Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

These people were prepared to travel 115 km each way. Yet, we did not have a service in the whole of the west of Ireland. We did not have it in Letterkenny, Sligo, Castlebar, Roscommon or Galway, which was to be the centre of excellence. It is a damning indictment of our country - and I come from the agricultural sector - that if that night I had an animal that lost part of its foot or was sick in any way, I would have had a vet at my house in 15 minutes. Yet, when it comes to a human being, we are not able to stitch on a part of a finger. That says it all about the state of our country at the moment.

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