Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I second the motion. Once again we return to the thorny subject of Irish health services. It will not be the last time, considering the state of the health services and the widespread disquiet and dissatisfaction with how the Government is mismanaging them. In that regard, the scandal of unopened facilities, hospitals built yet lying idle, unopened, is one of the greatest examples of the level of mismanagement of the public finances and of the health services in this country.

Some years ago, to great noise and acclaim — attempted, at least — the Government announced spending on the national development plan and €2 billion was set aside for health capital spending. Arising from that, a number of capital projects, all of them overdue and greatly needed, were embarked on. The spending and the building began. That was welcome. The same Government, which allocated the money for capital spending for building wards, extensions and so on then said that the money was not available to staff them. Hence we have an extraordinary situation where all over the country there are facilities lying idle, facilities on which millions of euro of public money have been spent.

There are related problems involving mismanagement of the health services, particularly with regard to the shortage of nurses. That is another issue, which I hope I will have time to consider. The examples of what is lying idle, along with the reasons for the situation, constitute a scandal. No sooner had the Government returned to the corridors of power after the last general election, having promised the sun, moon and stars, than the Minister for Finance announced the famous cutbacks, which he had said would never happen. This was followed by the wonderful concept of the existing level of service, which according to an extensive article in The Sunday Tribune on 2 May, based on a Cabinet memo, is the fundamental reason why the tap was turned off for health spending, in particular with regard to the staffing and equipping of these facilities, for which a massive amount of money had been provided. The result of the introduction of the notion of existing level of service is a new spending policy to discipline Departments, making no sense at all, and a classic example of how not to manage the public finances and in particular how not to manage health spending.

Let us look at a few examples of what is not working or not open as a result of the unbelievable mismanagement by the Government. The examples from the Government's own list include a new hospital at Naas, with 56 beds; the transfer of services to the new €90 million wing at James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown; a new 22-bed facility at University College Hospital Galway; a new maternity suite in Letterkenny; a new 12-bed assessment unit in Mullingar; a new trauma elective orthopaedic service in Mayo and a new accident and emergency and medical assessment unit at Roscommon. Also due was the commissioning of a new hospital at St. James's Hospital in Dublin with 62 beds, extra theatres at Our Lady's Hospital in Dublin and the completion later this year of the long-awaited radiotherapy unit in Galway. The Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, put these initiatives a few months ago to the Government in order to release the stranglehold of the Department of Finance and have these facilities opened by means of a small amount of money.

The list goes on. Other examples include the development of a 90-bed community nursing unit at Birr, County Offaly, elderly care units in Cork and Wexford and the funding of almost €10 million to improve services for the homeless in Dublin, Cork, Kerry, Galway and Limerick. In the same memo the Minister stressed the urgent need within the health services to open these long-awaited new facilities but his argument clearly fell on deaf ears because nothing has happened since. I wonder when anything will happen. A housekeeper knows how to manage finances but the way the Government is managing finances in this context is horrendous. I have no doubt it will be the subject of major commentary at some stage by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

My colleague, Senator Ryan, referred to the crisis in accident and emergency services. We are very aware from media reports of the crisis in Dublin accident and emergency services. There is clearly a crisis throughout the country arising from an acute shortage of beds. Against this background, the Government wants to downgrade several hospitals throughout the country and cause an even greater shortage of beds. The same Government says it will replace these beds in new facilities in the so-called super hospitals. However, if the current service is anything to go by, that promise is not to be relied upon.

I would like to relay for the Minister of State a true story, which I heard during the recent election campaign when I was canvassing in Newport, which is near Limerick. I met a woman whose son seriously injured his hand over the bank holiday weekend. She thanked God for Nenagh Hospital because she was able to bring him there. I said that was interesting and that I thought she would be closer to Limerick Regional Hospital. The mother replied that I must be joking, that she would not go there in a million years because they would be waiting for three days to be treated and that at Nenagh one is treated more or less straight away. Arising out of that, a number of people from Birdhill to Castleconnell said no way would they go to Limerick; they always go to Nenagh to be treated in an efficient and caring manner. The accident and emergency unit in Limerick Regional Hospital simply cannot cope with the demand for its services. People on the ground know that the notion of downgrading accident and emergency services in places like Ennis and Nenagh is a daft and dangerous idea.

This is the Government we are relying on to expand services. This is the Government that keeps telling us how much money it has spent on health services. It has done us a favour in its amendment to our motion because it has set out clearly some of the resources that were put into health. It is not surprising, therefore, that the public is asking if all this money has been spent, why are there increasingly long waiting lists and increasingly long waiting times in accident and emergency units? Why is it virtually impossible to get a bed and why is the health service so mismanaged? It is a fundamental point and it was one of the major issues during the recent election campaign. People are aware that massive amounts of their money have been spent on a health service, which is simply not delivering. It is not delivering the service people want where and when they need it. People know the reason is that the investment has been mismanaged. The particular example contained in the motion is the most blatant and obvious instance of how the Government has completely mismanaged the health service.