I want to raise the issue of Our Lady's Hospital, Navan. Following recent developments, 17 consultants wrote to the Minister for Health to voice their concerns about the potential closure of the emergency department in Navan. They stated that they would not be able to cope. They said the hospital will not be able to provide the right care for patients at the right time or in the right place. They proceeded to say that the transfer of risk from the emergency department in Navan to an under-resourced hospital in Drogheda will lead to poorer clinical outcomes for patients. Last month, nearly 10,000 patients left emergency departments across the State without being seen, presumably because they were left waiting too long. More than 630 of those people left the emergency department in Drogheda. This was the second highest number in the State. How can the hospital cope with more with more patients? I ask the Government and the Minister for Health to put resources in place, to stop constantly cutting and chipping away at services in Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, and to protect and enhance services that are already there. With the emergency situation throughout the country, it makes sense to do that.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I assure him that the Government has provided the resources to the HSE to address this issue. There will be no change to the services provided at Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, until such time as the HSE can establish that Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda and Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown have the extra capacity to deal with the inevitable increase in the number of patients presenting. No decision regarding the HSE’s proposal for a transition of the emergency department in Navan has been agreed by the Minister or the Government at this point.