Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to ask the Minister about symphysiotomy. Last Tuesday, a woman in her 80s rang me in tears. She spoke about wanting to end it all. She was under pressure because her medical card had been rescinded. I definitely want to know why it was rescinded. It was very hard to listen to an 80 year old woman crying because she wanted to end her life. The Minister is aware of my background in the area of mental health and so on. It is bad enough having our home town known as the suicide capital of the world and having a suicide row in the graveyard. I need answers on that.

My second point is around the Midleton ambulance in east Cork. It has been rumoured that the HSE is going to pull that service. The service is extremely vital to us. When it was removed two years ago, we had two high-profile deaths involving young people. We do not want to see this service removed, regardless of what the cutbacks are. I would like answers on both of these points.

See this speech in context