Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I do not justify the fact that it is not operational five days a week. I simply say that one day is better than none. There is no embargo on recruiting staff for this scanner and I hope the HSE proceeds to do it as quickly as possible. I could not and will not stand over a situation where public money is spent on the purchase of, in this case, a CT scanner and it is not fully operational. It is not fair, not only to the citizens and patients of Drogheda and Louth, because it obviously places an extra burden on Drogheda, but it is also unfair to the taxpayers who have provided the funding for this scanner.

See this speech in context