Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

I welcome Minister of State's statement that no decision has been made to suppress posts. I understand Dr. Donal Martin's statement on Highland Radio yesterday was made on the basis that the HSE had decided not to fill the vacancy. The clock is ticking. The post has not been advertised and a replacement needs to be put in place if we are to work within the guidelines of the National Council for Palliative Care, to which the Minister of State referred.

The Minister of State's assurance will come as a relief but there are other serious questions. If the post is suppressed and the consultant is the only person who can take admissions, the service could be closed by default. As someone said yesterday, that will happen over our dead bodies in Donegal because so much effort and time has been put into ensuring the service is up and running and maintained. I welcome the Minister of State's statement which will come as some relief and I wish next week's talks well.