Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State said that as the comprehensive review of expenditure is under consideration at present, "it would not be appropriate to comment further at this point, other than to say it is currently not planned to implement measures contained in that submission". We are concerned about the possibility that 20 beds will be withdrawn from Portlaoise hospital and the emergency department at the hospital will be closed or have its opening hours reduced. That is the issue. We are trying to emphasise that the figures show that the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise is a busy major regional hospital in a strategic location. The Minister of State's statement does not give any comfort to me, to the staff of the hospital or to the community in County Laois. We have not been reassured that services at the hospital are safe for the future. Although she said "there are no plans" to close the emergency department, she did not give us a funding commitment. I want the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, to give us a commitment that the clinical review will be published and that core maternity, paediatric and surgical services will be maintained. Surgical services are necessary if maternity, paediatric and emergency departments are to be maintained. I want a commitment that Portlaoise hospital will have an adequate budget in 2015 to maintain those core services.

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