Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What is meant in the wording of the Government counter-motion that the report has no status? Procurement issues arise, to which the Minister referred in the final lines of the first page of his address with regard to the commissioning of the report.

We would like to know who sanctioned the report. What were the terms of reference of the report? Who signed off on commissioning the report? Was the Secretary General in the Department aware of what was happening? Was the head of the HSE, the Minister's office or the Minister aware the report was proceeding?

The taxpayer deserves to know how much the report cost. If there are procurement issues, one would expect the HSE has not paid for the report at this stage. Will the Minister confirm whether the report has been paid for, and if there are procurement issues whether the money is being recouped by the HSE on behalf of the taxpayer? My colleague, Senator MacSharry, will raise some of these issues, but clarity is needed because the Minister cannot come in, provide a few lines, rubbish a report and state it is not convenient so we will not allow it to go ahead and that there are procurement issues. It appears the Government is distancing itself from the report simply because its councillors throughout the country got it on the chin at the doors during the local elections.

Maternity services have been reviewed and they are under-resourced. Not only are maternity services under-resourced but other services are too, including accident and emergency services about which concerns were raised by my colleague, Senator Leyden. This question was not answered. The accident and emergency facilities at Letterkenny General Hospital are in crisis. Staff are precluded from speaking to public representatives about the issues affecting them on a weekly basis. Why must elderly people aged 90 years wait 24 hours on trolleys beside coffee machines? This is what is happening.

One of the findings of the report highlighted by Senator MacSharry is a lack of resources, particularly staffing resources, whether obstetricians or midwives. The embargo on recruitment is having a detrimental impact on services throughout the country. Of course the Minister can say this is not the case but why does he not visit some of the hospitals where the staff and patients who have been lying on trolleys for 24 hours will tell him otherwise? We need answers today on what is happening in the north west. We are told in a statement issued on 12 May by the hospital group management in the north west that there was a report, all of the maternity services units in the five hospitals are being looked at, reconfiguration is an option, everything is on the table and the closure of any hospital or maternity unit cannot be ruled out, but the Minister stated here that the report has no status. How does this add up? The HSE appears to be saying one thing, the hospital group in the west is saying another and the Minister and his colleagues are saying something different. Clearly it does not add up and the public are not buying it. I commend Senator MacSharry on taking the initiative on this issue. He must be commended. It is not convenient for the Government or the Minister to hear what he and we have to say and so they try to rubbish it.