Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)

The Minister was selective in what she said, or else she does not understand what is happening on the ground. The reality is that the HSE, under the Minister's jurisdiction, proposes to close 27 of the 62 beds available that allow that incredible number of procedures to be carried out per month in Merlin Park Hospital. The Minister is presiding over that proposal. We welcome her issue of the report of the number of procedures done, but the reality is she proposes to cut that number.

The Minister's amendment to the motion states there is associated expansion in the area of step-down beds in the HSE. The Minister visited St. Brendan's Hospital in Loughrea recently, before the election, and declared she would provide ——

See this speech in context