Keith Swanick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State mentioned the 2006 policy document, A Vision for Change. He also mentioned that a move away from the traditional institution-based model of care is in train. This is not an institution. This is the residents' home. I have worked in St. Ita's Hospital and I have worked in psychiatry. I have worked in different units all over the country. This is the patients' home. Their families are used to visiting them there.To call this unit an institution is a misnomer and misleads the public. The Minister of State refers to A Vision for Change. At a public meeting held in Castlerea last week, Dr. Charles Byrne, a retired psychiatrist, said that the plan to close the unit violates A Vision for Change guidelines which stipulate that there should be 30 beds per 300,000 population. The population in Roscommon is aging and there are more than 2,000 patients in the Roscommon region with dementia. This is a callous act that violates people at their most vulnerable, because of their dementia and their cognitive impairment. These people have no voice and they probably have no vote, but I guarantee that their family and their supporters do and they will not be silenced on this issue. Nor will I. It is something about which I feel very passionate and I urge the Minister to ensure that this unit remains open.