Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Senator Feighan has mentioned a good and innovative idea. However, the time that people leave pubs in County Westmeath must differ from the time that people in County Roscommon do so.

Like Senator Reilly, I ask the Deputy Leader to invite the Minister for Health to the House. However, my issue slightly differs from the noble issue raised by Senator Reilly. The Taoiseach referred to this yesterday. My general concern is about capital projects being kicked into touch and how the HSE has messed up on the back of the children's hospital debacle. I wish to refer, in particular, to the hospital staff and the community of Mullingar who have raised just short of €1 million in their community to fund a new MRI machine in Mullingar. As part of that initiative, the HSE had given a guarantee and pledged that it would build a sufficient building to house the new MRI scanner in the existing Midlands Regional Hospital in Mullingar. Unfortunately, we have been told that the project has been kicked into touch and the finances will not be available until 2022 at the earliest.

I am concerned, particularly when a community has gone to such trouble to raise €1 million for a piece of hardware, that the smaller end of this deal will not happen due to mismanagement of which we are all aware. Now would be an opportune time to bring the Minister to the House and let him discuss the projects that will or will not be in trouble.

I second the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by Senator Mark Daly.