Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am concerned when I hear Senator Gavan rising to speak, when on the one hand he is looking for services but on the other seeking an increase in salaries and wages across the board in the public sector. Senator Black raised a very serious issue. If wages and salaries are increased across the board services will suffer.

We need to be realistic about our health services where there has been a lack of long-term planning over a long period of time. While a lot of good work is being done in Dublin with the proposed new maternity hospital and new children's hospital, it is important that areas outside of Dublin are not forgotten.

I have referred to Cork. The 1960 Fitzgerald report identified that there was a need for two new hospitals in Cork and that all of the other hospitals should be amalgamated into them. The Cork North Infirmary, Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital and St. Finbarr's Hospital were closed. We built one new hospital but did not build a second. There is a need for long-term planning. We are already talking about a site in Cork without any public consultation taking place. The wrong location has been identified. We do not necessarily need to identify a new hospital for Cork, but rather a centre of excellence for Munster. All of the focus of should not involve moving health services to Dublin.

It is proposed that three new maternity hospitals be provided in Dublin, and rightly so. Planning has begun for one already. We now need to focus on health services outside of Dublin. Not everything should be centralised in Dublin. Limerick, Cork, Galway or Waterford could provide services.

We need to engage in long-term planning in order to provide a centre of excellence for Munster. We need to incorporate that when we are discussing a new hospital for Cork. It should not be located a mile from CUH which already has a problem in terms of maternity services because they were included in a general hospital. It was the right decision at the time, but we need to examine the problems and ensure they are resolved.

There are 19 maternity units around the country. The three Dublin hospitals have a separate system of governance which works very well. We need to establish a separate system of governance for each of the other 19 maternity units. The demands on the maternity services are immediate and are not something one can put on the long finger. Rather, they must be delivered now and it is important that we deal with the matter.