Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

While the Minister talks a very good talk, the reality of what happened in the north east is there for us to see. We must see that exactly the same is coming down the tracks for us in the mid-west if we take this on trust, particularly in the context of the financial situation. Last week a HSE west meeting was told that a further €10 million will be taken from the acute hospital budget in the mid-west on top of the €400 million that was taken off at the end of last year after the service plan had been published. That is the reality of the cuts coming down the tracks. How are we supposed to believe the Minister? That is the problem.

Dr. Paul Burke and his colleagues are very genuine people who believe what they are doing is right, but there are many GPs in the mid-west, who are also highly trained doctors and who know their patients very well, and they are unanimously against this proposal. I have spoken to many who work in the hospitals in the mid-west who are extremely worried about this proposal and, above all, the patients and the public are extremely worried about it. I attended the meeting in Nenagh recently and intend to attend the protest on 21 February in Nenagh. I assume there will also be protests in Ennis. I listened to those people. There were so many people there that hundreds of them were out in the rain because they could not fit into the venue. It was a huge meeting of ordinary people who live in north Tipperary — doctors, nurses, patients of the hospital and their relatives. They are genuinely fearful about what is being proposed.

My colleague, Senator Kelly, said people in the mid-west should be very afraid and, unfortunately, he is right because the theory is great but, unfortunately, we cannot trust the practice. The people who would otherwise go to Nenagh and Ennis will all descend on a regional hospital that is already overstretched and overcrowded. We hope St. John's is safe, but we are not quite sure and want undertakings in that regard. Neither the Minister nor the HSE has been able to give us any commitment that the money will be spent on what is identified in the plan as needed.

If we were to accept this on trust we would need our heads examined. The plan is supposed to be predicated on more comprehensive primary and community care, long-stay beds, diagnostics, day-care beds, a medical assessment unit, a critical care unit in Limerick, more ambulances and more ambulance personnel. These are all good things but the problem is that there is no money in the kitty to provide them.

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