Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If the Minister does not mind, I will interject as I have other questions. One of the matters he did not address was the protocol change in respect of the medical assessment unit and the beefing-up of local injuries units in the mid-west region. The next logical step is to reverse what I have referred to as a failure.

The Minister has not quite gone to the same extent with his language but the 2009 reconfiguration has been a failure so I believe that the next logical step is, although it cannot be done in the hospitals in Ennis or Nenagh, or in St. John's Hospital, to strive to get a second 24-7 accident and emergency unit in the region. Where it goes I do not know. Obviously I have a certain bias for County Clare but it must be an ambition to have a second unit. That goal cannot be achieved overnight and requires investment. There is a whole lot of implications when it comes to staffing, and let us not be naive about that. A second unit should be the long-term aim for all of us here who serve the region both politically and, indeed, those who lead the Department, including the Minister. Will the Minister offer a commentary on the matter? In the interim period, does he envisage the medical assessment units moving to an "18 over 7" capacity because that would be key to unburdening some of the pressure at UHL?