Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In Limerick, beds were taken out of our small peripheral hospitals, but they were not put into Limerick. It was a cart-before-the-horse reconfiguration, and it is a salutary lesson for any other areas where there may be reconfiguration. If services are not put in place in the central hospital before they are removed from the peripheral hospital, we will have what happened in Limerick. It is important that the Minister treats this matter urgently. There needs to be a commitment on the fundamental restructuring and reform of our health service. The Minister has had a report on his desk for the past 11 months and he still has not delivered a response to it. It is a shocking indictment of the Department that it has failed to address the solutions in the Sláintecare report.

See this speech in context