Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter and I join in the congratulations for the new Minister of State, Deputy Feighan. I would say that at one stage he felt he was down, but he was not out and he made a great comeback, and I congratulate him on his appointment.

I am disappointed that the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, is not here. This is an important issue with regard to the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise. Page 47 of the programme for Government states additional capacity is required throughout the health system to deal with the growing population and, of course, Covid-19. Nowhere is this more true than the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise because it is dealing with the expanding population of County Laois, the fastest growing county in population terms outside of the Dublin region, and that of some of the surrounding areas, such as south Kildare and east Offaly.

Going back three years, there was a plan to remove the emergency department and other key services from the hospital, but a campaign was mounted which stopped it in its tracks. The then Minister, Deputy Harris, promised me and the two other Deputies from the county a quick public consultation, but three years later that public consultation has not happened. I said at the time that I thought it may be a stalling mechanism to get the then Government over a general election period and, unfortunately, my fears were confirmed.

When the Taoiseach was in opposition he met the Portlaoise hospital action committee and promised to deal with this issue and the lack of certainty about the hospital. Fianna Fáil made great play of it and great noise about it at the time. We still do not have it. Successive Governments have kicked the can down the road on Portlaoise hospital. This has gone on for decades and it cannot go on any longer. The one thing the staff, management, patients and the communities of Laois and the surrounding counties need is certainty. We need a clear plan for the future of the hospital. We have not had this and it cannot continue the way it has been going.

We need the Government to commit to putting in place a plan for the future of the hospital. This must include retention of the emergency department. Prior to Covid-19, on average 40,000 people used the emergency department in Portlaoise hospital. I must commend staff, management and everyone throughout the hospital for the way they have dealt with the Covid crisis. They have managed to keep it virtually free of Covid and it has been a huge effort. Recently, a relation of mine spent weeks there and could not heap enough praise on the staff. It is an elderly relative who, unfortunately, is in bad health at present. The hospital has a great track record.

If the Government does nothing else with regard to Laois and Portlaoise, will the Minister of State, along with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, commit to putting a plan in place that gives certainty regarding the emergency department and the other key services in the hospital?

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