Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy Leader will be aware that the Westdoc service covers her area as it covers counties Galway, Roscommon and Mayo. We have raised this issue, along with our public representatives here, and I know that Senator Murphy had a meeting with the Minister for Health last week. The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Rabbitte, is fighting for this and is very engaged. We have 15,000 families who live in south-east Galway and south County Roscommon that are not currently covered by the Westdoc service. However, Westdoc receives €4 million in funding and the Government states that this funds counties Galway, Roscommon and Mayo. I know that Westdoc does not cover the whole of County Galway. What will the HSE do about the situation? My colleagues and I call for urgent action to be taken. We are urgently looking at the €10 million that has been allocated for GP out-of-hours services in the winter service plan.Second, following on from Senator Murphy's point on Lough Funshinagh, it was positive that we had a group and a committee that came to visit us in July of this year with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, along with officials from the Office of Public Works and public representatives. I am aware that the Minister of State is engaging with the Office of Public Works and with the local group in Lough Funshinagh about updates here.

Finally, on forestry, I attended that meeting this morning. It is urgent that we ask the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, under the ambit of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, for an update around the timelines. There is huge concern. I am aware there has been an increase in the number of licences that have been granted and awarded. The Department has really focused on that in the past two years but we need to understand what are the hold-ups in this regard and why it is having such an impact, as we have heard from industry representatives this morning.