Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Thanks very much, Minister. Just before we get into the cut and thrust of the meeting, which is an examination of the Revised Estimates, I want to inform the Minister and his officials that a delegation from this committee travelled to Derry in the last two days. We met representatives of the Western Health and Social Care Trust and visited Altnagelvin Hospital and the Ulster University campus in Derry. We were looking at North-South co-operation and some of the facilities involved, particularly the roll-out of cancer and cardiac care at Altnagelvin Hospital for people in the region. There are lots of positive things happening there. We all welcome the most recent developments in the North and look forward, in particular, to the Northern Ireland Executive being re-established. Of course, a key component of progress will be the continued roll-out of North-South co-operation in the area of health. We look forward to the North South Ministerial Council being reconvened.

One of the issues that arose during our visit was continuity of care for cardiac patients and the committee will probably be submitting recommendations on that to the Minister. The visit was worthwhile, even if we were mainly talking to officials. A lot of positive things are happening in the region for patients, with very good outcomes. One in five of those attending Altnagelvin Hospital for cardiac services were from Donegal. Such patients would previously have had to go to Galway or Sligo for services, but the hospital in Derry is right on their doorstep. It makes sense for everyone that we continue with this co-operation in the area of healthcare. Disease, as we all know, does not recognise borders and we saw that clearly during the pandemic. Whether we are talking about disease in humans or in livestock, it is essential that we continue to co-operate and build on the cross-Border work that has been done to date. The trip was very worthwhile. While there are many issues that might divide us in the context of North-South co-operation, health is one area where we can continue to work on behalf of patients and those seeking healthcare in the Border region. I just wanted to inform the Minister and his officials that the committee might be following up on some of the issues that came up on the trip.

The first speaker is Deputy Durkan.