Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I draw Senators' attention to the possible closure of 550 public nursing home beds. Does the Minister for Health intend to have only private sector nursing homes? He promised that the HSE would engage intensively with nursing homes. I refer in particular to Crooksling in Brittas, County Dublin. Day in, day out I find this country to be frustratingly inefficient. If Germany was defeated in two world wars but it got its act together, why can we not deal with our inefficiencies? One Department does not talk to the other. HIQA produced an excellent report on Crooksling and its idyllic environment but the HSE wants to close it down. There are 20 high-dependency patients in Tallaght hospital that are costing the State €7,000 per year. I said to the people up in Crooksling that if they got their costs right there, logically, why could the 20 high-dependency people from Tallaght hospital, who need very special care and attention 24 hours a day, not be moved to the Brittas public nursing home, in an idyllic site with first-class treatment? One lady whose sister is in the home said that the care the patients got was magic. Mr. David Walsh, who is the key person in the HSE dealing with Crooksling, has not been available for the last month despite many conversations.