Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This relates to the removal of the new X-ray room from plans for an extension to the accident and emergency department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. When I raised the matter previously with the Taoiseach on the Order of Business he said he would refer it to the Minister for Health. I have since sent correspondence to the Minister but I have not had a response from either the Taoiseach or the Minister. It is very disappointing that the Minister is not here today. This is my third attempt to raise the matter and it is no wonder our public health service is the way it is when the Minister is not here to respond to a very serious issue.

A few weeks ago the HSE took a decision to remove the X-ray room from plans for an extension to the accident and emergency department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. These plans have been in place for ten years and were costed and included in the tender. The staff had been patiently waiting for almost a decade. The medical personnel, including clinicians, nurses and radiographers - all those who work on the front line - have been crying out for years for a second X-ray room. This was accepted and that is why it was included in the plans. There is only one X-ray room in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and it is operating at or beyond full capacity. The equipment is ten years old and obsolete.

The Minister of State is aware that X-ray is a major diagnostic tool in emergency departments in all hospitals. The only people who will suffer here are patients. Given that the objective of building an extension to an existing accident and emergency department is to cater for higher turnover, how will the department cope without a second X-ray room? I said to the Taoiseach that this is like building a house without a roof. It is sheer madness. I presume the Minister had no act or part in this decision, or at least I hope that is the case. I will take it he did not know about this and it is just another example of HSE senior management lunacy.

Does the Minister intend standing over this unbelievably myopic mindset and the sheer incompetence at HSE senior management level? Is he happy to ignore professional staff on the front line when they have cried out for years for another X-ray room? The facility was included in the plans. Something that has been planned for almost a decade should not be pulled at the 11th hour, as was done three weeks ago.

I will refer to some of the radiology facilities across the State. University Hospital Limerick has two X-ray rooms, as has Cork University Hospital. There are also two at Beaumont Hospital and three at St. Vincent's Hospital. The hospital in Galway has two X-ray rooms, while Tallaght Hospital has two X-ray rooms and a paediatric X-ray facility. The Mater Hospital has two X-ray rooms and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, the second biggest trauma centre in the State according to the chief executive officer of the Ireland East Hospital Group, has one. There is no justification for the removal of this room from the planned extension. I want this decision reversed.

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