Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The witnesses get a hard time from us when they come in here but I have to say, when we were talking about Loughrea, Mr. Ryan and Mr. Fitzmaurice gave me hope. Clearly, Deputy Canney has been leading on this with Councillor Geraldine Donohue for quite some time. He has offered tremendous leadership. It really gives great hope that the HSE is now looking at this through a fresh lens and that there may be opportunities to change configurations in order to get the place open. St. Brigid's has been a part of Loughrea since Adam was a boy. The people are very committed to that particular establishment. It is a lovely place. The scenery is beautiful. It has everything going for it. If you had to spend time somewhere in your elder years, it would be a lovely place to do so. I am really grateful to the witnesses for taking the time to go back and look at this again to see if there was a way forward.

Mr. Ryan is leading today. As we look at these organisations or little hubs around the country that give great service to their local communities, if they are coming under the spotlight for reconfiguration, closing down or whatever, should we not engage with the local community and sit down and talk to them? Deputy Canney has pointed out that €7 million was raised through a trust fund in Tuam. Local people, entrepreneurs with money, are willing to put money into their communities. Fellas like Deputy Canney will meet these people, get money out of them and organise local groups. Councillor Donohue did it in Loughrea. People will work with the community to keep what is precious to them open. I have met people from Tipperary and their hearts are breaking at the thought of losing that little hospital. We really need to work with communities. I will just tell Deputy Canney that the budget is €25 billion rather than €52 billion. It might get €52 billion next week, but €25 billion is an awful lot of money. It must be the highest budget in the country but, on top of that, there is voluntary money coming.

Mr. Ryan is first and foremost in taking the flak here today, but I ask him to speak to whoever sent the documentation to us and tell them that we are not total idiots altogether and that we are capable people. If there are issues with the general data protection regulation, we can handle those by having an in camerameeting. We do not have to go public if very sensitive data are involved. The committee can agree to do that. Mr. Ryan should ask these officials not to annoy committees when dealing with them and not to create a situation whereby people want to come in, grandstand and shout and roar. All we want to see is the HSE working with the community. Fair play to Mr. Fitzmaurice on what he is doing in going back to look at it again. If it works out, it works out. If it does not, at least he will be working with the community. The community will find a way of working with him. That is all I really want to say on it. I thank Deputy Canney and Councillor Donohue for their leadership on the issue and I thank Mr. Fitzmaurice for picking up the can and running with it. Let us see where it goes.