Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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2644. To ask the Minister for Health if an impact assessment has been carried out in relation to the removal of emergency general surgery from the South West Acute Hospital which has a large catchment area in Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim; if she has been in contact with the Department of Health in the North on same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41224/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Health is committed to continuing close and productive cooperation with Northern Ireland on health and social care issues and I recently met with Minister Nesbitt to discuss cooperation in the health sector at the twenty-sixth North South Ministerial Council Health and Food Safety meeting.

There is also ongoing engagement at official level, and this includes work on the exploration of those areas of health cooperation that could be further expanded to benefit residents on the island of Ireland on a cross border basis.

With regards to the removal of emergency general surgery from the South West Acute Hospital, I have been advised that an impact assessment has not been undertaken. However, officials from my department have met with the advocacy group Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) to discuss their advocacy for the retention and improvement of acute healthcare services in the South West Acute Hospital and subsequently raised this with their counterparts in Northern Ireland.

Furthermore, in January 2025, on receipt of the group’s Integrated Roadmap, which considers a roadmap for a sustainable long-term future for both emergency and elective care in the South West Region of Northern Ireland, officials in my department shared the roadmap, along with details of the SOAS website, with the HSE and their counterparts in the Department of Health, Northern Ireland.

Working collaboratively to address healthcare challenges in both jurisdictions is of the utmost importance and, as such, enhancing North-South cooperation will continue to be a priority for my department.