Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I commend Senators Hoey and Wall on putting forward this important motion. I work with Senator Hoey on the Joint Committee on Health. She is a valued member of our committee who brings common sense and cop-on to her contributions. I enjoy working with her and value her contributions. That extends into this House and to this motion. I am glad the Government is not amending or opposing this motion in any way, because we need to shine a light on what is happening, particularly in accident and emergency departments. I have spoken to people who work in the emergency department in Limerick. Three of them are people to whom I would be very close. I know another two or three people who work in the emergency department. Some of the stories they tell are shocking, particularly about people who turn up on a Saturday night and at weekends. The behaviour they describe is unacceptable and needs to stop.

A number of people have responsibility in this regard. The HSE management has a responsibility to ensure that security, particularly at flashpoints like accident and emergency departments, is adequate and able to respond. Second, we need an education campaign to inform people that this behaviour is just not right.Sometimes you just need to spell it out to people and tell them it is just not right. People who are there to help should not be abused. It is simple common sense to us here because we come from that frame of mind but that needs to percolate down into society.

A health education programme in schools is something that should be looked at. Just because someone is under pressure or feels threatened, does not mean he or she should respond in an aggressive way. This morning - and Senator Hoey will appreciate this - the ambulance service was before the Joint Committee on Health. We had the National Ambulance Service and the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance service in the committee rooms and I asked them about abuse and assaults. There are 22 people in the National Ambulance Service today who are out on sick leave simply because of physical and verbal abuse they have received in their work of responding to calls in the ambulance and fire services. That it totally unacceptable. It works out in a 12-month period as 6% of people working as crews in the ambulance service being out sick, and of that, approximately 20% off because of verbal and physical abuse. That this type of thing happens does not bear thinking about.

What can we do? We are in the business of coming up with solutions. This motion is important because it shines a light on the situation. In my view, the solutions are around education and creating a module at transition year level or incorporated into the civic affairs curriculum. We need some class of an education programme on people working on the front line who are there to help in a time of crisis; whether it is the Garda, National Ambulance Service or the Irish Coast Guard etc. We need to look at whether there should be a law or some sort of legislative approach and if somebody is physically abusive to a person on the front line, there would be a mandatory minimum sentence for that person. I know it sounds punitive but what is happening on a daily basis is just totally unacceptable.

It was heartbreaking to listen to the National Ambulance Service personnel say that there is not a day in the 365 days of the year, when at least one member of its teams is not verbally abused. It was heartening to hear that the level of physical abuse had actually decreased in the last 12 months but it is still an issue.

In terms of emergency departments, of course where there are challenges with resources and reduced personnel, that is going to lead in its own way to people becoming frustrated and angry. That is something I know the Minister is dealing with and I hope he does so expediently. I am aware my six minutes are up.

I commend our colleagues in the Labour Party for shining a light on something that really and truly is unacceptable and on which a light should have been shone a long time ago.