Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My Commencement matter is on when the Sacred Heart Hospital in Castlebar will see day services reopen and resume for citizens in County Mayo. This hospital holds a special place in the hearts of the people of Castlebar and Mayo and has been providing services, including inpatient stay, rehabilitation and day services, for decades in the county town. Almost all families in Mayo have had cause at some stage or other to use the facilities at this hospital. In 2019 we were delighted to officially open what was a new facility following €30 million of investment into the hospital. Day services were closed at the hospital during the pandemic, which was understandable at the time, but we are now post the emergency phase of the pandemic and most services across the country have reopened. However, we still do not have day services operational in the Sacred Heart Hospital and this beggars belief. We were told last year that the HSE expected to reopen day services midway through quarter 1 of 2022. That date has come and gone and we are no closer to the reopening of those services.

Why have day services remained closed? What is the short-term plan to get services reopened? What is the Minister of State expecting to do for families and elderly persons in the county who badly need these services and who have been left with no alternative, unless they can pay privately, which most people cannot afford to do? What is the plan to get this service reopened? Why, when have we built a brand-new facility, are we now being told that the facility cannot accommodate day services because of changes in regulation? It does not make sense or add up and the people of Castlebar and Mayo are wondering when they will get their day services reopened.