Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, should go. It is clear from the resignation of the former Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, that he did not have the trust and confidence of the person who worked most closely with him. It could not be more serious - a junior Minister has resigned over the manner in which the primary care centres were selected. The failure of the Minister to give his own Minister of State an adequate explanation as to the criteria used to select those extra 15 primary care centres is of grave concern. It indicates, as a certain Minister suggested at the weekend, the possible return of stroke politics.

It is also difficult not to see a coincidence in the fact that two of the extra sites selected were in the Roscommon area, where the Fine Gael party has suffered so badly politically as a result of its move to close down the accident and emergency department in Roscommon hospital. Notwithstanding the differences some of us on this side of the House may have had with the former Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, she has shown real principle in resigning on this matter and in demanding transparency and accountability when important decisions must be made, such as selecting sites for primary care centres.

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