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

It is extraordinary there is no commitment in the response from the Minister as to when he will come to Letterkenny University Hospital to meet with the GPs and consultants. There is no acknowledgement that the hospital has been chronically underfunded in that it is a model 3 hospital but had more inpatients in 2022 than five model 4 hospitals. It should be a model 4 hospital. We have talked about the surgical hub that is needed for Letterkenny and Sligo. Given that such hubs have been announced for regions below the infamous line running from Galway across to Dublin, which everybody is aware of, we are being treated as second-class citizens. The Minister's statement does not reflect reality or any sense of urgency.

I appeal to the Minister of State to convey to her colleague that he should have been here tonight in person, that he has shown disrespect to the people of Donegal and that he needs to get up to Donegal urgently.

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