Ray Butler (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Mr. Trump and I wish Hillary Clinton all the best in the future. She was a good friend to this country. The media and the polls got it wrong. People laughed on national radio about Mr. Trump and his carry-on but there is a lot of egg on a lot of people's faces. I would like us to open up Spike Island for all the celebrities who supported the Clintons and said they would leave America. We might have a bit of room for them down there because many of them were going to leave if Mr. Trump became President. He got the message right in the final two weeks about working class families and the way in middle America factories, coal mines and the steel industry were closed down. He hit the right chord and it won him many votes.

Two weeks ago, my local newspaper reported on the closure of accident and emergency departments, including the one in Navan hospital. The following week, politicians were saying it was not closing but it might close. Will the Minister for Health come to the House to let us know what is going on in accident and emergency departments that are threatened with closure or only opening for 12 hours? I would like him to come to the House to give us the full picture in order that we can debate the issue and not have politicians going to local newspapers scaremongering and getting people out to march around towns when there is no need to.