Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to join with my colleagues in expressing my disappointment that the Minister is not present to face us and to discuss the supply of a 24-7 service in the south east. As has been said, it is the only region in the country that does not have a 24-7 service. Are we in the south east different to anyone else? Are we backward people who do not deserve the service everyone else in the country gets?

The situation surrounding cardiac care at University Hospital Waterford is at boiling point. Thousands of people took to the streets over the weekend in protest, despite the announcement by the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, that a mobile unit has been made available to the people of the south east. I would like to know what a mobile unit is. Does this mean it will be there for one day in Waterford and somewhere else the day after? Will it be there for a week or a month before going somewhere else? If it is mobile, that means it is on wheels and it moves around. That is not an answer to the problem. We have no concrete details of this mobile cath lab and its capabilities. Will it be exclusive to University Hospital Waterford and will it be on-call 24-7? Will it be reserved for emergency cases or utilised in catering for those who have been on the waiting list for more than two years for vital cardiac procedures? How many people will the mobile unit be capable of catering for on an annual basis?

I remind the Minister that the catchment area for the current cardiac service in University Hospital Waterford consists of approximately 500,000 people in the counties of Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, south Tipperary, Waterford and further afield. The current cardiac service is simply not good enough for the people of the south east.

We have seven Deputies in the House today who have signed the motion to that effect. It is a petition to ask the Minister to look at this again. We have thousands on the streets to protest while there are over 700 on a waiting list for vital procedures, some of whom have been there for over two years. We have specialised doctors recognising the urgent need for a second cath lab and warning that some patients on the waiting list are deteriorating and need a procedure within the next seven days. We have advocacy groups saying that the mobile unit is a temporary solution to a permanent problem. The current situation in the south east is untenable as everyone has come to realise except the Minister for Health. We must take meaningful steps to implement 24-7 cardiac services at University Hospital Waterford immediately. I ask the Minister of State to bring that back to the senior Minister.

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