Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate her on her appointment. At the outset, I should say that the winter plan is being presented to the House on a day when the Government is also asking An Garda Síochána to create havoc on the roads for many people, which is a very bad idea. It verges on the unlawful and all we must do is think for a moment what it would be like to be in a 4 km tailback with an older relative being brought to hospital, a nurse on the way to hospital or somebody opening a shop or other place of employment. How would it feel to be stuck in a queue of that kind, deliberately created with a view to members of An Garda Síochána giving the public a short, sharp shock? It is deplorable and the Garda Commissioner should reconsider the tactic immediately. It is demeaning to An Garda Síochána and it will set ordinary people against gardaí if they are inconvenienced in this cruel way.

I note and welcome the increase in the number of acute beds as indicated by the Minister of State. NPHET zoned in on the unavailability of ICU beds in particular and on the pressure that would be on them in the system. There is nothing in the Minister of State's comments about extra ICU beds. I understand, from indications not contained in her statement, that the plan is to increase the number by 17 in the winter programme. The number is currently 282, meaning the total will be approximately 300. I noticed that the Minister announced his intention to bring the number north of 300 in the future. We are talking about 17 additional beds.

Over the past five years, successive Governments have been warned about the major shortage of ICU beds. We have had severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS, and other episodes and this is not the first major problem for public health. Nothing of significance has been done. Going back to the emergence of this crisis in March, people were told that the shortage of ICU beds, which was particularly acute, was the reason we had to close the country. It was to avoid that pressure on hospitals. It is not sufficient for the Minister of State to come here and not even mention ICU beds. I do not necessarily blame the Minister of State for the script supplied to her but there was no mention that this very serious constraint on our health system has been ignored and that reports advising successive Governments to do something about it have been shelved. It is not good enough to say a number is north of 300 when it will be 299 or 300. It is not good enough to speak about 17 beds as being sufficient in the current circumstances.

I do not want to be critical of any individuals but I took an opportunity today, because a long-standing friend of mine asked me to do so, to look at the structure of NPHET. The relevant information is available on the Government website. The simple fact is that NPHET is not a new body that exists separately from anything else. It is a single body, the membership of which comprises approximately 30 people. The great majority of those individuals are either HSE employees, Department of Health employees or members of other statutory bodies. There is a point that must be taken on board. NPHET, the HSE and the Department of Health are all part of the State's apparatus to manage the health crisis we are experiencing. I do not remember NPHET mentioning ICU beds at any stage except to indicate that capacity was a restraint earlier this year. I do not remember anybody in the HSE or the Department of Health, between March and August, saying that in a national emergency we must increase the numbers of intensive care unit beds as quickly as possible. I do not remember that happening. One of the problems that emerged with the weekend's conflict has been that people on NPHET have been party to the failures that have created this shortage of acute hospital beds. In effect, they are defending the indefensible with silence.

I do not want to trespass on the time allotted to others. There are aspects of the statement from the Minister of State which I regard as unsatisfactory. It is welcome that she gave statistics on the number of flu vaccines that have been ordered but we have encountered major delays in administering those vaccines. The statement did not cover such matters. Some Senators may welcome this statement and the programme, and I agree that any resources will be welcomed where they are needed, but we have much more to do and we must demand more frankness from our Government.