Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome that the requirements of the hospital are being considered. I urge the Minister to use any influence he has to prioritise this matter, which is one of huge importance to County Kerry and all of the women who are using the maternity services and their families. I have an interest in this as someone who has been in the maternity ward of Kerry General Hospital twice in the last two and a half years. I highly commend the efforts of the very dedicated staff and the brilliant work they do. However, they need support and need the Government and the HSE to help ensure there are no other very sad cases as, unfortunately, have occurred in the past. We need to do everything we possibly can to ensure this does not happen.

It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the many developments that have occurred at the hospital under the current Government in recent years, such as the new endoscopy unit, the new cardiology unit, the new medical assessment unit, the four-bed, high observation unit, of which the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, will be aware-----

See this speech in context