On Monday, Oireachtas Members from County Meath heard that the HSE intends to move imminently into the final stages of implementation, as it calls it, at Navan hospital. By September, the HSE intends to close all intensive care unit beds in the hospital and to close the emergency department and replace it with a medical assessment unit. This clear intention was restated yesterday at a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health by Mr. Paul Reid, despite no additional capacity in place in Drogheda and no additional GP or community capacity even planned.

At the same time, the Minister for Health and the three Ministers in government from County Meath act like commentators. The Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, was on local radio this morning and said she is frustrated by the process. What exactly does she think her role is? How does she think the people of County Meath feel? Instead of pausing and pausing again this process, the Government needs to stop it and invest in emergency services at Navan. On behalf of the Government, and as all of County Meath looks on today, will the Minister commit to that?

The situation, as the Deputy knows, starts and ends with patient safety. The Deputy and I heard directly at that meeting from national clinical directors and the clinical director for Navan. What they said to us is that a small number of people from Meath attend that hospital per day, perhaps as low as five, and because it is a small hospital with a small emergency department, those patients are at risk in a significant way. We all accept that those clinicians are giving us that advice only in consideration of patient safety and that we must all have that first and foremost in our minds.

As was raised and covered at the meeting, concerns are being raised about making sure that if those patients were to be transferred to the much bigger emergency department in Drogheda, there are resources in place to deal with it. This is not a debate about only Navan hospital. We need to consider both hospitals and make sure everything is in place. Whatever is done, the Deputy can rest assured that it will begin and end with patient safety in mind, with which I am sure the Deputy will agree.