Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators for their very informative contributions and the questions they posed. I thank Senator Swanick for his comments. I agree with him on the importance of the district hospital and community hospital networks. I see a role for community and smaller hospitals in alleviating the pressure on larger hospitals. That is not about putting an emergency department into every hospital; to do so would not be appropriate, safe or needed. Rather, it is about trying to transfer some work from busy acute hospitals to smaller hospitals. We are seeing good examples of this being done. Within the RCSI Hospitals Group, of which Beaumont Hospital is a member, more and more endoscopies are being done in Cavan hospital using the hospital network and trying to keep Beaumont for very serious and major acute traumas. There is an effort to use Drogheda, Cavan and Monaghan hospitals. Working as a network of hospitals is the way forward. There is a role for every hospital and there is definitely spare capacity in some of our smaller hospitals, while we know some of our larger hospitals have queues out the door. I agree with Senator Swanick in that regard.

I disagree with very few, if any, of the remarks made by Senator Freeman. It is above my pay grade to restore the Committee on the Future of Mental Health Care, but I believe that should be done. The committee had a very useful role to play and I welcomed its role in terms of governing in the sun, as it were, and shining a light on what goes on. When the Oireachtas decides to allocate €1 billion to mental health services, that is the headline figure and the big announcement. However, the committee did excellent work exploring what happens when that money goes out into the system. It is important from a public accountability point of view and its reports were insightful. I will discuss the matter with the Taoiseach. The decision is above my pay grade, but I believe the committee should be re-established and I will communicate my views in that regard to the Taoiseach.

Senator Freeman made a valid point on the issue of staffing, which was also raised by several other Senators. One area of mental health in which we have made good progress is the introduction of the new assistant psychologist grade. I know that not from a briefing note but, rather, from my travel around the country. I was in County Mayo on Friday and met some assistant psychologists. I have been in several parts of the country where I met assistant psychologists at work. They seem to be freeing up CAMHS slots for more acute cases. The grade of assistant psychologist is newly created. It is not an alternative to psychologists, but it is making sure we do not funnel everybody through what can often be a very narrow tube. Progress has been made in that regard. Funding was made available in the budget for 1,000 additional front-line community health service staff by 31 December 2020. The challenge for us all, and on which I am happy to work with the Oireachtas and, perhaps, Senator Freeman's committee if it is re-established, is how we map that out. Where do we need those 1,000 staff? How many of them are psychiatrists or psychologists and how many are public health nurses or therapists? I acknowledge that there is a pay parity issue with some consultants. I have started talks with the Irish Medical Organisation and written to the Irish Hospital Consultants Organisation. I accept there is a pay issue which arises in the context of global recruitment. I hope that Senator Freeman's committee can get back up and running and recommence shining a light on these matters.

I thank Senator Colm Burke for his contribution and his comments regarding the constant negativity about the health service and the impact that may have on people working in it. It seems that it has been decided that we should only measure health on one or two metrics. I am not saying they are unimportant metrics - of course, access and overcrowding are very important. However, another important metric is how long the average person in Ireland lives. Our life expectancy is now higher than the average European life expectancy. A man or woman in Ireland will live longer than the average European citizen. A baby girl born in Holles Street Hospital today has a 50% chance of living to be 100. A person has a better chance of surviving cancer, a stroke or heart disease in Ireland with each passing year. That did not happen by accident. It came about thanks to a health service that is making improvements and progress as a result of significant investment over many years and the lifetimes of successive Governments.

I agree with Senator Burke on the children's hospital. The message I hear from parents across the country is that we should get on with it and build the bloody thing. How many Ministers for Health have promised to build it but not done so? How many debates have there been over an appropriate site? How much money was wasted on the Mater site without a hospital being built? A total of €40 million was wasted, in case anyone is interested. The children's hospital is now open. It has started treating children in Connolly Hospital. The section at Tallaght Hospital will open next year and the building at St. James's Hospital will be finished towards the end of 2022 with an opening in 2023. I do not intend to be in any way flippant about the very serious lessons highlighted by the PwC report, but similar issues arose with the Dublin Port tunnel and terminal 2 at Dublin Airport. My party criticised such overspends. Whoever is in Opposition tends to throw rocks at the Government. The easiest thing for a Minister is to do nothing. We will not regret the construction of the children's hospital. No one knows who will be Minister for Health in 2023. There may be an extension of the confidence and supply agreement. I jest.I think that confidence and supply is waning all the time in both directions. On a serious level-----