On behalf of the people of Tuam, County Galway, and its vast hinterland, I demand a clear and unequivocal statement from the Government to the effect that the community hospital for Tuam will be built, and built very quickly. I share the view of the vast majority of the people of Tuam that the Government is dragging its feet on the issue of the community hospital.
It is not sufficient for Government representatives to make commitments out of the side of their mouths locally. They must be matched by the necessary financial resources to build the hospital. If they are not forthcoming, Fianna Fáil will be letting down the people of Tuam. If and when Fine Gael is in government following the next general election, its commitment to building the hospital will be absolute. I have received a personal guarantee from the leader of my party, Deputy Noonan, in association with our health spokesperson, Deputy Gay Mitchell, that the new Government will proceed with all possible haste to open the new hospital for business. The smile will be taken off the Minister of State's face in a few minutes when we hear what he has for Tuam. If he thinks this is a laughing matter, the next time he comes to Tuam he will know different. This guarantee was conveyed personally by the Leader of the Opposition to the people of Tuam a few months ago.
A number of crunch issues need to be clarified. As the Minister of State knows, the hospital in Tuam will be soon closed one year. The people of the town are infuriated that the big padlocks are still on the gates. All that has happened is that the Western Health Board has purchased the property, which in itself means nothing. The board has a property purchased for more than 15 years for a geriatric home in Ballinasloe which has never been built. There seems to be no urgency in regard to the matter, either at health board or Government level.
In replying to my Dáil question days before the hospital closed on 3 April 2001 the Minister of State said the health board informed him that it envisaged a 60 bed community hospital, comprising a mix of up to 30 beds for continuing care with the remaining 30 made up of direct access, rehabilitation, convalescent, respite and palliative care beds. He went on to say an important dimension of the service would be its linkage with the acute services, mainly in Galway, but also in Castlebar and Roscommon. That linkage would enable patients to be discharged early and ensure they would not be taken away from their families and communities for too long. He went on to say Tuam community hospital would open the way for the development of consultant-led out-patient clinics from Galway Regional Hospital and that tele-imaging and X-ray services would be developed.
I put it to the Minister of State that University College Hospital, Galway, is completely full. It has now reached the stage where it is a torture for patients and their families to go through the system of admission. Given that it is bursting at the seams, if ever there was a need for a community type hospital for Tuam, just 20 miles from Galway, to alleviate the hardship patients must endure unnecessarily by going through the system in Galway, it is now. It would be good news for Galway and, certainly, for Tuam.
It is my understanding that no money has been earmarked by the Government for the hospital, nor has it been included in the national develop ment plan. I would like the Minister of State to state from where the money for Tuam hospital is coming. That is what everyone is asking, including the Minister of State's people. The hospital will cater for between 35,000 and 40,000 patients, not just in Tuam town, but in the vast hinterland. Because of the fact that the hospital is closed, many are beginning to think the Government has turned its back on the area. I ask the Minister of State, as an interim measure, to open the hospital for the reasons the hospital committee previously brought to his attention.
