Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to reassure Deputy Dooley that I will certainly convey his strong and articulate feelings on the matter to the Minister and the Health Service Executive. The challenge facing Shannon Doc, as I am advised by the Health Service Executive, is that the operation is in this predicament due to a shortage of doctors. As a result, Shannon Doc simply cannot maintain the services. I have been told that the Killaloe service will be open during weekdays on a needs basis with a mobile doctor servicing the centre. At weekends, the operating hours will change between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. to between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Patients will be seen at the Limerick, Ennis and Nenagh centres outside those hours. The Kilrush Ennistymon service will relocate to Milltown Malbay during weekdays with the same operating hours applying, and both centres will be operational on Saturday and Sunday up to 7 p.m. instead of up to 9 p.m. I know that is not what Deputy Dooley wanted to hear, but I am afraid that is simply the way things are at present.

I am further advised that the HSE grant aids Shannon Doc to assist in its operations and that the changes decided by Shannon Doc are not influenced by funding availability provided by the Health Service Executive.

I assure Deputy Dooley that I will certainly convey his disquiet and that of his constituents on this issue to the Minister and the Health Service Executive. Our aim in this regard is to see if further efforts could be made to ensure the services people were used to - Deputy Dooley referred to a particular case - could be provided to his constituents.

See this speech in context