Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is definitely a distance and geography issue. I spend as much time as I can in west Clare and I know from my time there and talking to people in Ennis hospital that there is real concern at the distance. Deputy Shortall very fairly referred to HIQA. Its view was that the scale of Ennis hospital meant that it could not safely support an emergency department. That is exactly why I have asked HIQA to do this work. I do not want to prejudge its work but it may not come back to say it should be in Ennis or Nenagh or St. John's.

We must first ensure that as many people as possible can be treated in Ennis. It has a minor injury unit that is second to none. We have a medical assessment unit there that is going from strength to strength. We have funded additional National Ambulance Service services which are more advanced and have more advanced paramedics. We are also looking at helicopter coverage. I fully agree with Deputy Shortall's point for the people of County Clare, particularly north and west Clare. There is a real concern and we do have a geographical challenge, there is no question about that. What we are looking to do now is to say that we can provide more and better care in Ennis and better responsive ambulance and helicopter services while we look at the bigger question of a second emergency department.