The recent decision by the HSE, Mental Health Commission and Government to transfer acute mental health services in Tipperary to Ennis General Hospital is an outrageous decision and will cause major disruption to long stay patients. Further to the closure of St. Michael’s Unit in South Tipperary General Hospital Clonmel any acute inpatient admissions in North Tipperary will be now be directed to Ennis. Essentially any person in the North Tipperary area requiring a long stay bed for mental health reasons will be forced to travel to Clare. Community Care facilities and out patient facilities pertaining to mental health will continue in this constituency.

 This move can only be described as an attack on some of the most vulnerable members of society and a complete departure from previous governments policy in regards to mental health.

It was never intended for such services to leave the constituency. It was planned and proposed by the HSE and past administration to create a comprehensive centre for the treatment of all aspects of mental health in the grounds of Nenagh General Hospital. This centre would not only have long stay beds but also out patient services and community care services, creating an all embracing mental healthcare centre in one location. Now less than nine months after the current government coming to power this decision seems to have been completely forgotten about and instead North Tipperary patients will be referred to Ennis, a hospital that is already struggling to cope with its own patient numbers. Ennis will now serve all long stay mental health patients from Tipperary North and South. This is totally unacceptable. The current Government may attempt to point the finger to the past administration but serious explanations need to be given by them as the reasons this service is being lost.

This to me is a completely illogical and unfair decision. It is an insult to the people of North Tipperary to deal with such essential services in a cavalier way. By imposing such a journey we are adding additional burdens, stresses and costs to those who have been diagnosed with an acute, recognized, medical need for mental health services. It is important to highlight exactly how this will affect patients; they will be removed from an environment in which they are comfortable and familiar. It is outrageous that they will now be made drive the considerable distance from Tipperary to Ennis, past the hospitals in Limerick, to avail of treatment. Many of these patients may be in a fragile state and such travel will further their stress and anxiety. Additional this will add huge cost and time implications to the families of those in these care centers who wish to travel to visit their loved ones on a regular basis.

This move is due to come into effect at the end of October. I will be petitioning the Government, the HSE and the Mental Health Commission to consider alternatives rather than continuing with this nonsensical plan to disrupt and upset long stay patients.

I am calling on the Government to take immediate steps to prevent the closure of numerous rural Garda stations across the constituency.

This follows the news that the Garda Commissioner Mr. Martin Callinan, has directed chief superintendents around the country to draw up lists of small Garda stations that could be in line to be closed given anticipated cuts to Garda funding in the upcoming budget. It is estimated that up to 200 stations could be closed.

These cuts would devastate rural communities.

As we speak, lists of stations facing closure are being drawn up. The stations most in danger of being closed are those small rural stations that are only manned by one Garda or that may only be open on a part time basis. The closure of such stations would have a serious impact on rural community life. The local Garda, even if he is only present on a part time basis is hugely reassuring and comforting for such communities. It certainly helps rural dwellers feel safe in their homes. Additionally they know that they can pop down to their local station for the numerous small issues that require Garda help or guidance or those forms that require the signature of a Garda.

This vital service is now in danger of being lost. While it is not clear as of yet how many stations in North Tipperary will be affected, given that a large proportion of the county is rural with smaller communities and stations it is likely that these cut backs will have some impact on community policing in North Tipperary.

I will therefore be petitioning Minister Shatter in the coming weeks to protect our rural Garda services and to maintain levels of funding. We are already seeing a crisis in An Garda Siochana due to the lack of new recruits and the continuing drain of retirements, cutting the funding of An Garda Siochana would be a further blow.

With the announcement that Irish milk produce is approximately 3.76% over quota, many Irish famers may have to take radical steps to cut their milk production or face a super levy fine. Following the publication of Department figures it is believed that Irish milk produce is over its quota as compared to this time last year.

Farmers across the constituency will be faced with the decision to reduce their produce or pay massive fines. As a direct result of this perfectly fine dairy cows will be culled. To me this is illogical and against best business practice. These cuts will be made despite the fact that there is demand for Irish dairy produce internationally yet because we are over out quota we are being locked out of the global market beyond the EU.

Many of our European neighbours will be below their quotas for the year. Based on current figures it looks as though our closest neighbour, the UK could be below quota by as much as 20%, while the EU will be down overall, yet Ireland will still be punished severely if it goes over quota. I have spoken to farmers who are facing fines of tens of thousands of euro’s unless they take radical steps to reduce their output.

At such difficult economic times it seems illogical to hamper such farmers, who are providing a quality product that is in demand. I am calling on Minister Coveney to raise this issue as a matter of priority with his European counterparts. A derogation from this agreement is needed to allow Irish farmers to supply their produce to make up for a European deficit and to send milk to other global markets.

The ongoing delays in filling junior doctor posts in hospitals across the country are causing severe strain on existing services.

It has emerged this week that up to 288 junior doctors, who have been recruited at great expense from Pakistan and India, are being forced to sit idle in Ireland while they await their registration which would allow them to take up employment in this country. All of this is at the expense of the HSE, who are currently funding the accommodation needs of these doctors and providing them with a subsidy.

This delay is unacceptable and unnecessary. This situation is caused by governmental delay in simplifying the registration procedure. The rules and procedures for a doctor seeking registration in this jurisdiction were quite complex and time consuming. Since January we have known that there would be serious shortages in non consultant hospital doctors and that doctors would have to be brought in from abroad. Despite this knowledge the new rules for registration were not changed until the 8^th of July and not published until the 18^th. As a result almost 300 doctors are still awaiting the validation of their documentation and the completion of the competence exam.

This is going on against a background which sees extreme pressure on our hospitals to maintain serves despite huge shortfalls in staff. Back in June I raised this issue with Minister Reilly, after I was made aware of a shortage of doctors in Nenagh General Hospital and Limerick Regional Hospital. Minister Reilly stated that the HSE was focusing on addressing particular staffing issues in a number of hospitals particularly Limerick Regional Hospital given that it provides 24 hour, 7 days a week Emergency Department service. Yet a full two months later we see that little has been done to alleviate these difficulties. All this red tape means that our hospitals remain understaffed.

What is needed in this instance is a cohesive plan and process, hammered out by the HSE, Department of Health and the Medical Council. These applications for registration must be seen as an absolute priority and treated as such. While I understand that there must be checks and balances in registering these doctors, it is illogical to have fully qualified doctors sitting idle whilst our hospitals are overwhelmed and understaffed.

The forthcoming retirements of senior members from An Garda Síochána has caused serious concerns. This follows the announcement that up to 1,200 members of the force could retire in the next 6 months, reducing the number of serving members to approximately 13,500. It is believed that by the end of 2014 this figure will have further reduced to only 13,000 active members.

These mass retirements have been sparked by changes to the pension arrangements for Gardaí which are due to come into place in the next year. According to a Garda Report published by RTE these retirements could mean that 10% of Garda Stations could be left with no sergeants and 8% could be left without any Garda whatsoever. This would have a particularly detrimental effect on the countless small rural communities across Tipperary that may only have a Garda for a day or two per week, with up to 51 stations across the country facing the loss of their Guards such services would be in danger.

We are talking about losing some of the most experienced and highly qualified members of An Garda Síochána and all at a time where there is no new blood coming into the force to revitalize and energize it. The loss of this skill at such a time is a huge blow.

These retirements are also causing a crisis in internal management in An Garda Síochána with some of the top personnel handing in their papers. Minister Shatter has proposed that in order to tackle this, he will promote a number of Gardaí to management and supervisory ranks. This seems to be an inadequate measure similar to closing the gate after the horse had bolted.

The problem here is at a grassroots level, to put it simply there simply are not enough Guards to serve the needs of all the communities across the country. Promoting those involved in management will no nothing to solve this difficulty. This move by Minister Shatter is short sighted and does not have regard to the key difficulty. We will soon see a situation where we will have a world class training facility sitting empty while we do not have enough recruits to man all stations. It is of course important that we have adequate management in place but they will increasingly have less and less to manage.

A number of months ago I raised these concerns at a local and national level but little was done. In addition, both the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors have been vocal in their criticism of the Government in failing to act swiftly to tackle this issue stating that the lack of Gardaí is “recklessly endangering” the public.

Whilst I understand and appreciate the severe financial constraints the Government are operating under, I am calling on Minister Shatter to review this issue as a matter of urgency and revisit the decision to freeze Garda recruitment.