Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is no need for the Minister of State to apologise to me. I am not a person requiring chemotherapy who has to travel for 45 minutes to Letterkenny General Hospital only to find that it is closed for my treatment and I have another four hours journey ahead. The people who deserve the apology are the cancer patients of Donegal who have been denied a chemotherapy service in recent weeks.

The response I got is pathetic. I knew everything that was in the response. In fact, I know more than was said. Serious questions must be asked. I understand there is a gap that needs to be filled when people resign, but the HSE has told me it can fill three out of the six weeks between now and 6 March until the new locum is appointed. In that case, why have patients been denied chemotherapy services in Letterkenny General Hospital since Christmas?

I hope the Minister of State will never have to find out what it is like for those patients and their families who have recounted to me the experience of what the journey was like for them. Their appointments were scheduled for 8 o'clock in the morning-----

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