Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)

I am well able to speak for myself. I do not need help from Senator Browne or any other Senator in regard to this matter.

The experience of accident and emergency units throughout the country is not all bad. There are some good examples where the service is working well. For instance, Waterford, Sligo and Kilkenny hospitals, about which Senator Phelan spoke so passionately, appear from reports to be working very well. In his contribution the Minister of State stated:

Last year, more than 1.2 million people attended accident and emergency departments nationally, an average of almost 3,300 per day. On average, 75% of these patients are treated and discharged without the need for admission to an acute hospital bed. There are 53 acute public hospitals in the country. Some 35 of these have accident and emergency departments, between ten and 15 of which have experienced consistent problems.

I regret to say the general hospital in my area of Cavan is one of those. It is important to point out that the problems can differ by hospital, and that is why the solutions must be identified on a hospital by hospital basis.

Senator Feighan outlined the unfortunate circumstances of his mother being injured at the Fine Gael Ard-Fheis at the weekend. I sympathise with her. It is not a nice experience for anybody to have their mother in hospital. My mother is currently in hospital. She took very ill three weeks ago while visiting a sister of mine in Belfast. I have visited her in Belfast almost on a daily basis at different times of the day and night. She is attending the Mater Hospital on Crumlin Road in Belfast and I want to pay tribute to the consultant looking after her and the staff of the hospital for the excellent treatment she is receiving. To gain access to her ward in coronary care, one must go through the accident and emergency unit and at no time during my visits at different times of the day have I observed any more than 15 people waiting to be seen. I inquired about this and discovered there are a number of reasons. There are a number of hospitals in various locations in Belfast — north, south, east and west. A triage nurse sees the patients when they arrive and she decides the department to which they should go. Patients are sent to various departments in the hospital depending on their illness. That is something on which we should concentrate and the Minister of State mentioned the possibility of investigating it.

Cavan General Hospital is experiencing some difficulties but only in the accident and emergency unit. I urge the Minister of State and the Tánaiste to consider the possibility of better co-operation between Enniskillen Hospital and Cavan General Hospital to ensure they could deal with emergencies from the west Cavan region in future. I welcome the fact that the Health Service Executive recently informed me and my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Deputy Smith, that the planning brief for the development of an additional 21 beds and a fourth theatre at Cavan General Hospital will be put out to tender in June of this year at a total cost of €7 million. I hope that will help alleviate the difficulties being experienced in accident and emergency in Cavan.

The proposal to provide a new modular building for the cardiac rehabilitation outpatients department at the hospital is being progressed. The provision of this building will in turn facilitate the conversion of a five bed ward for inpatients, which will also help alleviate the current situation in the accident and emergency unit of the hospital. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the staff of the hospital — the consultants, nurses and other staff — who do a fine job.

The Minister of State may recall that prior to the Easter recess I raised on the Adjournment of the House the position in regard to Hume Street hospital, known as the Dublin skin and cancer hospital. I mentioned on that occasion that a 31 bed ward in that hospital was closed at the end of August 2005, allegedly for insurance reasons. I again take this opportunity to appeal to the Minister of State to make contact with the Health Service Executive on this matter.

Hundreds of people throughout the country who suffer from severe forms of psoriasis and eczema have no option but to visit accident and emergency departments from time to time because of the closure of beds in Hume Street Hospital. They must queue to be seen by staff to obtain some relief from their ailments, which can become severe at times. On their behalf, I implore the Minister of State to try to ensure that some beds in the new dermatology unit proposed for St. Vincent's Hospital are ring-fenced for those with severe forms of psoriasis. I thank the Minister of State and the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children for the work they have done and in which they are engaged. I have great faith that, given time, the situation in those accident and emergency departments which are experiencing difficulties will improve.