Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá sé an-suimiúil a bheith anseo ag éisteacht leis an díospóireacht anocht. Listening to the debate, I am appalled by the cynical politics of the Government amendment. Sinn Féin fully supports the motion and I call on the Government Senators to do likewise, notwithstanding the offer made by Senator Mac Conghail, to withdraw the amendment.

I do not disagree with the analysis of the health system by Senators Mulcahy and Hayden. The motion may be wordy but it is simple and can be reduced to the last paragraph. It seeks "to put in place a national home nursing care programme for children with life limiting conditions with a dedicated and trackable budget which will immediately result in savings for the State and uphold the best interests of the child". It is very simple and I do not see how the Government Senators can oppose it. It will save us money and treat children with the dignity they deserve at the end of their lives. The reference to recognising "that the preference for keeping the child/client at home must take account of the availability of resources across all types of service delivery funded under the Disability and Palliative Care programmes" sums up the amendment. That shows the fundamental philosophy of the Government is about pounds, shillings and pence, even if we are saving money. The economics of the HSE are upside down and do not make sense.

There is a similar example in Galway West. A surgeon does vascular surgery for people whose legs need to be amputated. He needs a pump to be made available to people who have issues with their legs. If it is made available for three weeks, it costs ¤3,000. If it is not made available, he must amputate their legs. They must be sent to hospital in that case, must remain in hospital and afterwards their houses must be refurbished at a cost of approximately ¤30,000. Where is the economics in that?

It is indicative of the way the HSE and health service are being run.

These are the economics of austerity. It is the kind of messed-up economic thinking that occurs when one ends up paying so much money for the bank bailout. It was very interesting to read the recent report of the UN Committee on Trade and Development. It stated the austerity programme is not working and that it is not turning the economy around. When we cannot even allow for the quite modest budget I desire for children who are dying ? let us be honest in that regard ? and their families, we must ask what kind of country we are living in. The Government has not tackled this issue.

While I respect the Senators on the Government side, I believe they are all at sea on this motion. I cannot find anyone who supports the counter-motion brought forward by the Government. Therefore, the Government Senators should vote with their hearts and minds and support the Independent Senators' motion, as is right.

The Government has not got to grips with consultants' pay or tackled the issue of special advisers. The CEOs of semi-State bodies are still being paid more than the President of America. The allowances in the public service and the tax breaks made available to private investors for their pension funds have not been tackled. The Government cannot find time to tackle these but it can find time to put forward an amendment to a motion that makes complete sense.

I agree with Senator Hayden on her vision for a health system but do not believe the health system advocated by the Minister and Department is the one she dreams of, nor is it the one I dream of. We have a two-tier health system and there is privatisation of home care and nursing services. There are cutbacks to dental services in rural areas and there is centralisation. This is not of what we dream.

While I agree with Senator Mulcahy's analysis of the disability sector, if we had a properly serviced and funded universal health service, there would be no need for the charitable organisations the Senator outlined to deliver services that should be essential and which people, disabled or otherwise, deserve as of right.

We support the excellent motion brought forward by the Taoiseach's nominees and will oppose the Government's amendment.

The history of the State is littered with examples of its abdicating its responsibility to provide services and support the ordinary citizen, thus leaving the job to the voluntary sector. In this motion, there is a particularly good example of the type of service offloaded by the State onto the charitable and voluntary sector. The motion notes correctly that one charitable foundation "has saved the State up to ¤235 million since 1997, when multiplied by the 1,600 families supported at the cost of hospital care". The HSE grant during the same period to fund such services was ¤4 million, a fraction of what was needed.

Services such as essential nursing homes for the unwell are provided by most developed states. To fail to provide for such care, which can often be done indirectly, would constitute a breach of someone's right to health care. Our system of health care provision allows for such failures daily, and it is worse still when vulnerable children are the ones who are adversely affected by the failure. It is clear that the State is failing, and it is for that reason that organisations such as the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation and the Irish Hospice Foundation have had to step in. They deserve great credit for their work but this does not absolve the State.

Let me refer briefly to the related issue of rare diseases. There is very limited support for children with rare diseases. On foot of Deputy Ó Caoláin's proposal, the Joint Committee on Health and Children held a special hearing on International Rare Diseases Day on 29 February last. Members heard from families affected. I understand this was a very useful discussion, and many of the children availing of services such as those provided by the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation have life-limiting conditions. When a person is diagnosed with a rare condition, the impact on the entire family is enormous. It is important when considering putting in place a national centre for rare diseases with access to information and looking at pathways to health care and access to services that the patient be put at the centre of the process.

The Government Members should stop the hand-wringing, do the right thing, withdraw the amendment and support the Independent Senators, who have tabled a motion in good faith. There is no great commitment on the Government side to put in place the national nursing home care programme that has been requested. The Government should think of the children and their families and do the right thing. Caithfidh na Seanadóirí an rud ceart a dhéanamh agus tacaíocht a thabhairt do na Seanadóirí Neamhspleácha.