Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair. It is good to see the Minister.

I am so frustrated in relation to this issue and it is perhaps because this started for me in 2009, when I was a SIPTU official, and the then Fianna Fáil Government decided to shut down Nenagh hospital's accident and emergency department. We then saw the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government ignore it for the next five years. I want to pay tribute to the Mid-West Hospital Campaign group for being so persistent in highlighting the disaster that has unfolded since.

My first question to the Minister requires a simple "Yes" or "No" answer. Would he accept that UHL was in crisis when he took office as the Minister in 2020?