Mary Henry (Independent)

The elimination, let us say, of St. Colmcille's. That is a very difficult situation because St. Vincent's has a very small casualty department, although it is the only one I have been in for years where the waiting time was not excessively long, unlike the Mater, Beaumont, and so on. That will be more difficult to address.

Huge investment must be made in the pre-hospital emergency services so that those working in the ambulances are properly trained. We will have to make changes in legislation to allow those workers to give out drugs and so forth. Look at how well the situation in Donegal turned out, where general practitioners started giving thrombolytic drugs to patients having coronaries in rural areas. There was a great improvement in treatment with that development. We need initiatives all round as this will be a huge challenge to us and we will just have to get on with it.

I have great sympathy for those around the country who saw money spent in their hospitals but who now feel those units will not be used. For example, a unit in Mullingar hospital has not been equipped but it is there for six to eight years. The last Leader of the Seanad and I had terrible sessions about this, as I was receiving complaints from the area about the unit and he was saying what a splendid place it was. I gather there is no change in the situation there.