Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the health services, which were raised by Deputy Brendan Smith, I visited Altnagelvin recently. The work that has gone on between North and South has been very effective, in particular the huge funding that went into the capital provision for the comprehensive cancer care centre there. With regard to Deputy Smith's point, when I was in Altnagelvin I met an individual who had travelled from Donegal having suffered a heart attack. He had stents provided very quickly in Altnagelvin and was out the following day. In our configuration, we are saying that people in the north-west should head to Galway as the major tertiary hospital. In the fullness of time, as Deputy Smith said, in the various hospitals along the Border we should look at it regionally in a cross-Border, practical way.

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