Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Senator Hackett to the House. We miss our wonderful former colleague, Grace O'Sullivan. We were all fond of her and worked well with her. I do not doubt that we will work well with Senator Hackett too. It will enrich the House to have a new Senator from the Green Party. I wish her well.

I share Senator Byrne's frustration with the situation at the accident and emergency department at University Hospital Limerick. We are all blue in the face raising such cases at this stage. I agree with the Senator, in that it is time that Mr. Reid got a handle on the matter. There are issues with early discharges and not-so-early discharges from the hospital. The Minister made an unannounced visit last August. When there was an analysis following on from that of why there were so many people on trolleys, it transpired that there was a logjam in discharges, with delayed discharges causing serious problems. The HSE has a responsibility to explain why there are 63 people on trolleys in that hospital.We need a detailed breakdown of discharges and delayed discharges. We need to know if people identified as ready for discharge are being discharged and, if not, why not?

I welcome the comments of Senator Feighan in regard to our colleague in the Houses of the Oireachtas, Deputy Martin Kenny, who, in my dealings with him, I have found to be an absolute gentleman. What happened to his car was an absolute disgrace and it has been, rightly, condemned by everybody. There is a problem though in that four proposed direct provision centres have not gone ahead. We have an international obligation to provide accommodation for people who come to this country seeking our protection. I want to see the facilities in Achill Island, Leitrim and everywhere else where they have been proposed, opened. We must have a collective conversation on this issue. There must be engagement and consultation with communities. It is appalling, however, that a State Department did not relocate 13 vulnerable people to Achill Island because there were concerns regarding their safety and so on. This is not acceptable, as far as I am concerned. I want to see those vulnerable people, who have come here seeking our support and help, located in Achill Island. I sincerely hope that whatever the difficulties are, they will be resolved such that the ladies in question will be able to go to Achill Island, where I have no doubt the majority of the islanders will welcome them with open arms. We have seen a deterioration in regard to this issue that is extremely worrying and, as a Member of this House and as a citizen of Ireland, I am very uncomfortable with it.