Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding the proposal to provide a medical assessment unit at Monaghan General Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13110/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I requested the Regional Director of Operations, Dublin North East, to establish a Group to undertake an independent assessment to establish if a Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) would be required and viable in Monaghan Hospital. The Group, which included two members of the public (Service User Panel Representatives) was established and independently chaired by a Specialist in Public Health Medicine and work commenced in October, 2011. The Group also included a Consultant General Physician in Medicine and a Monaghan General Practitioner. The Group committed to establish if there was a clinical need for a Medical Assessment Unit in Monaghan Hospital as well as to establish the projected cost of running this Unit. The Report was submitted to the Minister and was referred to the Acute Medicine Programme for review. The report concluded that there was no clinical need for a medical assessment unit in Monaghan Hospital and that patient safety must remain our priority at all times when deciding where services are provided. The extension of current non-urgent medical assessment services at Monaghan General Hospital has been considered, but the additional resourcing required is not feasible within the current budgetary allocation.