Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for that reply. I acknowledge the investment and the increase in the budget. I lobbied the Minister and previous Ministers in regard to the respiratory assessment unit, the laboratory and other facilities. That is all positive and more than welcome in the area. I have no problem doing that and I always will.

The Dr. Susan O’Reilly plan is there and has been put on the shelf and no other plan has been presented. That is fair enough but a plan for the future is what we want to nail this down once and for all. There has been a significant population increase, according to the census, not just in Laois but also in surrounding counties, which affects the Laois accident and emergency service. There are two motorways and significant national primary routes and two massive prisons across the road. There is huge demand for the services and it is the second-busiest accident and emergency unit outside of Dublin.

In the context of Navan, we want to find out who is in charge. There are three Ministers present tonight for this discussion, which I welcome. What is the situation if the HSE says it wants to downgrade?

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