Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I thank my colleagues for affording me the opportunity of saying a few words on the health issue. I thank those involved in getting Monaghan General Hospital back on-call but the aftershock was the fact that its budget was cut by €380,000 because it had not met certain criteria. That is absolutely unacceptable. I ask the Minister of State to rectify this. If a hospital was held off-call for two and a half years, how could it meet the criteria laid down for a normal hospital? It is totally wrong to reduce the allocation to Monaghan General Hospital. If the Minister and her Department are serious about trying to improve services and relieve the chronic situation in Cavan and elsewhere, this matter must be rectified as a matter of urgency.

It also happened to a lesser degree in Cavan where there is an ongoing problem. The Minister must treat this issue extremely seriously. It must be remembered that the North Eastern Health Board had to cater for the single biggest population increase in the country in the past 30 years, yet there was no corresponding increase in its budget.

It is unacceptable to see Monaghan General Hospital back on-call to a limited degree while having its budget cut. I beg the Minister of State to ensure the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children is made fully aware of this. It may be a blip in the computer system but surely we do not deserve this after two and a half years.

See this speech in context