Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I would like to receive that information. I had a recent response from the HSE on the expansion of the injury unit. It seems it is not possible to expand it any further than has been done up to now. There were 121 people on trolleys this morning in UHL during morning rounds. This is 50 patients more than the next most overcrowded hospital in the State. There is consensus that the reconfiguration failed and yet, as far as I can see, no significant action has been taken on Ennis emergency department.

The Minister has mentioned the investment in Ennis up to this point. The decision at the time to close Ennis was a political one, based on the Hanly report. The report actually recommended updating the facilities, but instead Mary Harney closed it. It is a matter of urgency that the Ennis emergency department be reinstated. I acknowledge what the Minister has said about clinical advice but what about the golden hour, which we know from trauma studies is essential to limit morbidity and mortality? We cannot have people coming from Carrigaholt. They are not going to make is within that hour to UHL

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