Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I cannot say I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue because it is one of tragic proportions. I sympathise with the Walsh family on their great loss. I ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children to visit Monaghan General Hospital. It is a simple request so that she can see for herself the excellent staff, the brand new theatre and the potential to save lives which could have been used in this case.

The Tánaiste has visited other hospitals and I am aware that when she sat opposite a few days ago, she said she had got private individuals to go to one of the hospitals near this town to talk about building a private health sector. Here we have a brand new theatre, capable staff and facilities which could be utilised in the public sector but which are underutilised.

I listened with interest and some trepidation to the Taoiseach. He said the most important issue was patient safety and that it must come first. Is insurance the main issue? Since Monaghan General Hospital went off call in 2002, there have been 16 deaths. That does not say too much about safety, yet the Taoiseach insisted that he and the Minister for Health and Children must go by the experts.

Why was Mr. Patrick Walsh transferred, in the first instance, from Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital to Monaghan General Hospital? Is it correct that three intensive care beds were vacant on that Thursday in Drogheda? If the protocol introduced by the former health board CEO and the so-called expert group was as good as the Taoiseach said today, why was there not a back-up service in Cavan or why did Drogheda not accept the patient back? Does the Tánaiste have any confidence in the management of the health service in respect of the hospitals in the north east and, if not, what will she do about it?

Today I was asked where the Tánaiste was hiding and why she could not visit the hospitals in this area, especially Monaghan General Hospital. Has she met the hospital alliance group or the hospital consultants who, as Deputy Connolly said, have demanded that Monaghan General Hospital be put back on call for emergency surgery? Are the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach suggesting that the consultants in Cavan and Monaghan general hospitals know less about the needs of the area and the services they must provide than non-medical executives?

The Taoiseach stated that he cannot understand what is going on in this part of the country. However, it is no secret that he did not visit Monaghan General Hospital when he visited County Monaghan on Friday last. That would have been an opportunity for him to clarify the issue for himself. He did not meet the elected councillors who requested a meeting to deal with the hospital issue. While I welcome the inquiry into the death of Mr. Patrick Walsh, more committees or expert groups are not needed for Monaghan General Hospital. As the hospital alliance committee advised the Taoiseach, if the surgical nurses were put back on staff for night purposes, everything else would be in place.

I welcome the efforts of the steering committee to bring Monaghan General Hospital back on-call for medicine, as many lives have been saved since last January. However, it is unfair to say, as the Taoiseach did today, that the steering committee was happy or satisfied with the surgery situation in the hospital. The laws were laid down by the chief executive officer and it had no choice but to sign on the agreement. All surgery consultants in the Cavan General Hospital are demanding an emergency surgeon be put back. All consultants in Monaghan General Hospital say the same. I urge the Tánaiste and the Minister for Health and Children to listen to the experts on the ground. She must do as she has done on the IT issue and take control of services at Monaghan General Hospital.

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