Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Senator David Norris has been given permission to raise the matter of the future of Valentia Hospital, County Kerry. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch.

David Norris (Independent)
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I also welcome the Minister of State, as I know she is both passionate and caring. As she knows, I do not make a habit of raising hospital issues, but I have a track record in this regard. I direct her attention back to 8 December 2008 when I raised the question of a geriatric home in Carlow which was being closed unnecessarily by the HSE, with a report recording only minor decorative difficulties, etc. There was a considerable threat to the mental and physical welfare of the patients who were tragically moved against their will and, in my opinion, illegally.

I have visited Valentia and also Derrynane, as I have always been an admirer of Daniel O'Connell. While I was visiting friends on Valentia, half the island turned up and they were discussing the future of the hospital. I wondered what Daniel O'Connell would think, as the people were caught in a difficult position.

What has happened as a result of the work on the Harney report? The former Minister commissioned a report and it emerged that there were three kinds of hospital which were funded separately: private hospitals, State-funded facilities and services funded by the community. The hospital on Valentia falls into the third category, but, to its immense disadvantage, it is being lumped in with private hospitals, which means it will be very difficult to keep it going without additional State support.

The hospital has a fascinating history, having opened in the 19th century in a timber building. The material used was part of the structure used in laying the transatlantic cable for which Valentia is world famous. The building was donated by the transatlantic cable company and the land was given by the Knight of Kerry, a member of the Fitzgerald family. A stone building was constructed in 1887, while the timber building became the fever hospital which burned down in 1914.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The Senator's time is almost up.

David Norris (Independent)
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This serious matter is too close to the heart. The difficulty is that if, as proposed, this hospital is closed, there will be serious consequences for the current patients. The 20 clients of the day care centre will lose this service and a tradition going back 151 years will be gone. The hospital is the largest employer on the island, employing 35 people, in the equivalent of 20 full-time posts, who will lose their jobs. The island has suffered from the closure of the Western Union International, when it terminated its cable operations 1966 and this led to 35 children leaving the island. The island could be devastated by this closure.

It will cost the State twice as much to close the hospital as to keep it open and I have the figures to back up that assertion. The patients will be relocated to the mainland and dispersed over three hospitals. They will not have visits and will languish there. It is inhuman. I ask the Minister of State to give a commitment to do something about it.

I seek the indulgence of the Chair to allow one minute for Senator Moloney who has a particular interest to speak on this issue.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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In view of the fact that President Mary Robinson launched her campaign for the presidency in Allihies, does Senator Norris intend to launch his campaign in Valentia?

David Norris (Independent)
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My campaign is well launched but I thank the Chair for those encouraging words, which I take very much to heart.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I will give Senator Moloney a little time.

Marie Moloney (Labour)
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I thank the Chair and Senator Norris. Senator Norris articulated the situation of the hospital in Valentia Island and I will not repeat that. Tonight, there is a public meeting on this issue in Valentia, but unfortunately we will not make it because we are here. I lend my support to this community supported hospital, which is one of the few that exist.

Valentia is a most beautiful little island off the Kerry coast that is connected by a bridge to the mainland. The hospital is of vital importance to the small island community and they are adamant that it be kept open. As Senator Norris said, there are 25 jobs resting on this and as it is so hard to create new jobs, it is vital to maintain existing jobs. Every day we are striving to create new jobs and here we have an opportunity to retain those jobs. I ask the Minister to give this favourable consideration.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Before I go to my official speech, I wish to comment on the situation. It is my understanding there is no threat to the hospital. I could be wrong, as I am not the holder of all knowledge. I will inquire about the report the Senator mentioned and will contact him.

I understand fully that any job is vital in an area as isolated as Valentia Island, which I know very well, but it is not as isolated as it used to be. It is almost a misnomer to call it an island because it is connected by a bridge to the mainland. I know the people who live on the island are very concerned that it retain its unique identity and I understand that point, but all of Kerry is unique.

This hospital is not under threat. It provides an excellent service, that is deeply needed in that community because of its isolated location. I do not think we should ever retain something simply because of the issue of jobs. That is a consideration when attracting industry, but when we come to deal with caring, we must remember the person who needs the service. I know that Senator Norris accepts that point.

Valentia Community Hospital provides long-term and respite care to older people. It is run as the Senator has already pointed out by a voluntary organisation, Valentia Community Health and Welfare Association. In the past, Valentia Community Hospital would have been allocated a lump sum annually by the HSE. As Members are aware, the nursing home support scheme, a fair deal, was introduced in October 2009, in order to address the fundamental inequity in the treatment of public and private long-term nursing home residents and to alleviate the financial hardship being experienced by long-term residents in private nursing homes. Prior to the introduction of the fair deal scheme, many people in long-term nursing home care experienced unaffordable care costs over periods of many years. The result was that many people had to sell or remortgage their houses or had to turn to family and friends in order to find the money to meet their care needs.

A fundamental purpose of the scheme therefore was to offer assurance to one of the most vulnerable groups of society, those in need of long-term nursing home care that such care would be affordable and would remain affordable for as long as they need it. In order to achieve these objectives of equality and affordability, the fair deal scheme involves a fundamental change in the way in which long-term nursing home care is funded and subsequently the way in which nursing homes and community hospitals are funded. The new scheme supports the individual in need of long-term nursing home care and not the facility providing the care. This means that money follows the patient regardless of whether he or she chooses public, private or voluntary nursing homes. It ensures that these facilities are not being funded for empty beds. In terms of long-term care, that is important because there is always a waiting list and a queue to get in. In order to qualify for the scheme, all private and voluntary nursing homes, previously funded under section 39 of the Health Act 2004, including Valentia Community Hospital, must negotiate and agree a price for the cost of care with the National Treatment Purchase Fund. This is a necessary feature of the scheme, due to the commitment by the State to meet the full balance of the cost of care, over and above the person's own contribution. As stated, the nursing home support scheme only applies to long-term nursing home care. Valentia Community Hospital can continue to have separate agreements with the HSE for the provision of other services, such as day care, respite and convalescence.

There have been ongoing discussions between the board of management of Valentia Community Health and Welfare Association and the HSE with regard to future service provision. The Minister for Health met a delegation from Valentia hospital on 8 June and I understand following that meeting the HSE is continuing to engage with the board of management to support the process of decision making with regards to the future of the service. The HSE understands that the board of management hope to make a decision on the matter in August. The HSE has informed me that it will respect whatever decision the board of management make and hopes to work closely with them to provide services in the area into the future in a sustainable manner.

I hope this assurance that there is no threat give some comfort to both Senators Norris and Moloney.

David Norris (Independent)
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I thank the Minister very much for her concern, in particular for her opening remarks. I know she said that she cannot be held to it, but I would like her to continue to engage with it because it is infinitely better than the bureaucratic gobbledegook that forms most of the speech, which is virtually impenetrable and could mean anything and which gives absolutely no commitment, except to the system. As far as I am concerned the previous Government got this country into one hell of a jam because it preferred to support the system above the people. There are no empty beds in Valentia Community Hospital. When I visited, I was moved by the way the elderly people were cared for, as there was not one single case of bedsores. That takes a lot of care. Many of the staff work on a voluntary basis and that must be put at a level where it is protected. I accept there is a landbridge, but it is a very different situation. I am not talking about jobs, I am talking about the impact physically, medically and socially on taking people out of their island home and dispersing them to three hospitals 100 kilometres apart. That is destructive to the community and I demand that it be examined.

I say this because I want to use the Minister of State - a wonderful person and a good friend - as a channel of communication to that bureaucracy. I did not take this up as a crusade. I took it up because I was visiting a friend and all the neighbours came around and asked me to do something for them. I told them I would go and visit their hospital because I can only talk about it passionately if I have seen the thing. I met a woman aged 100 years, and I do not believe she would survive being moved. I think there are other people there would not survive if moved either. They are wonderful people who have an active interest in life and they deserve to be kept in their community, and those without family - only a tiny number - receive visits from the relatives of the other patients. I was there when that happened.

I appeal to the Minister of State to get hold of that report for me, because it examines the injustice applied for bureaucratic reasons, squashing the community supported hospitals with the private hospitals. That must be examined because it does an injustice to our communities. I know that if anyone could address it, the Minister of State can.

Senator Sheahan would have been here, but he has managed to get down to the meeting in Valentia. Senator Moloney has also stayed here to support us. We have deployed our forces as tactically as we could.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Thank you Senator. I think you have used a bit of poetic licence or liberty.