The crisis in University Hospital Kerry is becoming critical. Day procedures have been cancelled for the third week running, the hospital is short 100 nurses, orthopaedic services have been outsourced and ambulances are queuing up because the patients they are offloading are not being taken into the accident and emergency department. A scanning machine in the hospital can be used by only private patients. No wonder it is difficult to recruit surgeons for that hospital, given that they would be dealing with the most difficult of cases. In a county that is already disadvantaged by peripherality, a hospital that had to deal with an increased population of up to 500,000 during the summer will be stretched coming into the winter period. If University Hospital Kerry is to be downgraded, will the Government come out and say it or else will it intervene, provide the resources necessary for proper services, commit to a plan for re-establishing day procedures, as there seems to be none, and meet local representatives and consultants?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I confirm that there are no plans whatsoever to downgrade University Hospital Kerry. There are significant challenges there that the Deputy has rightly highlighted. The Ministers, Deputies Stephen Donnelly and Foley, are aware of them and have been working together and engaging with the HSE on resolving the problems. I am sure the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, would be happy to engage directly with Deputy Daly and other representatives on the matter.