John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I join the Cathaoirleach in welcoming the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, to the House. I am grateful that she is taking this question on behalf of the Department of Health because no one in the country doubts for one second the commitment, care and compassion that the Minister of State brings to her role in the area of elderly care.

The question is particularly topical and interesting because only today the Minister of State launched the Government's national positive ageing strategy. It underlines and underscores exactly my concerns that Ireland should have embedded as part of a Government policy an ageing-friendly society and services for our senior citizens in order that they can be cared for with dignity and in confidence and comfort in the autumn of their years. It is an urgent matter, as the Minister of State pointed out today, because by 2041 more than one quarter of the population, that is 1.4 million people, will be over the age of 65 years. This will put great demands and responsibility on the State and the Government because we have a duty of care to our senior citizens.

In County Laois it falls to our three important community nursing homes in Abbeyleix, Shaen near Portlaoise and Mountmellick. However, they are all operating under capacity and none are operating the full range of services they could deliver if they were given the resources, support and commitment from the HSE and the Minister for Health which, I believe, they deserve. I wish to publicly thank the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, for taking the time to visit the hospitals at Shaen and Abbeyleix. I know that she was moved and impressed by the quality and level of care that was provided for the patients and senior citizens in both hospitals.

As far back as October 2011 the HSE dropped a bombshell on the people of Laois when, without any consultation, it unilaterally announced a decision to close both Abbeyleix and Shaen hospitals. This was a mind-boggling decision and it was only halted by people power when the people of Abbeyleix and Laois came out in their thousands to protest and prevent it. It took three brave senior citizens, elderly ladies in their 90s, to go to the High Court to stop the HSE from proceeding with the decision. Thanks to the judgment of the High Court, the HSE was instructed at that stage to embark on a genuine public consultation process, which was conducted. To be fair to the people of Abbeyleix and Shaen, their families and the community at large, they engaged in that process in good faith and in an honest way but the consultation process concluded almost one year ago, last May. I understand the report from the review was forwarded to the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, sometime in the autumn of that year. The Minister has had the report and recommendations from the HSE for more than six months. I do not believe it is unfair or undue to expect that the Minister should take away the doubts, concerns and the anxiety that is being experienced by the senior citizens of Laois. He should confirm to them his commitment, the commitment of the HSE and of the Department of Health to the community nursing homes in Shaen and Abbeyleix because the people of Laois, the elderly citizens of Laois and the patients and their families who are in both hospitals receiving great care deserve to know where they stand. To be fair the issue has dragged on for too long.