Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

Like my colleagues on this side of the House I have major concerns about the fast-tracking of this important Bill. By not giving it enough time issues will be missed and there can be grey areas that need to be addressed. On the political debate surrounding what Senator Feighan called mea culpa, or the question of who is to blame, it is easy for the other side of the House to go back to 1976 but the nub of this issue concerns what happened in 2001. That is when the nettle should have been grasped and the matter addressed but it was not.

With regard to the outcome of the Bill, much work remains to be done on the set procedure for medical cards and subvention payments for private nursing homes. That debate needs to begin very soon because there is a large cloud over the issue and a great deal of misinformation and lack of transparency and accountability regarding subvention. If this legislation is passed today there will be a legal mechanism for effecting payments.

A major issue surrounds community hospitals. I can use my own area as an example, where there are community hospitals in Dungloe, Carndonagh and Lifford, outside the mainstream Letterkenny General Hospital. We need answers before a vote is taken here. Will convalescent patients who are recovering or rehabilitating in community hospitals be charged after 30 days? That question must be answered. For example, a gentleman or lady who needs a hip replacement may, due to the pressures in the general hospital in Letterkenny, recover or rehabilitate in one of the community hospitals. It may take longer than 30 days in some instances for an elderly person to recover from an orthopaedic operation with the necessary physiotherapy rehabilitation programme. After 30 days will that patient have to pay charges? This is a very important issue and has not been raised due to the fast-tracking of this legislation. It is important that the Minister of State say whether an elderly person undergoing treatment, rehabilitation or otherwise in a community hospital must pay after 30 days. We need an answer before taking a vote on this legislation.