Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I found out from the reply to a parliamentary question tabled to the Minister for Health that €3.84 billion extra has been spent throughout Covid. The people of Carrick-on-Suir, east Waterford and south Kilkenny are bewildered as to why St. Brigid's Hospital was closed in the middle of a pandemic when all this money was being thrown around like confetti. I am asking the Taoiseach to meet the action committee, which he has not done, and to meet Councillor Kieran Bourke and other councillors in Tipperary. The Taoiseach is coming to Ardfinnan this week to see a troubled bridge over tranquil waters. Will he please make time to visit Carrick-on-Suir or to accept the invitation to meet the hard-working committee? Supporters of the committee will be coming to Leinster House next week in their bus loads with a petition signed by thousands of people who want to be treated in that hospital. They have faith in it, its staff and management and, indeed, the nursing care provided there. The Taoiseach has refused to meet them, as has the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. Will he please agree to meet that group during his visit to Tipperary?

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