Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and I thank my colleagues, Senators Boyhan and Hopkins, for raising the matter on a number of occasions over the last number of months. I am extremely concerned that we have people occupying beds in other hospitals nationally who are waiting to get in for rehabilitation. Their families are putting us all under pressure, rightly, because they want to get the rehabilitation their loved ones require. My colleagues have outlined the fact that over 200 people are waiting to get in. As recently as today, I had to explain to a family that the earliest they would get into the hospital was September 2017. The issue must be prioritised.

It is sad that there is a lack of long-term planning, which is an issue I have raised consistently over the last number of years. While I welcome the fact that we are proceeding with the new development, the population is increasing and we need to do a great deal more long-term planning. When my colleague from Cork, Deputy Micheál Martin, was Minister for Health, there was talk of a new rehabilitation unit in the city. That is over 15 years ago, but very little progress has been made. We really need a centre of excellence outside Dublin, preferably in the Munster region, and we need to do long-term planning for that. I welcome the fact that progress has been made to open the additional four beds, but it is not enough or fast enough. We need to keep the pressure on to ensure that the maximum capacity is available.