Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

-----for the foreseeable future, something to which I attach particular importance. I understand the Minister of State, Deputy Andrews, may not necessarily go that far but I am satisfied that no decisions are likely in the lifetime of this Dáil.

The Minister, Deputy Harney, stressed the importance of patient safety at each hospital and made it clear that the health service would have to bear cuts which should not be interpreted as part of a plot to downgrade the hospital.

South Tipperary General Hospital is a vital part of the infrastructure of south Tipperary and Clonmel, one of the most important inland industrial towns. The determination to safeguard the future of the hospital must be combined with some flexibility, although it is important that nothing be done that would pre-empt or prejudice its equivalent role in the future to that it is playing now.

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