Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Let us be very clear. The Department funds the HSE. We give the HSE the money and it is up to it to operationalise it. How the HSE decides to do this is out of my control as much as it is out of the control of the Senator. In any case, the HSE get the funds to operationalise it wherever it deems it necessary. The HSE obviously does not deem south-east Galway a priority within its allocation of funding. To get €4 million and not see Ballinasloe as a priority to me is wilful neglect. That is what it is. I call on the HSE to go back to the drawing board and reallocate its funding to see equality for our GPs right across the county, not in particular areas where operational cells are easy to work. Operational cells that are difficult, like those in Ballinasloe, need to be addressed head on. The HSE needs to reprioritise its €4 million because it is not good enough that the likes of a GP in Portumna gets a half day off every weekend. That is not sustainable, it is not good work-life balance and it is not good for their mental health. I will work with the Senator on this.