Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I want to make it clear that what is involved here is changing a situation whereby patient safety becomes paramount. The fact is that the Health Information and Quality Authority has expressed serious safety reservations about the situation that exists in a number of small hospitals where there is not the range of medical capacity to deal with all of the situations that arise. That is not the fault of any individual working in the hospital. It is just a fact of life that the situation that exists in a number of small hospitals is not the way we would like it to be. HIQA expressed concern in this regard about a number of hospitals, including Roscommon, and the consultants in the region have also expressed fears in respect of safety.

Unlike the thread the Deputy is trying to spin here, there is no intention to close down Roscommon hospital - that is the first point. The second point is that, as has been clarified in the debate here with the Minister for Health, there will be an urgent care centre, run by non-consultant hospital doctors in Roscommon hospital and operating from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.

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