Does the Taoiseach recall the events of 14 October 2005, which was the date on which he last visited Monaghan town? Mr. Patrick Walsh bled to death in Monaghan General Hospital on that day because the surgical staff there were not allowed to perform a straightforward procedure to save his life. The doors of the operating theatre were quite literally barred to Mr. Walsh. Is the Taoiseach aware that yesterday the Health Service Executive published proposals from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the national hospitals office which, if implemented, will set in stone the scandalous conditions which led to the deaths of Mr. Walsh and others? Is the Taoiseach aware that the people of Monaghan, who have seen many services taken from Monaghan General Hospital, face the prospect of the hospital becoming just a day clinic of Cavan General Hospital? As emergency procedures will no longer be carried out at Monaghan General Hospital, ambulances will have to pass its doors even though it has all the resources needed to carry out emergency surgical procedures. As ambulances will be unable to deliver patients in need of stabilisation to Monaghan General Hospital, they will instead have to bring them to Cavan and elsewhere.

Does the Taoiseach recall that he stated in the wake of the tragic death of Mr. Patrick Walsh that no protocols would prevent medical staff from doing their work? Does he recall further that the Tánaiste referred to the policy of a hospital, as if the ban on emergency surgery at Monaghan General Hospital had been imposed by its consultant staff? Will the Taoiseach demand that the Minister for Health and Children heeds the call of the consultant surgeons in Cavan and Monaghan, who called in September for resources to be made available to Monaghan General Hospital to allow it to return to full on-call status and for the restoration of the hospital's accident and emergency unit?

Does the Taoiseach appreciate that the case of Mr. Walsh is not an isolated one and is not being raised as a parochial matter? What is happening in Monaghan General Hospital today will happen in hospitals in other communities tomorrow. Does the Taoiseach appreciate that the result of this approach is that more pressure is being placed on the facilities at Cavan General Hospital, which is already over-burdened, and other hospitals? People are lying on trolleys in the over-pressed accident and emergency units in such hospitals.

I will not have time to respond to all the points made by Deputy Ó Caoláin, although I will bear them in mind. In November 2004, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland issued a report on surgical services at Cavan General Hospital which, it said, were "dysfunctional". The Health Service Executive has since been addressing the issues identified in the report, in consultation with the college of surgeons, with a view to ensuring patient safety, higher standards of clinical care, maximum utilisation of all resources on both sites and local accessibility. The HSE has recruited three new permanent consultant surgeons to replace locums at Cavan and Monaghan, bringing to five the number of surgeons employed in the hospital group. It is intended that all emergency and major elective surgery should be carried out at Cavan General Hospital. Monaghan General Hospital will become the centre for all day cases and diagnostic surgical work in the Cavan and Monaghan hospital group. A consultant surgeon is to be available on site at Monaghan General Hospital on a five-day basis from Monday to Friday. General practitioners in Monaghan are to be facilitated in gaining immediate access for urgent cases to the outpatient department facilities at Monaghan General Hospital.

The Health Service Executive is satisfied that implementation of these recommendations will result in a significant increase in the level of surgical activity at Monaghan General Hospital and more efficient use of the personal facilities available on the site. Subject to approval by the HSE, it is anticipated that the additional beds and a theatre planned for Cavan General Hospital will be commissioned by 2007.

I have not had a chance to examine this report other than to read quickly through the major series of recommendations concerning surgical services at Cavan and Monaghan announced by the National Hospitals Office and the Royal College of Surgeons. I understand that this has long been discussed by them. It is the view of the hospitals office of the HSE and the unanimous view of the Royal College of Surgeons that this is the right thing to do for patient safety, and they have made that decision.