Rose Conway-Walsh demands vaccine audit, slams hospital cuts
Rose Conway-Walsh challenged the minister on the impact of COVID-19 on family carers, cuts to local hospital beds and alleged problems in vaccine distribution. She criticised the lack of respite and services for carers, accused the system of protectionism, and demanded an audit of vaccine allocations.
Challenge over local hospital cuts
Rose Conway-Walsh highlighted a local district hospital in Balmollet being reduced to 12 beds during the pandemic - down from 41 beds previously, a cut she linked to Fianna Fáil influence. She questioned whether Balmollet is being treated as "the right place" for community care at "the right time" and rejected assurances about new community funding as insufficient in light of local cuts.
Impact on family carers and services
She said family carers have been severely impacted by COVID-19 and many have had no break for over a year - carers also have families and children affected by their caring responsibilities. Conway-Walsh outlined the hidden costs of caring and the ongoing fight for essential services - the struggle for physiotherapy, occupational therapy, chiropody and respite supports.
Culture of protectionism in the system
Conway-Walsh criticised what she described as a culture of protectionism that prioritises institutions over people, saying she was not surprised by television coverage of carers' experiences. She called on the minister to "fix it" and to put the needs of carers and patients at the centre of care decisions.
Vaccine distribution concerns and audit demand
She recounted contacts from constituents - an 85-year-old in Swinford unsure when they will get a vaccine and a mother of a child with multiple disabilities also waiting. Citing earlier correspondence to the HSE in late January, she pressed the minister on whether an audit has been carried out amid claims of cronyism and vaccine fraud in distribution.
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Today Minister Sinn Fein is providing you and your Fianna Fáil colleagues and Fine Gael and the Greens with an opportunity to clearly demonstrate that this government cares for family carers. Family carers have been severely impacted by COVID-19. They have not had a break, or many of them have not had a break for over a year now. As always, they are taken for granted. It is taken for granted that family carers will just keep going regardless. Many of these family carers, we have to remember, have families themselves. They have children themselves that are put to the back of the row because of their struggle to care for their loved ones. They have to watch their mums and dads struggling to keep going financially, physically and emotionally. This struggle is compounded by the lack of respite, the hidden costs of caring and the fight for services above all. The fight for physiotherapy, the fight for occupational therapy and the fight for chiropody and other therapies that they need. Now, Minister, I'm really glad to hear you say $150 million to provide community care at the right place in the right time. They are fantastic words. But I got a call this morning to say that our local hospital, the district hospital in Balmollet, is being cut down to 12 beds in the middle of a pandemic. This is the hospital that had 41 beds before Fianna Fáil got their hands on it. This is what you're doing in the community. So I just get so, so angry when I hear you come in here and say we're providing care in the right place at the right time. My question to you, is Balmollet not the right place and is this not the right time? Minister, I watched last week the primetime programme for carers. I was shocked, yes, because I'm always shocked about these things. But I was not at all surprised. And the reason I wasn't surprised is I come again and again and again. the culture of protectionism within the system. The protectionism that exists within the system that you head up. It is all about protecting, it's about protecting the institution. And the people who should be the centre of that come last. You need to fix it, Minister. Minister, I was contacted yesterday by somebody living in Swinford, 85 years of age. Don't know when they're going to get the vaccine. Don't know from their GP, can't tell them. They ring the helpline, nobody can tell them when they're getting the vaccine. In the same way a mother of a youngster with multiple disabilities, they don't know when they're going to get the vaccine. And they have to watch, they have to watch what's happening at the beacon. Minister, my question to you is, have you done an audit of all of the vaccines that have been distributed? Because I know for a fact, I wrote to the HSC in January, in late January, telling them about this problem, where the friends and the cronyism and the vaccine fraud was rampant in this country. Have you done an audit? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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