Rose Conway-Walsh on Spinraza Approval and Belmollet Hospital Cuts
Senator Rose Conway-Walsh addressed the chamber on 12 June 2019, celebrating the approval of Spinraza and urging action to protect Belmollet Hospital from staff and bed reductions. She praised the election of Senator Grace O'Sullivan and thanked former MEP Leonie Rida, while calling for clarity and intervention from Minister Daly to safeguard local services.
Spinraza approval and personal acknowledgements
Senator Rose Conway-Walsh welcomed the recent approval of Spinraza, noting she had spoken about it many times in the house and was "absolutely thrilled" for Grace O'Malley and Cillian Myers and their parents. She publicly thanked the minister for "allowing humanity to prevail" and said it was never too late to do the right thing.
Tributes to elected and outgoing MEPs
She congratulated Senator Grace O'Sullivan on her election to the European Parliament and said the chamber and she personally would miss her. She also thanked former MEP Leonie Rida for her hard work for rural and coastal communities, singling out her efforts in fishing and rural development.
Belmollet Hospital community concerns
Senator Rose Conway-Walsh raised urgent concerns about Belmollet Hospital after hundreds attended a public meeting. She described attempts to remove agency staff and not renew temporary contracts as "absolutely deplorable," and repeated a local comment that officials promise the birds in the sky but do not tell people they have to catch them themselves; she noted the announcement arrived just days before the local and European elections.
Beds, geography and requests to ministers
She recalled that under the Fianna Fáil government half the beds at the hospital were cut from 40 to 20 and said the area served is larger than the size of County Loud. She asked the leader to confirm a planned visit by Jim Daly next week and who he will meet, and appealed directly to Minister Daly for intervention, pointing out the nearest hospital is 50 miles away.
Broader critique of health policy direction
Senator Rose Conway-Walsh warned against the privatisation and centralisation of health services, arguing the approach runs counter to claims of supporting primary care and community care. She said the current course forces the most vulnerable to bear the cost of overruns and neglect in the health service.
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Cahirleach. Firstly today I want to take the opportunity to congratulate Senator Grace O'Sullivan on her election to the European Parliament. We certainly will miss her from this chamber and I will miss her personally but I have absolutely no doubt that she will do a most marvellous job in Europe for us and I hope that she will stay in touch with this house and this chamber. I also want to thank the former MEP Leonie Rida for her hard work particularly for rural communities and for coastal communities. I think she did a Trojan job particularly in the area of fishing and rural development and I want to wish her well for the future and I have no doubt that she will continue to make a major contribution. I also want to welcome the approval of Spinraza yesterday. You'll know that I have spoken in this house very many times about Spinraza so I was absolutely thrilled yesterday when we got the news that Spinraza is now going to be made available. I was particularly thrilled for Grace O'Malley and for Cillian Myers and for their parents because I had got to know them personally over the months and this will give them a much better quality of life. I do want to thank the Minister. I want to thank the Minister for allowing humanity to prevail in this situation. It was something that I was never going to let go of but I do want to acknowledge that it's never too late to do the right thing. Here today as well I have to raise the issue of Belmollet Hospital the community hospital. We had hundreds at the public meeting on Monday night around the hospital and the attempts that are being made there to get rid of agency staff and not renew temporary contracts is absolutely deplorable. One man put it and I thought it was very good. He said they promise us the birds in the sky but they don't tell us that we have to catch them ourselves because this announcement came just within days of the local and European elections and you'll know that before in this hospital half of the beds were slashed under the Fianna Fáil government from 40 beds to 20 beds. And we're talking about an area that's bigger than the size of County Loud and I know that Jim Daly is going to be visiting next week visiting the hospital and I'd ask you leader to maybe confirm that for us and to confirm who he is going to be meeting because there are many people who are interested in meeting with him. And I would appeal and I would ask you to appeal to Minister Daly. The nearest hospital to Belmollet is 50 miles away. We can have, we talk all of the time about delivering health care near to the communities as close as possible to communities and we are doing the exact opposite in terms of the privatisation and the centralisation of health services and it has to stop. We can't have it both ways. We can't have the platitudes saying we believe in primary care, we believe in community care and then at the same time making the most vulnerable in our society pay for the overruns and the neglect of the health service. Thank you, Cahirlach. I had another issue but I'll hold it over till tomorrow. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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