Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)

First I wish to say, "Well done to the Rossies, ye turned out in good numbers today, I am proud of you."

After the election I was asked by the media whether I would vote for Fine Gael in order to put them into government. I said, I might because they actually agree with quite a lot of my policies. I agreed with their policy on health care and the future of Roscommon hospital; I agreed with their policy on turf-cutting; I agreed with burning the bondholders. As a result, I was asked by RTE why did I not join Fine Gael if that was the case. My answer was, "I don't think Fine Gael actually believes in those policies." Unfortunately, I have been proven to be correct.

Fine Gael's policy in advance of this election from the now Minister was as follows: "I would like to confirm that Fine Gael undertakes, in accordance with the Fine Gael policy on local hospitals, to retain the emergency, surgical, medical and other health services at Roscommon hospital which are present on the formation of the 31st Dáil." However, one does not have to lie to get into this House. I did not lie. I could have gone down the same route at the general election. I could have lied to people about my views on the legalisation of cannabis because there are no votes in Roscommon on that issue. I could have lied to people on the fact that I do not have a problem with a mobile phone mast beside my house. That certainly did not get me any votes but that was my opinion. Unfortunately, that cannot be said for Deputy Denis Naughten and Deputy Frank Feighan, unless today they vote with the people of Roscommon and south Leitrim rather than voting with Fine Gael.

The spin in the past few days has been very hard to take. Even our own elected representatives have attempted to convince us that we will be better off without our accident and emergency department. The reason given is that they cannot argue with medical evidence being presented to them. Well, the medical evidence has been made quite clear today in The Irish Times and the GPs in our area have said the following: "We are in no doubt that lives will be lost and patient outcomes will be adversely affected." General practitioners in the county's catchment area have warned of serious consequences and they have said: "Every GP in the catchment area of County Roscommon, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Galway, Westmeath and Sligo, is appalled at the proposed downgrading of the hospital and the effect it will have on patient care and safety." The former head of the IMO, Dr. Martin Daly, stated: "My colleagues are very angry that they should be asked to provide a service which facilitates the downgrading of the hospital, given their concerns about the capacity of other hospitals to cope with the extra load and safety issues associated with that."

I looked at the Fine Gael website and I discovered that Fine Gael is a Christian Democrat party. I also checked out the Ten Commandments which Christians are meant to follow. The ninth commandment is, "Thou shalt not lie". If Fine Gael does not do as it promised in advance of the election, I challenge its members that they are not Christian nor are they democrats.

Ultimately, this is down to money. The IMF and the EU will make a profit of €9 billion over the lifetime of the bailout. We require 0.5% of that sum to keep our hospital open this year. The question is who is more important, the bankers or the people of Roscommon and south Leitrim and surrounding areas who will die if we let this happen.

As for the Fine Gael amendment to the motion, the people of my constituency are on the ball and if the local Fine Gael Deputies vote for the amendment, then they will be seen to be voting for the closure of our hospital. The amendment proposes the deletion of the fact that the Minister said he would stand by his commitments.

Deputy Denis Naughten and Deputy Frank Feighan promised the people they would stand by them. Today they must vote in favour of this motion otherwise they will be classified as traitors until kingdom come. The surrounding Deputies from the surrounding counties, from Longford, Westmeath, Mayo and east Galway, must do the same thing; they must choose between the bankers or their constituents. Let them die but the Deputies will pay the price if they do.

See this speech in context