Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not mean to be disrespectful but I must be frank with the Minister of State. I asked for detail of the three-month review that should have taken place by now and the Minister of State has given me no detail. I asked her to comment on any steps in relation to the visa restrictions issue for locums and she has not given me an answer in regard to that. I asked what steps the Department is taking to attract GPs to rural Ireland and the Minister of State has given me no answer on that. I asked what did the HSE mean by "significant or adverse consequences to these changes" and the Minister of State has ignored that as well.

I will put this in context for the people of County Clare. We hear a lot of guff from the Government in regard to protecting and enhancing rural areas. In reality, the Government is shutting down bus services. It is shutting down health care services. It is shutting down post offices. The Government is killing rural areas. The people of County Clare want to know why are they being treated as second-class citizens when it comes to their health service.