Nicky McFadden (Fine Gael)

I would be the first to state we must have standards. I applaud HIQA for the way it has tried to raise standards in nursing homes and hospitals. However, I do not accept that the HSE should be allowed to use HIQA to close down public facilities throughout the country, but that is what is happening. Yesterday I visited Loughloe House in which 19 residents remain. Other residents were bullied and intimidated from the home by the HSE. I met two ladies yesterday who asked to be allowed to stay together. They had been friends together in the same place for 15 years. They are compos mentis and are able to walk the grounds and enjoy the facility. They also are very well cared for by the staff.

What is the HSE doing? The organisation hides behind the Fianna Fáil and Green Party Government, as do those parties' members. There is no responsibility; the buck does not stop anywhere. Elderly and vulnerable people are falling between the two stools, as it were. These are people who paid 70p in the pound to build this country to what it is today. They are being tossed out in a manner similar to a modern-day eviction. It is not just happening in Athlone but also in Lifford, Wexford, Waterford, Carlow and throughout this country. I ask all my colleagues in this House to stand up and be counted as public representatives once and for all and tell the Minister, Deputy Harney, how we feel and what we believe is right, because it is a moral issue. Is it right to throw people out of their homes? That is what is happening in Athlone.

There are no respite beds. Some 163 beds have been taken out of service in the mid-Leinster region. There are no more respite beds in the Athlone area. It will be the same in Mullingar. The television programme last night was very powerful. All those people need our support. We need to support people in the community and look after them. What is Fianna Fáil doing, under the Minister, Deputy Harney? It is allowing our public facilities to be closed under our noses.