Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Doherty and I were here last Tuesday, and no notification was given that the Minister for Health would not be present. We asked that the matter be deferred. That is a whole week. We fully expected the Minister to be present. He is aware of the crisis at Letterkenny University Hospital. He knows that 78 GPs have cosigned a letter. He knows that 11 consultants have cosigned a letter. He knows they have asked him to urgently come to County Donegal to meet them. These are front-line health professionals. He has not indicated he is coming to Donegal. He said today that he would come to Donegal in due course. He cannot even come into the Chamber. The utmost disrespect is being shown to the people of Donegal. Here we are, for the second Tuesday in a row and we do not have the Minister. We have no indication whether he will be in Letterkenny any time soon. We will bring our Sinn Féin health spokesperson, Deputy Cullinane, to Letterkenny University Hospital this coming Thursday. He will show the necessary respect. He will meet with the GPs and consultants and listen to their concerns. They are calling for an urgent independent external review, not just of the emergency department operation, but of the entire operation of the hospital, including the chronic underfunding of the hospital and the discrimination against the hospital. Letterkenny University Hospital is the sixth largest in the State. It had 26,000 inpatients last year. This is a major hospital that is chronically underfunded. Whenever there are consultants who have ambition and drive to develop new specialities, they are undermined, held back and curtailed. We salute the stand they have taken. We demand respect from the Minister as soon as possible.

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