Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will relay the Deputy's concerns to the Minister, Deputy Harris. To address the issue of the Minister not being present, it is a very fine balance. I appreciate the Deputy's frustration and I am not saying this to be argumentative but to illustrate the challenges the Minister faces daily in getting the balance right between trying to deal with the issues and engaging with the parliamentary process. The House places many demands on the Minister's time, as do the Seanad and the committees, as well as the pleas for hearings from numerous lobby, interest and advocacy groups and representative bodies. The Minister, like every Minister, has to make a judgment call between the amount of time to spend actively engaging one-on-one with complaints and issues and actually dealing with the problems behind the scenes, such as by meeting with UL hospital group, the management and getting one's head around the issues that exist. That is a continuing balance. I can assure Deputy Quinlivan it is not a snub to him. Diary challenges are always difficult, and they are probably more challenging for the Minister for Health than for other Ministers.

With regard to the emergency department in UHL, I wish to reassure the people who are using the facility that there is a full catering service available at the hospital. I believe the Deputy emailed the management about it and he probably should engage more proactively with the management.

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