James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

What we have in this motion is a situation best described by the old proverb "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." The people of Mayo have a bird in the hand — a service that delivers excellent care they are happy with. The people of Sligo have the same excellent service and they wish to retain it. The people of Letterkenny are evolving their own model. What they are being offered today is two birds in the bush in the form of University College Hospital Galway — an excellent hospital but one which is under-resourced and overcrowded. The consultants at the hospital have written a letter to their manager saying that by their estimation——

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