Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I concur with that. Looking at some of the responses and thinking of other issues that have come up before this committee and all around the country, it seems that some responses are copy and pasted. Two words that stick out to me in this response are "design stage", which we have seen in other places. A fortune is being spent doing designs and drawings with no indication of what will result at the end of it. In most cases we have heard of, at the committee and in our offices, the next thing that happens is that it is claimed it is not possible to get staff. We will wait for its comment but it is time we brought in the HSE.

On Clifden District Hospital, we will see when we get the reply back from the petitioners. When they get the reply we will see what answer they got. It seems repetitive and I remember being at a meeting in Clonmel one day and we were told that 350 other short-term beds were going to be closed. This seems to be a repetitive pattern of picking off small places one at a time. I would hope that is not the situation but you see it happening over and over and there is no definitive plan for what will replace these hospitals. We are told on a continuous basis that everything is at design stage. Somebody needs to answer to this committee on what is going on in the health service. The committee recommends that we wait for the reply from the petitioner and we will probably have received that by next month's meeting. We will see where we can take it from there.

That concludes our consideration of public petitions this afternoon. I invite members of the public to submit petitions via our online portal, which is available at petitions.oireachtas.ie. A petition may be addressed to the Houses of the Oireachtas on a matter of general public concern or interest in any issue of public policy.

Next on the agenda is any other business. Would members like to make any final comments?