Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On Wednesday morning, the people of Carrick-On-Suir woke up to the devastating news that St. Brigid's District Hospital would be closed. St. Brigid's has been in the town of Carrick-On-Suir for 200 years. It is a hospital with 18 beds which provides respite and palliative care.

Earlier in the year, the hospital was repurposed to potentially be used for Covid-19 if it was needed. During the summer months, calls were made for its reopening because, luckily enough, it had not been used for Covid-19 at the time. The residents and the community of Carrick-on-Suir, however, wanted it to be brought back into its original use, which was respite and palliative care. A commitment was made in August by the Government and the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, that this would be the case. The perception in Carrick-on-Suir was that palliative care and respite care beds were going to be brought back. A number of parliamentary questions were asked with that perception in place.

The announcement last Wednesday was a huge shock for the area when it had been given reassurances the hospital was being opened. We had a meeting with the HSE last night and found out that a review had started in July on the closure of St. Brigid's. It is therefore understandable that people in Carrick-on-Suir feel they have been misled. I call on the Deputy Leader to invite the Minister to come in and explain why the decision was made and, most importantly, where the palliative care and respite care beds will be for the people and the region of Carrick-on-Suir going forward.