Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is no draft report that is at present available to the Department. What I can give the Deputy a reassurance about, of course, is that once the report is available, the Minister will make it available to the health committee. It should rightly form part of the discussions at the health committee. In the meantime, as I said, there is no threat to emergency departments. In fact, what the Government is doing is investing in the health service, with 90% of the resources that were available going into the health services to deal with the ever-increasing demands on the services. Recently, €500 million was allocated to deal with the issues we are concerned with here.

The purpose of this report is to ensure we do the best for patients who suffer traumatic injuries and make sure they go to the right place, where they will get the best health care. It is not about closing or changing the arrangements in regard to emergency departments.

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