Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In fact, I wrote back to the GPs immediately and on the basis of their concerns and the urgency they raised, I said that on a Dáil sitting day I could meet them here or we would do a video conference call. They declined that offer. The offer stands. My understanding is that the issues raised are serious. What we have done is we have immediately sent an expert team into Letterkenny hospital because we need to have an evidence-based conversation. The Deputy will be aware and the people of Donegal will be aware that there has been a very substantial increase in healthcare funding for the hospital and for Donegal community-based services. The GPs are absolutely correct in raising the issue of the increased trolley numbers; we are determined to get to the bottom of it. It is why I have sent in the expert group so that when I meet the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, Deputy Doherty and the GPs in Donegal we can have a conversation informed by what the expert group tells us.

See this speech in context