Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise again the unbelievable closure of St. Brigid's District Hospital in Carrick-on-Suir by the Taoiseach, his Minister, and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and to raise the refusal by the Taoiseach's and his Ministers to meet with Councillor Kieran Bourke, with the activist groups and with nurses and nursing staff there to explain why this was done in the middle of a pandemic. St. Brigid's is a wonderful institution that clearly was good for step-down beds during Covid, the use of which the Government took over in March, and for cancer care and palliative care. The Taoiseach will not even meet with the people or the representatives, and then he gives Mr. Watt and increase of €81,000. It is shocking what goes on in the HSE with procurement and yet the Taoiseach does not have the manners or respect to meet with Councillor Bourke or his colleagues in Tipperary County Council, with the action group, or with the doctors and nurses involved in the hospital. They will not accept this and it is not going to go away. I want to know when the Taoiseach will meet them.

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