Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate her honesty. It is a sign when a Minister of State deviates from his or her script. It shows a bit of respect to the people who raised this issue. It is a very dignified thing to do; she is talking from her own personal interactions with officials and she has obviously thought about this issue. There are ways forward. I thank the Minister of State for agreeing to look at these recommendations seriously and discuss them with her officials. I join the Minister of State in acknowledging Edel Quinn and her team, who were there yesterday in force. They meant business by their presence. Out of respect to all the parents at that meeting, it is really important. I acknowledge my Oireachtas colleagues who attended that meeting. We were there to listen but there was a very strong message from the parents. They want action because their children live in the here and now.

In the concluding 60 seconds, I know my two Oireachtas colleagues will raise the issue of Letterkenny University Hospital. I do not have time to discuss it now in the short time left but I want to pass on my message through the Minister of State to the Minister of Health to look very seriously at the winter plan for Letterkenny University Hospital to get the patient flow right. There are senior posts needed there, from registrars, phlebotomists, occupational therapists, radiographers, sonographers and nurses to porters. There is a comprehensive winter plan put together by the manager of that hospital. It will not sort all the problems but it will address the fact there are very elderly, frail and sick people spending too many hours on chairs in waiting rooms. I ask the Minister of State to pass that onto the Minister.

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