Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I thank Deputy Jan O'Sullivan for sharing time with me.

I will start with a simple question — will the Minister close Mallow General Hospital? I want a clear "Yes" or "No" answer from her. If it is the Minister's intention to keep the hospital open, people want to know the extent of its services in future. We have been met with nothing but confusion and obfuscation concerning the provision of services in the HSE south region in recent months. We have had the national service plan 2009, the reconfiguration of hospitals report for the HSE south region, which was also published this year, and we have also had the teamwork report and the Howarth report. Now we are being told that Professor John Higgins will examine proposals on savings that will be garnered as a result of the cuts to be implemented.

The people of the HSE south region want to know what will happen by way of facts, figures and timelines. We are sick of this culture that exists whereby the only person who will answer publicly for HSE decisions is Professor Drumm. We want to know why people in the hospital networks office of the HSE south region, and other such high-ranking figures, are not speaking publicly and answering in proper, public fora for the decisions they are taking.

There is a positive alternative to the scenario that is currently provided by the HSE south region. The Minister must listen to GPs who are referring to hospitals like Mallow and Cork University Hospital. She must listen to people working at the coalface. If we listened more to doctors and other health professionals and less to the coterie of managerial mandarins, we would be able to effect a proper system that could guarantee health services to the public.

With respect to the Minister, I want to know today if she intends to close Mallow General Hospital. On behalf of that region's taxpayers, I also want to know what future scenario she envisages for the hospital. We can rotate far more disciplines from Cork University Hospital through to Mallow General Hospital. In addition, we can enhance the services at Mallow and add value to them. That case is also being made by health professionals who are operating in that catchment area. We need proper answers without obfuscation.

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