asked the Minister for Health if he proposes to proceed with his plans to close Longford county hospital.
56.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Longford County Hospital.
55.
asked the Minister for Health if he will again receive a deputation with regard to Longford county hospital; and, if not, why.
57.
asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of the fact that hospitals in counties adjoining Longford have a near full bed occupancy; and if this fact will be taken into consideration in arriving at any decision to close Longford hospital.
58.
asked the Minister for Health what use it is proposed to make of Longford county hospital building in the event of the hospital closing down.
59.
asked the Minister for Health the number of letters or other documents he caused to be issued to Longford County Council following a deputation to his office on 19th October, 1965.
60.
asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of the promise of his predecessor to provide a grant towards a hospital for Longford; and what steps were taken to fulfil this promise.
61.
asked the Minister for Health if, in view of the promise he made to a deputation from Longford that full documentation would follow the visit of the deputation and that there would be full and free discussion thereafter regarding hospitalisation for the county, he will state what action he is taking in the matter.
Mr. O'Malley
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 to 61 together.
I am aware that as late as 1958 it was envisaged that the building of a new county hospital at Longford would go ahead and that my predecessor was, at that time, disposed to provide a grant towards it as soon as the economic position improved.
Over the years major changes have been taking place in the whole concept of a modern hospital service. A complete hospital service now requires a complex organisation involving many specialised components and may call for frequent specialist investigations together with ready consultation between the surgeon and other specialists such as the physician, the anaesthetist, the pathologist or the radiologist. Elsewhere, in keeping with this concept, large hospitals are being provided on a regional rather than a local basis and this has been accepted as the most practicable method of placing the fullest possible range of hospital facilities at the disposal of patients.
It would be impracticable and unrealistic to provide a hospital organisation of this standard related solely to the needs of County Longford. As I have informed the county council, I am compelled to the view that the best interests of the people of the county would be served by extending the County Hospital, Mullingar, and developing the services there to meet the requirements of Counties Longford and Westmeath.
When, in October last, I met a deputation representing Longford County Council, I put before them in some detail the foregoing views. I agreed that I would set them out in writing. This I did in a letter which I sent to the council on 2nd instant.
I have suggested the early closure of the existing Longford County Surgical Hospital because it is the opinion of my medical advisers that present conditions in the hospital are such that they represent a risk to the patients. Although I am aware that the occupancy in hospitals in adjoining counties is high, I would hope that, as a temporary arrangement pending the extension of the Mullingar Hospital, no serious difficulty would arise in obtaining beds for Longford patients. My Department will provide all possible assistance in making suitable arrangements and in overcoming any problems that may arise.
The future use of the vacated accommodation at Longford is primarily one for the county council and I shall consider any proposal they may wish to put before me.
If representatives of the council wish to discuss with me aspects of the improvement of the Longford hospital services, within the framework of my letter of 2nd March, I shall be glad to receive a deputation.
Is the Minister aware that Mullingar Hospital is bursting at the seams and has no room for patients at present; that in some cases beds are on the floors in the corridors? Is he aware that we have been seeking 100 extra beds in Mullingar for the past ten years and that since the Fianna Fáil economic axe has fallen on health services there does not seem to be a possibility of getting them for another ten years? Surely the Minister cannot say that Longford patients will or can be accommodated in Mullingar Hospital?
Mr. O'Malley
Of course, the Deputy is incorrect. I have given long consideration to this problem and I have gone through the files since the beginning of the proposal a long time ago and I am satisfied that the proposals my medical advisers have put before me, and with which I agree, offer the proper solution. As I said in the latter part of my reply, if Longfor County Council wish to have further discussions with me I am quite willing to discuss all facets of this matter with them.
Surely the Minister has read today's Independent and Irish Press and has seen what Deputy Carter said, that Roscommon, Mullingar and Cavan and all other hospitals are closed——
Mr. O'Malley
Closed?
——are full to the seams and cannot take any further patients? If we are to have an early closure of this hospital where are the Longford patients to go or to be sent? Where is there any accommodation for them? Where is Deputy Carter?
He is looking for more beds.
Mr. O'Malley
We had a long discussion when the deputation came to see me previously. I am quite willing to meet them again but I do not think that any good purpose would be served by question and answer here.
Is the Minister aware that it was stated in this House some few weeks ago in reply to some query from the Fianna Fáil benches in relation to a statement by a prominent Fine Gael spokesman, that the country was going "bust", and is not this, in fact, what it means for the country to go "bust", that the money is not being spent as it should be spent?
That is a separate question.
Would it be relevant to inquire as to the propriety of the growing custom of members of the Fianna Fáil back benches to attack their Ministers in the newspapers and absent themselves from the House?
That is a separate question.
Deputy MacEntee was attacking the Minister for Finance in the Irish Times last week——
The Deputy may not proceed on those lines; it does not arise.
For the sake of propriety——
It is not in order.
Mr. O'Malley
I fear they must have got this bad habit from the former Leader of Fine Gael.
(Interruptions.)