John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I join Senator Cummins and others in expressing regret over the downgrading of St. Luke's Hospital. I acknowledge the work it has done and the care it has provided to thousands of patients who received treatment in the facility over the years. Its work was brought home to me a couple of years ago when the eight year old son of my cousin had cancer. He received his treatment in St. Luke's. It was very convenient for the family to be able to stay just around the corner from the hospital. Subsequently, little Luke Roche died of his illness but I know the care he and his family received in St. Luke's was remarkable. The family was very happy with the way he was treated.

I echo the comments of Senator Cummins on radiotherapy services for the south east. It is a long-running political issue in the region. The Government made commitments on the provision of public radiotherapy facilities for the region but it seems from the Minister of State's comments that they have drifted far down the list of priorities. Perhaps she will clarify her statements in her concluding remarks.

Part 3 deals with amendments to the nursing home legislation. This covers a contentious issue that has been discussed many times in the House in recent months. Supported care homes are being treated as nursing homes by HIQA in terms of the application of standards. Will the Minister of State, when concluding, state whether a change of legislation is required to ensure these homes, which are not nursing homes, will not be covered by the HIQA standards? This is because they were never intended to provide 24-hour nursing care for those living in them. They are just supported care homes, mostly for single people who want sheltered accommodation towards the end of their lives. Would a ministerial regulation be sufficient to ensure the supported care homes will not be in the same category as nursing homes according to HIQA standards.

There are six supported care homes in Kilkenny. We all acknowledge that standards are needed for them and for nursing homes, but they are not nursing homes. When people's requirements are such that they need nursing home care, they leave the supported care homes to go to the public facilities in Thomastown or Castlecomer, or the private facilities available throughout the county.

There is a section in the legislation that deals with nursing homes and changes to the definition of their proprietors. The Minister of State may be able to answer my questions. Yesterday she was present to speak on the unemployment motion. I have been asking the Leader for a long time to invite the Minister of State to the House to talk about this issue. It is through the efforts of a very well-known Kilkenny man, Dr. Peter Birch, who was Bishop of Ossory for several years, that much church property was handed over to local communities for the provision of supported care homes. Dr. Birch was very much ahead of his time. Supported care homes are not nursing homes and were never designed to be such, yet they are being penalised as if they were under the standards of HIQA. If applied, these standards will ultimately result in the homes' closure. That is why I seek a response on this issue.