I want the Minister to picture this chaos. Last Saturday night, which was a normal Saturday night, 11 ambulances were forced to queue outside Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. There was not a single bed or trolley available in the emergency department. Some ambulance crews had to keep patients in the ambulance for up to five hours. They could not respond to any other 999 calls. There was not a single ambulance crew available for the entire region. This was no fault of the ambulance crew. It was a normal Saturday night when these chaotic and frightening scenes took place.

Next Monday, the Government will bulldoze ahead with the plan to divert ambulances from Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan, to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. The consultant body in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda has said that it will be unsafe, that patient safety will be compromised and that patients may die. That is from the medical professionals. Will the Minister listen to the medical professionals or will he listen to the HSE, which is prepared to bulldoze with this-----

We are over time.

-----and if he does not listen to the medical professionals, is he actually fit to be the Minister for Health?

My understanding is that the change that will come into effect on 12 December is that the patients who are acutely ill will no longer be brought to Navan by ambulance. Instead, they will be taken to the nearest appropriate hospital, depending on their condition. That is different from the full ambulance bypass protocol that had been proposed. The Minister has engaged on this, and it is only in certain narrow circumstances. I suggest that the Deputy engages with the Minister and the HSE on that important operational issue. However, it is the wholesale bypass that was proposed.