Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I thank Deputy Moynihan for his kind remarks but I hope he will impress the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste with the same remarks. In 2001 there was a permanent radiologist in Mallow General Hospital. However, when an application was made to Comhairle na nOspidéal, Mr. Donie Ormond, the Fianna Fáil member who was vice-chairman of Comhairle na nOspidéal at the time, suggested that two should be appointed, that Mallow General Hospital should have seven sessions and Cork University Hospital should have four sessions rather than Mallow having ten sessions and Cork University Hospital having one session. The volume of work in Mallow General Hospital is sufficient to warrant the appointment of a radiologist directly to Mallow. This is five years after the issue was raised in the first instance. That is outrageous at this stage.

Progress is not being made and the delay is for the purpose of downgrading Mallow General Hospital and have patients transferred to Cork University Hospital. I have no doubt about that.

Mallow is a developing urban area that is designated hub town. Mallow General Hospital serves a population of 90,000 to 100,000 people and allows them access acute accident and emergency services as well as medical and surgical services within the accepted golden hour. The general practitioners in that region back up the case. We demand action as we believe there is no reason the hospital which has been served by a temporary radiologist for the past five years should not have a permanent radiologist appointed now.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, wrote to me on 25 March stating, "it is a matter for the Health Service Executive. Under the Act the executive has responsibility to manage and deliver the service." On 19 April 2005 the medical manpower manager, Cork University Hospital, in the Cork region said, "The outstanding issue is funding for which we are still awaiting authorisation". The reason it is not happening is that we are waiting for funding.

A sum of €1.5 million has been collected for a CT scanner approved in 2004. We were informed the scanner would be installed in an area occupied by a staff canteen adjacent to a radiology department. To date nothing has happened.

In Mallow General Hospital 90% of the people can be treated in the general hospital system. In Cork University Hospital the daily cost per patient is €747 while in Mallow General Hospital the cost is €477. Given that the facts are now on the record of this Dáil I hope the Minister of State will act on this.

See this speech in context