Mary Henry (Independent)

I assure the Minister that I would not want to mislead the House on anything. However, irrespective of what the Irish Nurses' Organisation says, I frequently see two nurses trying to do the work of eight. I am told that it is because they cannot get other staff. I must accept what my nursing colleagues tell me, just as I must accept the fact that morale is very low — a large number of people in the health service have spoken about this before — because of such matters as the building of expensive units which are not opened. The Leader of the House might be interested to know that, during the last Leader's reign, I used to ask him every six months — as if it were a tennis match — when the new wing of Mullingar Hospital would open. Can the Minister imagine what it does to staff to see such a unit there without any access to those facilities?

We constantly hear about the appalling situation in accident and emergency departments, and that is true. I recently went to visit a colleague who was on a trolley for days. That should not be the case. This constant problem has gone on for years. At the same time, we have a splendid unit in the James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown. Can the Minister imagine what that does to the morale of those in that hospital, not to mind the morale of those in the other accident and emergency units? Think what they could take off our shoulders if that unit were open.

I will describe the situation in Ballymun. Last winter, the old Ballymun health centre was virtually unusable for quite some time. They had trouble with heating and facilities for patients, and they closed down for some time. I know the general practitioners who work in that health centre. One could not meet a more devoted group. I know it is not the personal fault of the Minister that the funding is not there to open the new Ballymun centre, but it is his responsibility because he is in charge of the health services. It is very serious, not just from the point of view of the patients but from that of the people who work in those centres.

Senator Ryan mentioned Clonmel. It is very serious if ill patients are brought by ambulance from Clonmel to Cashel for surgical procedures. I was almost a child when the trouble started between Cashel and Clonmel. I am sure the Minister had not been born then. The fact is that these things go on interminably. I presume the people who have been employed in Castlebar will have to be paid. The logic defies me. There were advertisements for staff. I know the Minister sometimes has problems with people refusing to move, but more often than not they go, and there is certainly no way that anyone who in any way obstructs a move to new facilities would have support from me; it is outrageous. There must be some sense of addressing situations that have continued for years; if it were a matter of months, it would not be quite so bad. Great efforts have been made in the psychiatric system in particular. However, it took about 20 years to achieve that, and people working in the health service look at that now and wonder if it will take the same time again.

The Minister points out the good things that are happening, such as the medical assessment units, which began in Limerick while the one in Kilkenny seems to be going well. The Minister is ever so slightly optimistic about St. James's. There is no harm in this as one is entitled to seek a rosy future. However, do we really have new radiotherapy units in Cork and Galway? The last I heard, people were telling me about antique radiotherapy equipment in Cork.