Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State. On 8 December 2009, the Taoiseach, Deputy Brian Cowen, sent me a letter stating:

Dear Senator Daly,

I write to you in relation to Kenmare Hospital and having spoken to Mary Harney TD. I wish to confirm that this project will go to design and planning early next year. Construction will also commence in 2010 and the project is scheduled for completion in 2011.

Having been one year old when the extension to Kenmare Hospital was first promised and having listened to endless promises, too much activity and too little action, as a citizen and a public representative I felt it was time to roll up the sleeves, put the shoulder to the wheel and once and for all get the hospital built for the people of Kenmare. The names of those people who have spent more than 35 years trying to get an extension to Kenmare hospital deserve to be put on the record: Lt. Col. Michael Harrington, Richard Doran, Mairead Doyle, Phyllis Healy, Bertie McSweeney, Una O'Neill, Maeve O'Sullivan, Ettie Sullivan, Meg Tighe, the now retired matron Mary Fitzgerald, Dr. Crushell and all the doctors in Kenmare, and May Leahy.

It is a long story. In 1974, a public representative in a village not far from my own won his first council election telling the people of Kenmare he was instrumental in getting ten extra beds for the hospital. In 1975, the Friends of Kenmare Hospital was formed to fight for an extension. In 1978, plans were even drawn up and, in 1997, following the general election, the words "Pretty Polly" echoed through this House along with a promise for Kenmare Hospital to get its long-talked about extension. It was stated in the capital programme 2000-06 that €2 million would be provided. In 2001, the then general manager of Kerry community services, Mr. Tom Leonard, acknowledged that 19% of the population in Kenmare was over 65 and the need for an extension to the existing hospital was urgent and that it was imminent. In January 2002, the hospital action group was told that an extension would commence in 2002 and a design team would be appointed. My colleague, Deputy O'Donoghue, was similarly told there would be a delay until 2003.

At another election, this one in 2002, another Deputy announced that €2 million had been secured, stating: "This is truth and fact not wishful thinking as dreamt by others." Some 30 years after first promising the extension, the boys were crying wolf once more and nothing happened.

In 2003, the Friends of Kenmare Hospital received a letter from the then Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, and received a subsequent letter from the then Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, in 2004. In 2005, the group was told the matter was going before the southern health board. In 2006, a Minister of State announced it would be in the 2006-10 capital programme. In June, another deputation was to meet Deputy O'Donoghue, but did so in 2007. That year, the proposed extension was included in the HSE's programme.

In May 2007 and subsequently, again benchmarked by an election, the project was confirmed once more, but the boys were crying wolf and nothing happened. In 2008, it was claimed the project was to be part of the new deal, but nothing happened. In 2009, a letter that was circulated claimed the project would go ahead in that year, but this did not come to be. At a public meeting on 1 December 2008, the HSE announced that, despite previous statements to the effect there would be an extension, a new hospital would need to be built because it would be the most economic route.

On 8 December 2009, the Taoiseach wrote a letter to me in which he stated we would get a hospital. The sleeves were rolled up and I have counted the number of telephone calls I have since made to Mr. John Browner, head of HSE estates, and Mr. Michael Fitzgerald, head of the HSE in County Kerry. We have made substantial progress. When we met on 22 December, Mr. Fitzgerald outlined the process involved in going from where we were - the letter from the Taoiseach - to where we are now, that is, tenders have come in. He outlined the steps in terms of getting a design and project team together, which has been done despite delays.

On 9 March, we met the HSE estates team in Dublin and a design and accommodation brief was completed. In my subsequent telephone calls to Mr. Browner, he assured me that delays, though occurring, would not cause the hospital to fall from the list. I commend him on his great work and dedication to this cause. On 21 July, I attended a meeting with him, the HSE and the four contractors on site in Kenmare at which he outlined some of the issues that the work on the hospital would encounter.

The real concern of the people of Kenmare is that we not delay. Tenders will be out next Tuesday and a decision will be made on who will win the contract. JJ Rhatigan, Glenbeigh Construction, Western Building Systems and BAM Construction are in the hunt for this contract. The original cost was supposed to be €6.5 million, but it will come in for less. There is no better time to get value for money.

The people of Kenmare have been fighting long and hard for a new hospital. We have overcome many disappointments, only some of which I have outlined. We have come a long way and do not intend to fail now. I hope the Minister of State, Deputy Moloney, will assist us in Kerry if there are any hiccups. The Government has a number of problems with hospitals around the country and I do not intend to add Kerry to the list, but I want to ensure the hospital for Kenmare gets built 35 years, going on 36, since it was first promised.

There is a saying that activity should never be mistaken for action. When I received the letter from the Taoiseach, Deputy Cowen, on 8 December 2009, I did not want the activity surrounding such letters - getting a press release out for a bit of PR and letting the matter die - to occur this time. For this reason, I have called meetings with and continually made telephone calls to Mr. Browner, the HSE, the Kenmare hospital action group and others to ensure we got to this point, a stage we have never reached before. Tenders are in and are being decided upon. The winning tender will be decided next Tuesday. I look forward to inviting the Minister of State to open the hospital when it is ready. He might be a senior Minister by that time.