Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Some 10,000 people marched in the streets of Navan to tell the Government not to close the accident and emergency department in Navan hospital. It is the most important piece of infrastructure in the county and closure of that department and the ICU during the Covid crisis, while there are 1 million people on hospital waiting lists and 11-hour waiting times in other accident and emergency departments in surrounding hospitals, would be an enormously dangerous act.

I have spoken to senior clinicians in the region and they agree it would be an enormously dangerous act. I understand the RCSI Hospital Group, which manages some of the surrounding hospitals, has been excluded from the decision making on our accident and emergency department. We have requested a meeting with the Minister for Health, Mr. Paul Reid and the Ireland East Hospital Group. None of them has come back to us to say they will meet and engage and we are now forced to picket the offices of the Ireland East Hospital Group next Tuesday in support of the hospital. Will the Taoiseach direct the HSE, the Minister and the Ireland East Hospital Group to meet us and stop the process of closing down the most important health facility we have in our county?

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