Vol. 651 Wednesday, No. 3 9 April 2008 DI´OSPO´ IREACHTAI´ PARLAIMINTE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES DA´ IL E´ IREANN TUAIRISC OIFIGIU´ IL—Neamhcheartaithe (OFFICIAL REPORT—Unrevised) Wednesday, 9 April 2008. Leaders’ Questions ……………………………… 531 Ceisteanna—Questions Taoiseach ………………………………… 538 Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy ………………… 547 Requests to move Adjournment of Da´il under Standing Order 32 ……………… 555 Order of Business ……………………………… 555 European Council Meeting: Statements ……………………… 563 Ceisteanna—Questions (resumed) Minister for Education and Science Priority Questions …………………………… 575 Other Questions …………………………… 586 Adjournment Debate Matters …………………………… 600 An Bille um an Ochtu´ Leasu´ is Fiche ar an mBunreacht 2008: An Dara Ce´im (Ato´ ga´il) … … … 601 Twenty-Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2008: Second Stage (resumed) ……… 601 Message from Seanad ……………………………… 640 Private Members’ Business Cluster Munitions Bill 2008: Second Stage (resumed) ………………… 640 Adjournment Debate Hospitals Building Programme ………………………… 661 Schools Building Projects …………………………… 663 Crime Prevention ……………………………… 665 Traveller Accommodation ………………………… 668 Questions: Written Answers …………………………… 671 DA´ IL E´ IREANN ———— De´ Ce´adaoin, 9 Aibrea´n 2008. Wednesday, 9 April 2008. ———— Chuaigh an Ceann Comhairle i gceannas ar 10.30 a.m. ———— Paidir. Prayer. ———— Leaders’ Questions. Deputy Enda Kenny: I was struck by a statement of the late Martin Luther King Jr., who was buried on this date. He said: “Our lives begin to end once we become silent about things that matter”. The Taoiseach will be reflecting on his years as Taoiseach and head of the country in the next period and he must look back on how we as a nation have treated our elderly. A number of years ago Deputy O’Dowd exposed a number of scandals in the area of care of the elderly. I took the opportunity to visit a hospital not far from here. I looked out the window and saw the skyline crowded with high-tower cranes and new buildings in close proximity. This is a hospital in Leopardstown, with four wards in an old house with added extensions. The wards are called after local townlands: Tibradden, Enniskerry, Kilternan and Kilgobbin. Each of these wards has 21 beds, 13 inches apart, which is less than the width of an A4 page. There is neither privacy, dignity nor respect. The medical staff and carers look after these people to the best of their ability. At 8.30 a.m. every day, when one talks of the Celtic tiger and the huge amounts of money generated in this country over the past 20 years, reality dawns in this institution more than in any other. There are ten to 15 commodes operating in each ward, where there is neither respect, dignity nor integrity. It has been stripped away by the physical limitations of the building. The manage- ment board has spoken to the HSE for a number of years but nothing has happened. They have not gotten beyond the starting blocks. The hospital is located in an area where land is worth multi-million euro sums per acre. This is not the symbol of the Celtic tiger that the Taoiseach wishes to leave behind when he moves on. This is not the way our elderly people should be treated. This is not what they should have at the end of their days: cramped space, curtains at the end of the bed and neither respect, dignity nor integrity. I know the Taoiseach is a caring person. I have not made many personal requests to the Taoiseach but I make this one. In his remaining tenure as Taoiseach, will he visit Leopardstown hospital, meet the management and staff and meet the patients who bear their indignity with great fortitude? I was shocked to see the proximity of bed to bed. It is not the symbol of the Celtic tiger or of Ireland that the Taoiseach wishes to leave behind. I ask him to visit and return to the House to tell us what he can do about this. The Taoiseach: I thank Deputy Kenny for raising the matter of the particular hospital. In my tenure as Taoiseach I have been in hospitals, homes and community homes up and down the 531 Leaders’ 9 April 2008. Questions [The Taoiseach.] country. I have seen the enormous improvements and successes but also the enormous chal- lenges. I have seen some of the community hospitals that, by their location or the age of the clientele, have pressing needs. I have also seen enormous increases in staffing ratios, medical and paramedical cover, ancillary facilities, improvements in life expectancy and the physical improvements in the buildings. I will not say that of every last hospital, institution and home, many of which date back to the foundation times. The hospital at Leopardstown is one of them. Most of the hospitals in this city were built from 1860-90 and had their foundation in religious orders. Most have physical challenges in their structures. I note what Deputy Kenny has said referred to physical structure. He is acknowledging that the staffing and loving care and attention level people need in older age is very adequate and that the infrastructure problem is the issue. I will get an update on that. Specifically on elderly care, the Governments I have been honoured to lead have substan- tially increased resources for care for the elderly and the capital programme of the health service every year. We must understand that life expectancy has dramatically increased in this country, a fact we should all be proud of, including our health professionals, policy makers and politicians. Because of this, the number of people requiring inpatient and community care is rising dramatically and will continue to rise. The figures for the next 20 years are already known and this is not in doubt. This will take a greater part of the capital budget and resources. A large number of the 30,000 extra people who have been recruited into the health service have gone into care of the elderly. It is good that we can resource that, but it is a challenge. The Deputy asked me about a request and I would be glad to get an update on it. Deputy Enda Kenny: I hope the Taoiseach takes the opportunity to go out there. In respect of the elderly in general, every Deputy has serious problems with the HSE. Deputy Naughten received two letters from the HSE in the last period, one of which told him that two weeks of respite care in a nursing home had been withdrawn because there were adequate home help allowances and home care packages whereas the other, which he received from the other wing of the HSE, told him that the allowances and packages were no longer available because of a shortage of money. If one goes to the hospital in Leopardstown at 8.30 a.m., one will find cramped and confined conditions and staff who are doing the best they can. Of the commodes in operation, there are four toilets, two washbasins and two showers for every 20 people if they are ambulant. It is concerning that, if anything occurs in the hospital at night when there are only two night nurses on duty, there will be a catastrophe. It is physically impossible to remove people in time were something to go wrong. The HSE has never inspected the premises and there has been no health and safety or fire check. When staff have met HSE officials to discuss the physical building — there is plenty of land on which to build — they have never got past the starting blocks. Why does it take so long for action to be taken after the Government has decided on some- thing? The Government has introduced legislation after 11 years, but there are still no regu- lations for the hospitals and homes in situ. How long does it take for there to be action? The cranes along the skyline that those being cared for will look at this morning will still be there when the people are being carried out of the hospital. The situation, cramped and physically intimidating conditions and the stripping away of dignity, respect and integrity, should concern every Member of the House. I would like to believe that, when the Government makes a decision, it is carried through effectively. I would like to believe that the HSE’s officials will listen to these words and see to it that a catastrophe does not occur in the four wards in question, that the institution receives the attention it deserves and that the elderly, as a micro- 532 Leaders’ 9 April 2008. Questions cosm of many other situations around the country, are given some sense of dignity and respect in their remaining days on this earth. Deputy Noel J. Coonan: Hear, hear. The Taoiseach: As I said, the hospital in Leopardstown is a particular hospital. I think that Deputy Kenny knows we have 53 acute hospitals across the country and very few of those have not had major capital refurbishments and an injection of capital in recent years. Leopardstown has its own development plans. Recently, it has had its own campaign in inviting Deputies from all sides of the House to look at those plans and to see what can be done to improve them. What we have done and what we must continue to do relates to a large part of the increase. We have increased the health budget from \4 billion to \16 billion. It is not the billions that count, it is the staff numbers, and there has been a huge increase in staff numbers to give that care. Deputy Pa´draic McCormack: Why are beds empty in St. Francis Private Hospital in Galway and St.