Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have come to congratulate the Minister on the work he is doing. He is dead right that we hear much talk about this every year, no matter who is in government. I recall, as a ten-year-old, being lined up in what we called "the long ward" in the regional hospital in Galway because it did not have enough beds. That was a long time ago - 52 years ago to be precise. Every year since, I have heard of the problems of overcrowding. I married an accident and emergency department nurse and I know the Minister has worked in those departments. They are a disaster zone as far as I am concerned.

I have a deep-seated problem with the way the personal dignity of some patients in accident and emergency departments is constantly on the line. I had a relation who was in such a department and she was placed between two men and the beds were so close together, I could not walk between them. Another relation, a young woman, was moved from the accident and emergency department to a ward, for which we were grateful, but there were three men in there. That is totally wrong.

The Croke Park agreement - that was before the Minister's time - and the Haddington Road and Lansdowne Road agreements have all cut resources in hospitals and made them very difficult places in which to work. I fully support my colleagues in the nursing unions on the stance they have taken. I am not so sure the Minister could solve this problem tomorrow morning. He is not working in every accident and emergency department in the country but he is the Minister responsible. He is trying his best and I am not 100% sure he has the full support of the HSE right across the board. I compliment him on what he is doing and I thank him for taking the time to allow me to speak this evening. I would like to see the Minister trying to put an end to the industrial dispute that is about to confront us in the very near future with respect to nurses. We have a problem recruiting them. I do not know what else the Minister can do, as he has offered training money and payment for registration. We lost many of these young nurses to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and various other places and I do not know how they can be encouraged to return.

This is not the first Minister for Health to have this problem on his plate and something tells me he will not be the last. I appreciate his efforts and I wish him luck. I thank the Acting Chairman for giving me those few minutes to speak.