Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This week the Government published two reports, "The Establishment of Hospital Groups as a transition to Independent Hospital Trusts" and "Securing the Future of Smaller Hospitals". My party welcomes their publication. There was broad consultation with the professionals who carry out and deliver the services on a daily basis over the past number of years.

To be quite truthful, it is not exactly earth-shattering. When one drills down through the reports, one can see they are a continuation of what was happening in terms of reconfiguration over the past number of years. My difficult, particularly with "Securing the Future of Smaller Hospitals", is that there certainly is not a commitment to secure the future of every small hospital in this country. The Government is talking about holding a consultation process with stakeholders and the broader public, and yet there is a great deal of spin and PR coming from Government that this is guaranteed to secure the future of all small hospitals. The Government's track record on this is not great, as evidenced by what happened in the case of Roscommon Hospital, as well as the abandonment of the proposal for a 500-bed hospital in the north east, to which Fine Gael was committed prior to the last election.

There has been a downgrading of Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, from the provision of 24-hour emergency cover. The intensive care unit is being removed. If there is to be a genuine debate and honesty in this, we need to know exactly what the Government is proposing for Navan. Significant commitments were made. Promises were made about the retention of the 24-hour service because, as was said at the time, it would save lives. The Government is stating quite clearly in this report that the hospital will be downgraded, and this has happened across the country in the case of other small hospitals as well. The key question I am asking today is this: will the Tánaiste give a commitment to the people of Navan that 24-hour emergency cover will remain in the hospital and that there will be no downgrading of services, as was promised by the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, in 2011? I merely want to know if the Minister will live up to the commitment that was made and ensure that those services, and the broader services in the north east, are retained.

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