issue. It is a scandal that people are being told lies by the Western Health Board and an outrageous waste of money to build a state-of-the-art facility, employ people to work in it and then shelve the project.

I hope the Minister of State will have good news for me. I am disappointed and believe the people of the county will share my disappointment that the Minister for Health and Children, who is canvassing in Castlebar, will not visit the orthopaedic unit at Mayo General Hospital.