Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Nobody asks this question about which hospital we should close in Dublin so we can open one in the mid-west. No one ever asks this question, but they are asked it.

I am, though, going to ask a relatively difficult question. As a public representative, I raise this issue, as does Deputy O'Donoghue, as do the representatives from Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and other Independent representatives from the region. In fairness, everybody raises this issue. We are told it is not possible to safely operate an accident and emergency department without a critical care unit because a certain percentage of patients who come into the department require critical care. Ennis Hospital does not have a critical care unit and, therefore, the idea of opening an accident and emergency department there is said to be unsafe. On that basis, the least I have advocated for is to have any and all services that can be provided in Ennis to be provided there to avoid people having to go to the accident and emergency department.

Deputy O'Donoghue gave an example of several tests being able to be carried out in one short visit. I do not know and perhaps I am a political coward but, of course, one model 4 hospital in the mid-west is going to be inadequate. This idea of an elective hospital will, I am certain, make money for private healthcare, but I have concerns regarding whether it will improve healthcare for people across the mid-west. What are the views of the witnesses on this argument regarding the need to have a critical care unit to open an accident and emergency department safely? Is there something that can be done short of this? This is not to say it should not be a long-term ambition or that it is not a valid one.

My point, though, is that if it is not possible to staff the accident and emergency department in UHL, then it is unlikely it will be possible to staff another accident and emergency department in another hospital immediately. There are, however, things that could be done within 12 months or two years. I say this because we work in the short term in politics. I will be a TD until the end of this Dáil, as will Deputies Wynne and O'Donoghue, and it will be likewise with Senators and the end of this Seanad. It is all about short-term periods. In the lifetime of one Dáil, in five years, which is the maximum a Dáil term can be, what is the maximum that could be realistically achieved in this regard?