Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ten years ago, Deputies Naughten and Feighan were in the same place having the same conversation about Roscommon hospital. Two weeks ago the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Deputy Connolly, had a Topical Issue debate with the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, about the failures at the accident and emergency department in Galway. That is what the people in Navan and County Meath are faced with now. I worked in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. I have council colleagues who work in Connolly Hospital. They were on the picket line last week because they do not have sufficient staffing there. They are in a dangerous, precarious position. The suggestion is that it would be safer to close the capacity we have in Navan and move it to those already overstretched facilities. We have seen this in Roscommon, Dundalk, Mallow and Ennis. It is not going to be repeated in Navan.

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