Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am obviously not familiar with the case but it does not sound right. We are in the middle of a very fundamental shift in healthcare provision in respect of exactly the situation that woman found herself in. We are moving from a five-day week service to a seven-day week hospital service. Of course, hospitals are open at the weekends but, exactly to the Deputy's point, all the services are not always available at weekends. The new consultant contract is part of that, as is the hiring of 25,000 more staff. It takes time. It is a huge shift from five days to seven days but it is essential for all the reasons that lady the Deputy described seems to have experienced. Certainly, the Deputy should rest assured we will continue investing in Cavan hospital, continue growing services and the workforce, and seek to move to, and achieve, seven days a week so that patients can get the services they need. As she said, people need that kind of care seven days a week and not just five.

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