Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Much has been said this morning about the health service. The health service is in a state of chaos. I have been speaking to management and front line staff in the HSE, particularly in my county, and they do not know if they can meet the demand from patients or whether they will be obliged to close down services between now and the end of the year. All of that is happening with the cuts being proposed by the Minister for Health. In addition, we have a situation which was described by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar, on Sunday night as stroke politics. I heard his comments on the selection process for the primary care centres. That was the lightning rod that culminated in the decision taken last night by the former Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Róisín Shortall. She basically said enough was enough. The Labour Party and Fine Gael made sure that Deputy Shortall's stay in the Department of Health was of short duration.