John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I fully support this motion because I come from a county that has seen first-hand the negative impact of cuts on local services. The Minister knows this because in 2013, he supported the closure of our local accident and emergency department in St. Colmcille's Hospital in Loughlinstown. At that time, while in opposition, the Minister fully supported the downgrading and closure of that emergency department. He said that the reconfiguration would save lives in Wicklow and improve the quality of emergency care for the people of Wicklow. Over 21,000 people who used the accident and emergency department in Loughlinstown were thrown into an already overwhelmed St. Vincent's University Hospital, which simply could not and cannot deal with that increased demand.

As we stand here, there are 42 people lying on hospital trolleys in St. Vincent's. Last week, an aunt of mine was one of those people. She is a cancer patient. She has ovarian cancer, liver cancer and lung cancer. She collapsed on the street of Wicklow last week. She was rushed into St. Vincent's, bypassing a hospital that the Minister supported the closure of, and was left lying on a trolley in St. Vincent's for four days and three nights. She went through suffering, pain and indignity. That is my aunt but I am conscious there are many other people in similar situations. They are not looking for preferential treatment. I am not raising my aunt's case looking for preferential treatment. They are looking for dignity and respect. They are looking for a bed.

What the Minister is trying to do, supported by his Government colleagues and the HSE, is replicate the disaster visited on the people of Wicklow for the people of Meath. I will not stand idly by, like the Minister did in 2013, when he supported the closure of our local accident and emergency department. He is culpable for the failure of the local medical services in Wicklow and for the suffering people like my auntie and thousands of others have had to endure because of his failures. We cannot stand idly by and allow the Minister's failures be visited on the people of Meath. He must stand up to support the local services. He must support this motion. He failed Wicklow. He cannot be allowed fail other counties.

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