Michael Fitzmaurice TD has called on Senator Maura Hopkins to clarify the Government’s position on Roscommon Mental Health Services after her comments indicated “a U-Turn” on the issue.
In a statement release this morning Michael Fitzmaurice TD said “Two weeks ago I broke a story about Mental Health Services in County Roscommon with threatened closures of Day Centres and an additional threat to some accommodation for service users. I had received several calls from family members of service users on the matter and staff in the service had also contacted me.
Last week in the local media Senator Maura Hopkins and others in the Government party refuted the story. However I see today in an article in a local newspaper that she has changed her tune and is not so sure about what’s going on. Is she preparing the people for the exact scenario that I predicted was happening two weeks ago? added Deputy Fitzmaurice.
“Civil Servants and administrator were doing there own thing”
Michael Fitzmaurice went on to say “Family members have contacted me in the past week about this situation and they have made clear that their loved ones who are service users are being put in a position that they do not want. I have received further indications about the situation in the past few days and I stand by my story of two weeks ago 100% on this issue. It might be more in Senator Hopkins line to have done her research before dismissing what I had to say. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that senior civil servants and administrators are doing their own thing on this matter and that even the Minister is out of the loop.”
Representatives of HSE Nursing Homes and other facilities have also contacted Michael Fitzmaurice in the past week about the re configuration of services. “The bottom line is that the teams are not in place to deal with this new situation. I know that staff in the services are uneasy about what is being planned. Are we in a situation where the Minister, Government representatives backed up by Fianna Fail and senior civil servants in the HSE are saying one thing officially and then doing another on the ground? Is this the type of politics that the people of Roscommon deserve?” he concluded.