Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The response the Minister of State provided does not mention the words "accident and emergency" at all. I cannot find those words in the entire script that was written for her by the Department.

The hospital in Navan is the most important piece of infrastructure we have in County Meath. Nothing surpasses it. There are thousands of people walking around the county today who would not be alive only for the hospital's existence. Roscommon was mentioned. A Fine Gael Minister of State said that Roscommon University Hospital's accident and emergency department would remain open and then went into government and voted to close it. We know that the Government already tried to close the hospital accident and emergency in Navan in March 2020. That is in the plans. I am just astonished that in the whole of the Minister of State's response the accident and emergency department is not mentioned whatsoever.

What we need is a commitment to the accident and emergency department, that is, that the Department changes and amends the language in the small hospitals framework document and takes the threat away. As long as that threat is there, the people in the HSE will be tasked to close the accident and emergency department overnight. That is their job. If they are to fulfil the policy direction of the Government, they are tasked to close the accident and emergency department. Will the Department commit to taking that threat out of the small hospitals framework document?

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