Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I add my voice to those calling for the reopening of six closed beds in the National Rehabilitation Hospital and commend the passion of Senator Boyhan. He could be the NRH mascot and he is certainly its champion given the number of times he has raised the issue in the House.

The future plans and strategy for the hospital are fantastic. It often strikes me, however, that we under-plan for every single service in health, although housing also comes to mind. We should be capable of deciding that a service providing 100 beds will require, for example, 200 beds in ten years. Modern treatments make it much more likely that many more beds will be needed in future as most people will be able to survive life-threatening illnesses.

Some years ago, a friend of mine who is nurse had a stroke at 39 years of age. She was in Navan hospital and we pressed to have her provided with rehabilitation services, believing the hospital might listen because she was a nurse. In the case of stroke it is necessary to have damage caused to the brain treated in the first few weeks. There was no room in the National Rehabilitation Hospital for my friend, however, and I am sure many Senators have had similar experiences. Many people are being left with lives unlived and opportunities missed as they are forced to remain in hospital, nursing homes and other inappropriate care settings. This issue, which has been discussed previously in the House, calls into question whether the rights of the disabled are being vindicated and impact on the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act.

We repeatedly fail to plan for the future. If Senator Boyhan or I could find staff today, would the Minister of State be able to issue a cheque to open the six closed beds in the National Rehabilitation Hospital?