Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not have the timeframe for the review but I will ask the Minister's office to tell the Senator. I support what the Senator is saying. Having sat in the accident and emergency department for 13 hours two weeks ago with my daughter I understand the difficulties, particularly for people who have minor injuries. The overcrowding does lead to people having to be there for a long time. Minor injury clinics deliver a positive outcome to people living local to them who do not have to travel further to major hospitals. We want to make sure that people who are seriously ill go to the accident and emergency department and that those who are not are filtered into the minor unit. I will relay the Senator's concerns to the Minister about the opening hours and the timeframe for the review.