John Whelan (Labour)

I ask the Leader to arrange for the Minister for Health to explain to the House his plans to resolve the chronic shortage of junior doctors which is affecting hospital services throughout the country. Although I defer to the superior knowledge of Senator Crown in this area, I understand the situation is reaching a crisis and will come to a head on 11 July when the new roster for junior doctors comes into effect. The shortage is putting a serious strain on acute hospital and surgical services and is a cause of concern for senior hospital consultants, front-line nursing staff and, of course, the public. I understand HSE managers are drawing up what they refer to as contingency plans to cope with the shortage of junior doctors, although this may, unfortunately, be a euphemism for cutting and scaling back services. I regard the Minister as having hit the ground running and he is not afraid to address the problems he inherited in the health service. While I am sure he will not be found wanting on this issue, the shortage of junior doctors is leading to unnecessary rivalry and tension among regional hospitals which must compete for doctors who are in short supply. Apparently it is more attractive to take up junior training posts in the UK and elsewhere.

Across the midlands, Portlaoise, Mullingar and Tullamore hospitals are under duress. Even though Portlaoise hospital dealt with 41,000 emergency presentations, making it the country's 11th busiest acute hospital, it is now facing the spectre of reductions in surgical and acute services. It is a matter of life and death to dice with hospitals that provide such a level of surgery and other activities. Portlaoise is the lead maternity, obstetric and paediatric hospital for a region which includes north Tipperary, Laois, Offaly and Kildare. It is positioned on the main road between Dublin, Cork and Limerick and is the only viable accident and emergency unit between these cities. It is also located across the road from two of the country's largest prisons, Midlands Prison and Portlaoise Prison. So far this year, Portlaoise hospital has treated 11,000 emergency presentations. It is incumbent on the Minister to ensure accident and emergency services in Portlaoise and other regional hospitals are not reduced or restricted owing to the shortage of junior doctors. A sticking plaster will not solve this problem and I am sure the Minister will intervene with a solution.