David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was in Navan today with my two colleagues. I met a number of different groups as I wanted to see and hear for myself at first hand what was happening in Navan. In the spirit of the offer the Minister made to work with Oireachtas Members from both the Government and Opposition in the constituency, as the main Opposition health spokesperson I want to work with him on this as well. If it is about saving lives and quality of care, then we can all work together to make sure we get the best outcome for the people of Navan. The difficulty the people of Navan have when they hear about the ICU and the emergency department closing is where they will go. If it is Drogheda, there are capacity problems there and if it is Connolly Hospital there are capacity problems there as well. The Minister might have seen nurses from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation protesting outside that hospital last week because of capacity issues in ICU. That is the fear and concern people have. I want to work with the Minister to resolve this issue for the benefit of the people in Navan.

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