David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

Given that we are on the theme of hurling and the GAA, I may as well wish the Waterford hurlers the very best of luck against Tipperary on Sunday in what is a must-win game for both teams.

I wish to raise a very serious issue. University Hospital Waterford is a level 4 hospital. It is the regional hospital for the south east and it does not have a positron emission tomography, PET, scanner. PET scans are very important in diagnosing brain disorders, tumours and heart disease. There is a PET scanner in UPMC Whitfield, a private hospital in Waterford. Unfortunately, it has broken down several times in recent months. Public patients in University Hospital Waterford were being outsourced to UPMC. I have been told that machine is coming to the end of its life. I was in contact with the manager of the hospital in Waterford this morning and he tells me that it needs a PET scanner. Very sick patients are being obliged to travel to Cork and Dublin for scans at present. Will the Minister for Health and the Government support this major hospital, the only model 4 hospital in the south east, and ensure that a PET scanner is put in place there to ensure that patients from Waterford and the south east who are sick do not have to travel to Cork or Dublin?

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