Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My officials do their job to the best of their ability in accordance with all good practice in the public service. It is the same position as that held by officials in Northern Ireland. If Deputy Cullinane asks the leader of Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland, who was a good colleague and counterpart of mine as Minister of Health, he will discover that the same procedure applies in respect of primary PCI in Northern Ireland. I would not like it to be interpreted as a view in the Department or the HSE. This is a long-established view on the island of Ireland regarding access to primary PCI.

Leaving that aside, I am committed to doing the four things. The additional investment has been provided. The point made by Deputy Mary Butler is valid. Management now needs to get on with expending that investment and putting those additional hours in place. The mobile catheterisation laboratory is on the way. When both of those things are in place, it makes sense to have a further review to see what the additional impact of the extra hours is in terms of the number of people using the catheterisation laboratory. I think this is logical. At that point, I will engage with Members of the Oireachtas in the south east. I genuinely welcome that engagement.

The fourth thing I am doing is talking about a national review because there are parts of this country where we need to make sure the spread of our primary PCI structure is at an optimum level for all our citizens. I have instructed my Department to commence that national review and will keep in touch with Members of the Oireachtas.

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