Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 9 Apr 1992

Vol. 418 No. 6

Adjournment Debate. - Environment and Health Matters.

Mr. Deenihan

I have brought up this matter on the Adjournment on a number of occasions during the past five years. The proposed Dirha sewerage scheme would serve about 55 householders, including 12 in the Dirha cottages estate. About 250 people will be involved.

The Dirha housing scheme was built in 1950 and water supply was provided in 1964, but the estate was never serviced by a sewerage main. The nearest sewerage link is 750 metres distant from the estate. Private houses built in the area since 1950 were granted planning permission on condition that individual septic tanks would be provided. In the past 15 years each householder in the estate had to provide a septic tank. These have not been 100 per cent successful because the area around Dirha estate is notorious for bad soakage and drainage. The prevalence of septic tanks in such a small area is an obvious health hazard and there was an outbreak of typhoid in the estate in 1969. The outflow from these tanks flows, totally untreated, along the main roadside drain and eventually into the River Feale.

The sewerage scheme for Dirha cottages and the surrounding area went to tender in February 1987 but the residents are still waiting for work to commence. The Minister might give an indication as to whether work will begin this year.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr. D. Wallace)

The Dirha East sewerage scheme proposal involves the connection of some 50 houses along the Ballybunion Road to the Listowel main drainage scheme. These houses are currently served by septic tanks which at times are ineffective. I understand that ground conditions in this area are not ideally suited to this arrangement and that the proposed scheme will eliminate the nuisance caused by septic tanks.

I have recently allocated some £63.4 million to fund fully approved water and sanitary services schemes throughout the country. Over £4.48 million of this has been allocated to schemes in Kerry.

While I appreciate the Deputy's concern in relation to this scheme, I am not in a position to say when I can provide the necessary finance. I will, of course, bear in mind what he has said, but he will appreciate that any decision must be made in the context of the existing level of capital commitments within the overall water and sanitary services programme.

Mr. Nealon

The local improvements scheme has been a valuable channel for progress in rural Ireland. It has been of great advantage particularly in getting money for roads in the most neglected and isolated areas. Because of it many a farmer no longer has to listen to the sound of a car chassis thumping its way back home. What of the roads still to be done? This year Sligo County Council have been told that their LIS grant is down from £124,000 to £77,000, a massive cut of 38 per cent. I am told it is the same sad story in Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Donegal, Kerry and west Cork. I accept that the Minister is under budgetary pressure, but this is the unkindest cut in that it tends to wipe out from the prospect of relief the roads leading to the most remote places, to the houses which we want to remain inhabited, with smoke coming from the chimney, and the farmers whom we want to remain on the land. Another advantage of the LIS is that it attracts private funds gladly given by the beneficiaries.

Apart from funding, the Minister should also look at the criteria for qualification. There are different interpretations in various counties but the general requirement appears to be that there must be one or more users of a road for agricultural purposes. Emigration, families dying out and widespread forestry plantations, have vastly changed the impact of the two or more requirements. It has left a man on his own in no man's land, with no prospect of help. This is the kind of farmer we should be helping and who should be top of the list in respect of improving access and making life a little easier. The councils cannot help that kind of man.

I appeal to the Minister not to let the LIS die for want of money and also to make provision for the family on the road which is now excluded simply because all the neighbours have gone away.

Mr. D. Wallace

Everyone knows the serious problems which faced the Minister for Finance when he was framing the 1992 budget. In the light of the many competing claims for relief from different sectors and the limit on the finances available it was inevitable that cutbacks had to occur in some areas.

As part of this process, the overall allocation for the local improvements scheme was reduced from £4 million to £2.5 million. Within this overall reduction, we have ensured that each county council have been treated equitably, by applying a general reduction across all councils to reflect the 38 per cent overall reduction, and then by allocating a minimum of £50,000 to each council so that a reasonable programme of works can be carried out in each area. The reduction in the allocation to Sligo Council directly reflects the overall national reduction.

It has been a long-standing requirement under the LIS that a project must benefit two or more parcels of land owned or occupied by different persons, or serve the public, or serve two or more persons entitled to turbary rights. It is not proposed to change that requirement. With the reduction in the moneys available for this scheme, it is more important than ever to ensure that the resources are concentrated on projects which benefit the greatest possible number of people.

Mr. Noonan

(Limerick East): On Wednesday last I tabled a question to the Minister for the Environment asking if his attention had been drawn to representations being made by representatives of the Adult Literacy Campaign to have photographs of candidates included on ballot papers for elections. I asked him to outline his views on the suggestion and if he would consider an appropriate amendment to the Electoral Bill to take account of this proposal. The reply was that there are no proposals at present for a change in the law in this respect. I knew that; it is the reason I put down the question.

I am raising this matter because the Minister's reply was totally inadequate and indicates the kind of arrogance one encounters sometimes from a small minority of civil servants who regard this Parliament as some kind of irritant, interfering with their rightful position of running the country as they see fit. The civil servant who wrote this reply, the civil servant who authorised it at a senior level and the Minister who put his name to it showed great disrespect to this House in producing such a reply to a serious Dáil question concerning a serious matter. It should not happen. It is this aspect to which I wish to draw attention rather than the substantive point. I should appreciate it, however, if the Minister of State would now deal with the substantive point since the Minister did not deal with it when the question was tabled.

Mr. D. Wallace

The Minister indicated in his reply on 1 April that there are no proposals at present for a change in the law to provide for the inclusion of photographs of candidates on ballot papers. All of us, of course, are well aware of the campaign in this regard. The suggestion is that the inclusion of photographs would help electors with literacy problems, dyslexia, poor eyesight or mild mental handicap as well as first time voters and foreigners. The suggestion is an interesting one and it has been carefully considered. There is, of course, already provision in the electoral law for assisting incapacitated and illiterate electors and those with impaired vision.

Photographs on ballot papers could assist some electors in identifying the candidate they wish to vote for; but only, of course, if they know what the candidate looked like. So there would be a built-in bias in favour of well know candidates at the expense of lesser known ones, particularly first time and non-aligned candidates. There is also the point that many electors vote on the basis of party, with preferences for individual candidates being a secondary consideration. If we accept this, one could argue that we should consider including party logos or emblems on the paper, as is done in many countries.

Our electoral system is already criticised for putting undue emphasis on personality rather than on policy. Including photographs would exaggerate this tendency and could have the effect of trivialising elections and turning them into a kind of beauty contest. We would also have to face the problem of having standard photographs of a large number of candidates taken and reproduced on over two million ballot papers. While I am sure we could deal with this, it would add to the costs of elections and the pressure on returning officers. Overall, I do not think that ballot papers should contain photographs of candidates, but the House will have an opportunity to debate the pros and cons when the Electoral Bill, now with the Seanad, comes before it.

Mr. Noonan

(Limerick East): That is a proper reply to a parliamentary question.

Mr. Deenihan

The Department of Health recommended three junior anaesthetic staff for Tralee General Hospital over two years ago. There are ten junior anaesthetic staff in Cork Regional Hospital at present. Because of the level of staffing in this area there is only one anaesthetist on duty at night in Tralee General Hospital. This individual may have to deal with two emergencies at the one time, which is both difficult and dangerous. Recently there was the case of an emergency hip operation and an emergency Caesarean section at the same time, and the anaesthetist on duty had to keep both patients asleep simultaneously.

Patients with serious head injuries are sent to Cork Regional Hospital for treatment. These patients should be accompanied by properly trained personnel. Hence the need for the appointment of a junior anaesthetist to cover this type of duty also. The Department have permitted specific resources for the provision of an ENT service at Tralee General Hospital. However, this should not be confused with the appointment of the four junior anaesthetic staff, which is as essential, if not more so, as the appointment of an ENT surgeon. I appeal to the Minister to give a positive reply to this matter. I raised it previously but, unfortunately, very little progress has been made in this respect.

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Mr. Flood)

I thank Deputy Deenihan for raising this matter and for giving me an opportunity to respond. As the Deputy will be aware, the provision, organisation and management of services at Tralee General Hospital are a matter for the Southern Health Board in the first instance. The identification of priorities in respect of service and personnel needs at Tralee General Hospital, within the context of the overall financial resources available, is thus a matter for the board. It is also a matter for the board to determine the appropriate staff mix in its various hospitals, including junior anaesthetic staff.

My Department's Health Services Personnel Census, in respect of 31 December 1991, records a total of 562 staff being employed at Tralee General Hospital. This figure includes a total of four consultant anaesthetists. The board have indicated that this level of staffing has not diminished.

The board have indicated to my Department that their top priority for Tralee General Hospital is the development of the ENT service. The Deputy will be pleased to learn that provision for this has been made in the board's revenue allocation for this year. The board are in discussion with the Department about the detailed arrangements for the improved ENT service. The junior anaesthetic staffing at the hospital will be reviewed in the context of these developments.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The House will agree that it is appropriate, before we break for the Easter recess, that we give the final word to Deputy Pat Sheehan.

Mr. Sheehan

Unfortunately, I am always at the bottom of the list as regards questions. I wish to raise with the Minister for Health the serious situation that exists in Bantry county hospital as regards the condition of the surgical and medical equipment available in that hospital at the moment. Is the Minister aware that some of this equipment is almost 30 years old? The hospital matron and surgeons have made renewed requests to the former Ministers for Health and the Department for replacement of the greater part of this equipment.

The hospital is in dire need of two new cardiac monitors for the intensive care unit, two new ventilators, one bronchoscope, one colon-scope and two medicine trolleys. The surgical department needs two new emergency trolleys, blood pressure monitors, two heparin pumps and an infusomat and dressing trolleys. It is also essential that oxygen points be installed over every bed in the medical ward. The beds in both the medical and surgical wards are almost 30 years old and need immediate replacement. The bathrooms are antiquated and the facilities are too high and dangerous for patients to use.

In view of the huge hinterland that Bantry hospital caters for throughout the peninsular areas of south west Cork and south Kerry, it is essential that this hospital be maintained to the highest degree of efficiency possible by the Minister and the Department of Health. I trust that he will now give my request his immediate favourable attention and ensure that this necessary new equipment will be installed without delay in Bantry county hospital.

I would emphasis the necessity to maintain the status quo at Bantry county hospital. It is vital for the inhabitants of south-west Cork and south Kerry that the services now in operation be retained at that hospital. Parts of my constituency of south-west Cork — the Beara, Kilcrohane and Mizen peninsulas — are almost 100 miles from Cork city, while some areas are 120 miles from the city. Therefore, it is vital that the standard of Bantry county hospital be maintained to the highest degree possible.

Mr. Flood

I hear echoes of the Castletownbere harbour master revolving around the Chamber. I thank the Deputy for putting forward such a fine case on behalf of Bantry hospital. The provision of equipment at Bantry General Hospital is a matter in the first instance for the Southern Health Board. The board have submitted to my Department a list of requirements for their hospitals, including Bantry General Hospital. The board have been requested to prioritise their overall equipment requirements for their acute hospitals and when this information is received in the Department it will be considered in the context of the repeating requirements nationally and the resources available for this purpose. In view of the case made by Deputy Sheehan, the list received from the Southern Health Board in relation to the various hospitals in the region, particularly Bantry General Hospital, will be very carefully considered.

Mr. Sheehan

We will wait for the results.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.50 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 28 April, 1992.