Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, for attending but I regret that the Minister, Deputy Harney, is not present. I am happy to have an opportunity to discuss the urgent need for the Minister to provide the necessary and vital facilities required by young cystic fibrosis patients without delay. Although I am happy to have the opportunity to raise this issue, I am very disappointed that I need to do so. I am extremely disappointed over the way cystic fibrosis patients and their families have been treated and over the lack of urgent action over many years, bearing in mind that Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats have managed the Department of Health and Children for the past ten years and given also the resources of the Celtic tiger. The current lack of resources is very disappointing.

It is hard to imagine another European country in which a cystic fibrosis sufferer would have to go on national radio to highlight the plight and complete lack of adequate health care to meet her medical requirements. The bravery of the young cystic fibrosis patients in revealing the medical difficulties and obstacles posed by our health service is admirable yet heartbreaking. Orla Tinsley, a young woman in her 20s, articulated, in a most effective manner, the daily challenges she faces as a patient. These include unsafe and infection-ridden accident and emergency units, waiting rooms and general wards into which patients who are extremely susceptible to infection are expected to go.

Ireland has one of the highest incidences of cystic fibrosis in the world, yet we tolerate such shoddy treatment. We almost seem to accept that the age to which sufferers survive in Ireland is one of the lowest in the world. One must ask why this group of patients has not received more attention and why there has not been a better response to its needs over the years. Why has the Celtic tiger not delivered for it? The life expectancy of cystic fibrosis patients in the United States is in the 40s and in Britain it is in the 30s. Northern Ireland, which has not had an equivalent economic boom to ours, has managed to push the average life expectancy up to 31, yet it remains at 21 in the Republic.

The Irish Independent and Sunday Independent journalist Gene Kerrigan described an article written by Orla Tinsley as the most extraordinary written during the course of the last general election campaign. Her article asked for the Government to give her a chance to live. Tonight I echo that call for Orla and all the cystic fibrosis patients throughout the country. The age of 21 years need not be the average life expectancy of a cystic fibrosis patient. The national airwaves should not and need not be the place where patients must plead for action and care. What action does the Government intend to take? There have been some reports of urgent action. What action is being planned over the coming weeks and months to achieve a positive outcome in the very near future? Failing to act immediately will cost lives and lead to premature death. It does not have to be like that.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, who is unable to be present. I am responding on her behalf.

The Minister acknowledges the need to improve services to persons with cystic fibrosis. Negative experiences recounted recently by a number of young patients are a matter of much concern to us all. The Minister identified the enhancement of services to persons with cystic fibrosis as a key priority in the Estimates process in recent years.

In 2006 and 2007, additional revenue funding of €6.78 million was provided to the HSE. It has advised that 44 additional staff, covering both adult and paediatric services, have been appointed across a number of hospitals, including St. Vincent's, Beaumont, Temple Street, Crumlin, Tallaght, Galway, Limerick and Waterford hospitals, and Cork University Hospital. The necessary funding is available to facilitate the recruitment of a further 37 staff nationally.

The HSE was asked to place particular focus on the development of services at the national adult tertiary referral centre at St. Vincent's Hospital. A number of capital projects have recently been completed at the hospital and have helped to improve facilities. These include a new ambulatory care centre, the refurbishment of St. Camillus' ward and a new accident and emergency department which includes single-room accommodation. However, these developments do not fully address the immediate needs of patients. The HSE has been working intensively with the hospital and with representatives of the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland to progress options for further interim improvements. My Department is advised that the option of developing a modular unit is being examined in this context and the position will be clarified shortly.

The HSE is currently fast-tracking the redevelopment of a ward that is adjacent to the main cystic fibrosis treatment area. The project is to commence within the next few weeks and will provide six single rooms. On completion, additional work will begin to provide a further eight single rooms. This will result in a total of 14 single rooms for cystic fibrosis patients by the end of the summer.

In the longer term, a new ward block is to be built and it will include 120 replacement beds in single en suite accommodation, including accommodation for cystic fibrosis patients. The Department is advised that planning permission has been obtained, financial provision has been included in the HSE capital plan and the contract is to be awarded by the end of 2008. It will be a condition of the contract that the design-build period is to be not more than 24 months from the date of contract award.

Beaumont Hospital operates as a regional centre in providing services to adults with cystic fibrosis. In the 2008 budget, a special allocation of €2.5 million capital funding was provided to enable Beaumont Hospital to provide outpatient facilities for cystic fibrosis patients.

Specialist paediatric services for children with cystic fibrosis are provided at the national tertiary centre at Our Lady's Hospital, Crumlin. Services are also provided at other centres in Dublin, including Temple Street and Tallaght, and on a regional basis at centres including those at Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Drogheda. The majority of paediatric cystic fibrosis care is delivered on an ambulatory care basis. The developments I have outlined will significantly enhance the level of service provided for persons with cystic fibrosis.