Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The problem with the Minister of State's reply is that HSE management has jumped the Minister on this issue. It met at 2 p.m. yesterday to sign off on the final draft. The cover letter, of which I have a copy, uses the term "final draft" to describe this plan. The Minister of State read out a response from civil servants and the HSE but I am not interested in it. The medical staff in the hospital and general practitioners providing a service in County Laois, south County Kildare and County Offaly are the experts on this issue and they have stated this plan will not work. The Minister must intervene at this point and stop the HSE from proceeding with it. The plan is the same as the document on the Minister's desk and it must be stopped.

The Minister of State stated that "services currently provided that are not sustainable" will be "discontinued". They cannot be discontinued because there is nowhere to send 40,000 people. What about the golden hour? It took me three hours and five minutes to travel from home to Dublin. Lives will be lost as a result of this plan.

Some years ago, a problem occurred in the maternity unit at Portlaoise hospital. Staff at the hospital worked with management locally to resolve the problem. They also networked with the Coombe Hospital and the Portlaoise hospital now provides fantastic maternity services. Doctors have proposed a plan similar to the process adopted in the case of the maternity unit. The approach taken some years ago must be replicated for emergency services at the hospital. This will require staff and resources to be provided. Once they are provided, the service will improve. The current service is good but it does not have sufficient capacity.

The Government and HSE will not get away with this plan, not because I say so but because people in the catchment area of Portlaoise hospital will not allow them to do so. We will not be another Roscommon. The Minister must take responsibility, shred the plan and work with local management to ensure the hospital has the staff it needs. The most important issue, however, is to have a plan for Portlaoise hospital because staff, ranging from the people sweeping floors to top managers at the hospital, are crying out for one. We need a plan and certainty.

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