Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach. I thank the Cathaoirleach for choosing this matter. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Tá an Ospidéal Cheantar an Chlocháin dúnta le seachtain anuas gan aon fhógra ón HSE. Thug an tAire Stáit cuairt ar an ospidéal sin an samhradh seo caite agus chas sí le cairde an ospidéil agus le hionadaithe poiblí. Tuigeann sí chomh tábhachtach is atá na seirbhísí cúraim faoisimh. Tá éileamh ar na seirbhísí agus tá Ospidéal Réigiúnach Pháirc Mherlin faoi bhrú agus tá leapacha ar fáil sa Chlochán.

The Minister of State is welcome. I thank her for coming in to talk about the matter of Clifden District Hospital, or Our Lady of Fatima Hospital. She visited Clifden last August and met the Friends of Fatima and public representatives. The Minister of State has engaged on this matter and given commitments. I ask her, very upfront and straight, whether and when Clifden District Hospital will reopen. It cannot be a question of whether it will, as it has to reopen. It is absolutely vital for the area. We held a public meeting in Clifden in September 2022. It was packed. There was a huge crowd and great interest and as I said, the Minister of State visited last August. My colleague, Councillor Eileen Mannion, who has put a huge amount of work into protecting hospital services in Clifden, and I are holding a community meeting next Monday in Clifden Town Hall.

What engagement has the Minister of State had on this matter? I have engaged with Des Mulligan, the head of older persons' services in Community Healthcare West and obviously Damien McCallion will have a role as well as chief operations officer at the HSE. It has been suggested there is a staffing issue, that there has been a staffing embargo. Can the Minister of State confirm whether there is an embargo? These are funded posts that are already there. They are already committed to and are long-standing posts. There might be people out sick and people being promoted, but the posts are there. They need to filled and we need certainty on this in the next number of days.