Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

It is seldom the Department of Health and Children receives an offer of $4 million. The latter is a rare occurrence. In light of the current crisis in health, will the Leader intervene with the Minister for Health and Children and Comhairle na nOspidéal and seek a response in respect of this matter? Professor Patrick Kelly has, for three years, been waiting for a response from the Minister for Health and Children in respect of his magnanimous gesture to pay $4 million towards the cost of providing equipment and the installation of a neurosurgical unit in Galway. This offer cannot, in the current climate, be rejected. I ask the Leader to plead with the Minister to issue a quick response. We have only two such units – one at Beaumont Hospital and the other in Cork. Good practice necessitates that two hours is the maximum overland journey for which this service is appropriate. All areas in the Western Health Board lie within two hours travel of Galway city.