Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I will shortly introduce a maternity care Bill, which will deal with the crisis in the maternity sector. First, I will raise the issue in Navan hospital. Its emergency department is set to be closed by this Government and the HSE. Over the past 20 months, the frontline of Covid has been emergency service beds and ICUs. The Minister has even mentioned the reason we cannot have normal rules in maternity hospitals is the continued threat from Covid. The Minister for Health talked yesterday about extending the most draconian restrictions in Europe, because of the threat of Covid. Yet, this Government seeks to close ICU and accident and emergency beds in Navan now. One could not make it up. On one hand the Minister is saying there is a crisis, which has led to the deaths of 5,200 and, on the other, the Government is now looking to close the frontline of those services. There will be 10,000 marching on the streets of Meath this month.

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