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

I thank Senator Crowe for giving me the opportunity to articulate to the people of Galway that this is a priority for the Government. The Government brought the theatres to the point of being commissioned. They have been approved by HIQA and so on at this stage. This is not news. We knew that two theatres would come on board. I wonder why our recruitment process did not start sooner and why we did not have the staff in place. We all knew we would need an anaesthetist. Having said that, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, has provided the required funding to staff the two theatres. It is incumbent now on the HSE and the Saolta group to prioritise the recruitment of the staff. Whether in Ireland or abroad, they must prioritise it because we can no longer continue to explain to the people of Galway and the surrounding areas that we have two theatres but they cannot be looked after in the west.