Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I would like to clarify something the Minister of State said. There are excellent staff at Wexford General Hospital and it is a centre of excellence. I would ask the Government to stop using this term, "centres of excellence", as if hospitals were not centres of excellence apart from those specified as such. The services provided by Wexford General Hospital are of the highest standard. We accept that some procedures such as breast cancer and some gastrointestinal surgery are carried out at Waterford General Hospital because that is for the safety and benefit of patients. However, the services provided by Wexford General Hospital are excellent, as are the accident and emergency services. They are an integral part of the health service in Wexford at present.

The Minister of State is not talking about spending €7.5 million but rather €400,000 in 2009. I do not know who sits on the acute hospital transformation programme but if it reflects what has happened in the north east or at Ennis and Nenagh hospitals, although I know these are not comparable to Wexford General Hospital or St. Luke's in the south east, I would worry because such initiatives always mean a reduction in services and not necessarily the efficient use of resources. We can accept the transfer of certain services to a regional hospital, and I would prefer if the Government would use the term "regional hospital" rather than a centre of excellence, but we cannot accept the reduction in front-line services that affects patients in Wexford.