Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Will the Leader ask the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to make a statement on the industrial action being taken by psychiatric nurses in University Hospital Galway, UHG? Concerns about health and safety issues and staffing levels have been raised for some time. It has been reported that 36 staff in psychiatric services have been assaulted since January. Staff want an agreed complement on the wards at all times. Psychiatric services in UHG have been under constant pressure since the decision was taken last year to reconfigure them and remove 22 beds from the system in Ballinasloe. What progress has been made on the promised state-of-the-art facility? The Minister of State and Health Service Executive must honour the commitments they made at the time of the decision on reconfiguration. People in counties Galway and Roscommon are entitled to a world class psychiatric service. I call on the Minister of State to deliver on the commitments she made in the House more than a year ago.