Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

This is somewhat parochial, but I ask the Minister of State to outline the impact, if any, of the €900,000 cutback that has been announced for Bantry General Hospital. I have spoken to the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, on the issue on a number of occasions and he is fully aware of the significance of Bantry hospital due to its geographic location. It is on the list of unique small hospitals to be preserved and promoted. I accept that there must be budgetary constraints across the board.

The previous Minister, through the HSE, outlined a method of reconfiguration for Bantry hospital under which consultants from Kerry General Hospital, Tralee, Mercy University Hospital, Cork, or Cork University Hospital would attend every day. As evidence of that, one consultant, who is a plastic surgeon, comes to Bantry once a month, which is great for the people of west Cork and south Kerry. More of this should be done. The reconfiguration plan is still in its infancy and should be rolled out more quickly. This development was planned four or five years ago.

When I spoke to the Minister privately a few months ago, he said there was an ongoing review of small hospitals such as Bantry, possibly including such other hospitals as Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Nenagh, Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Ennis, and Letterkenny General Hospital, after which he would be making certain decisions. The Minister of State may not know whether that review has been concluded.

I am encouraged by the fact that the Minister recently visited Bantry and that he has a grasp of the geographical difficulties we face in that area. When I hear people in Dublin arguing about whether the new children's hospital, which we need, should be at the Mater hospital or in Tallaght or Crumlin, I think of a woman from the Beara Peninsula who had two very sick children and used to leave at 3 a.m. to get the first train to Dublin. It would take her 24 hours to get here. People from west Cork, Kerry or the remote parts of Donegal hear the arguments about where the children's hospital should be located. If we had our choice it would probably be in Portlaoise or somewhere closer to home, but that is not going to happen.

There is a consultant surgeon post at Bantry hospital which is currently occupied on a temporary contract. The gentleman concerned recently performed a minor operation on my own son, who had a hernia removed. We chose to go to Bantry to support the hospital. More than €2.5 million has been spent on upgrading the surgical theatre there. The surgeon's contract should be put on a firmer footing. I have raised this concern before. We have only one consultant surgeon, although we have consultants in other specialties. If he were to go for any reason, the consultant anaesthetist would fall with him, as it were - they follow each other - which would have a knock-on effect on patients on the medical side of the hospital, where we have one of the best intensive care units in Ireland. That is a concern I have. The Minister of State's answer may not include this, but it is something she might convey to the Minister. There should be at least a three-year contract. GPs are telling me they do not know from month to month whether this person will go. I think he is an African. He is very good, but he is here on a temporary contract. That uncertainty creates concern in the community, and many of the GPs are saying he, or somebody else, should be put on a three-year or five-year contract - something more definite - in the short or medium term.