Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

A wide range of outpatient services, including day surgery, ear, nose and throat services and a number of investigative procedures, will continue to be provided. More people attend outpatient clinics than are admitted to hospital.

I urge the Minister for Health and Children to ensure that an adequate CT scanner is put in place at Monaghan General Hospital. It is important that the hospital should have all the state-of-the-art facilities necessary to assist in the provision of services. I made that point to Professor Drumm last night when Deputy Conlon and I discussed the issue with him at a meeting which lasted an hour and a half.

We must move forward from where we are and not from a point at which we would like to be. Medical patients, particularly elderly people who are affected by conditions such as pneumonia, asthma, strokes and mild heart attacks, should continue to be treated at Monaghan General Hospital because this would mean that they would be near to home and their relatives. In order to achieve this, I would like the Minister for Health and Children to request the Health Service Executive, which has the ultimate responsibility in this area-----

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