Ivor Callely (Fianna Fail)

Are we getting hung up on circumstances that may arise and, in particular, getting hung up on one discipline? I ask that this be clarified.

It is in everyone's interest, including that of the Minister of State and her officials, that we deal with the legislation along with the proposed regulations. If the guidelines are not available at this stage, a draft should be made available. This would assist Members and would probably prevent our wasting much time in discussion.

Other speakers referred to the level of care provided to elderly people in long-stay care. I was on the circuit for a little while with regard to the provision of services. Before this, I was involved in the pharmaceutical industry and visited a number of the institutions under discussion. There are few that I have not been in, including long-stay hospitals. Senator McFadden and others asked about the services old people will be receiving.

In my family there was a discussion about the need for long-stay care for one individual. When I mentioned St. Mary's in the Phoenix Park, a long-stay provision institution, one family member said: "Never, what a place." I had to correct the individual and asked when they were last in the institution. It so happened they were last there to visit their granny 30 years previously. I encourage every Member to visit the fabulous new facility in St. Mary's. Tremendous, state-of-the-art units have been built at the back and there is a tremendous array of services. This has not just been achieved in the public sector but has also been achieved in the private sector. Certain incentives have been put in place to encourage private operators to develop additional services for the elderly.

We should send out a clear message from this House that there is a tremendous array of services, including hair dressing and physiotherapy, of which one would like to see the elderly avail. They are probably not being provided to every single bed but that is because there are a number of beds in the system for a considerable period. We need to remove them from the system when we roll out the new beds and ensure the latter beds have the required array of services. Will the Minister of State indicate the number of long-stay beds currently in the system and the number that have been identified as requiring an upgrade by way of support services?