Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Acting Leader of the Opposition, Senator Denis O'Donovan, raised the issue of public nursing homes. It is important to note that the problems he referred to did not arise in the past two years. These facilities have been in decline for many years, but nothing was done about it by the previous Government. Meeting the Health Information and Quality Authority requirements by 2015 will certainly be a challenge. However, the chief inspector of HIQA does have discretion to extend that timeframe where agreement is reached with a provider on a detailed and costed plan to address any deficits. The Department of Health is working closely with the Health Service Executive to develop an overall plan for the Minister's consideration regarding the future of public nursing home provision. A longer-term plan for public residential facilities is expected to be completed by mid-2014, following completion of the ongoing review of the nursing home support scheme. The Department is working closely with the HSE to address these problems. I understand the cost of upgrading public nursing homes to the standards required by HIQA would be in the region of €800 million. As I said, this problem did not suddenly make itself known. The decline has been evident for many years. The Government has every intent to address the problems in this area, but improvements cannot be carried out overnight. We must be realistic in terms of what can be achieved and when.

In regard to mental health services provision, I assure Senator O'Donovan that there will be no cuts. The moneys allocated for this purpose have been ring-fenced. Likewise, the additional posts have been advertised and will be filled. Senator Mary Moran also called for a debate on elder care and on mental health services provision. Members will agree that we had a very good public consultation process involving all the parties involved in elder care. That was a good day's work for the Seanad. We intend to undertake a similar process of public consultation on the issue of mental health services. The committee is focusing on that issue at the moment.

Senator Moran and others expressed concern at the failure of the religious orders to make a financial contribution to the proposed compensation scheme for former residents of Magdalen laundries. There is no legal obligation on the orders to contribute, but I agree that they have a moral responsibility to do so. As such, I hope they will rethink their decision. Any right-thinking person would consider it reasonable that they make a significant contribution to the fund, given that the facilities in question were managed by communities of the religious orders in question.

Senator David Norris raised the issue of mobile telephone usage in the Chamber. If he should choose to raise that matter with the Committee on Procedure and Privileges he can be assured of my support. The use of mobile telephones in this Chamber is simply not acceptable. It is not appropriate to have them ringing when the Order of Business or any other business is taking place. It is not correct that Members should be texting, twittering or anything else while colleagues are trying to conduct business.