David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The problem is that I have been told that on at least three occasions. I know the report was with the previous Minister for Health for most of last year. Deputy Carroll MacNeill is a new Minister coming in but there is continuity in that this report has been sitting on the Department's desk. It is not going to be the new national cardiovascular strategy because that strategy has to look at prevention, diagnosis and rehabilitation care, whereas this report was specifically set up to look at acute services and, as the Minister said, the regional cardiac networks. As the Minister knows, part of that is relevant to my constituency in the south east. We still do not have 24-7 emergency cardiac services. If people are unfortunate enough to have a heart attack at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. on any day of the week or at the weekend in Waterford, their only option is to be sent by ambulance to Cork or Dublin. Obviously, and rightly so, there is a campaign for a full 24-7 cardiac service.

This needs to be published as quickly as possible. The Minister has not answered the question as to why it has taken so long. The review was commissioned in 2019 and it is now 2025. It has been sitting on the Minister’s desk and we are now told again that it will be a number of weeks.

See this speech in context