Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I am absolutely shocked at this, but I am not surprised. I have known the Minister for a long time. I know what happened in Monaghan. I know what we were told and what happened afterwards. However, this is about 12 year old girls. This scheme was announced in August, at a time when everybody knew the economic situation in which the country found itself, and it was later withdrawn, which is unbelievable. It just shows the problem with planning and structures in the HSE and in the Department of Health and Children. The problem is that there is no planning.

Monaghan General Hospital is being closed down, yet I received a phone call from the father of a 16 year old who has been on a trolley in Cavan for three days. Even his pillows were stolen last night. This is the situation in which we find ourselves. I beg the Minister and the Government to do the right thing. They can find a lot of money for consultants, so they should find the money for 12 year old girls.

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