Donegal Sinn Féin Senator Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has slammed as “an absolute farce” the response that he has received to questions in relation to Letterkenny University Hospital.
Senator Mac Lochlainn’s questions related to the provision of funding by the Government for the reopening of 20 beds in the Hospital’s Short Stay Ward as well as the hiring of the necessary additional staff.
Senator Mac Lochlainn said: “Rather than answer my questions, the Minister batted the responsibility for addressing this issue over to the management of Letterkenny University Hospital.
“This is an absolute farce. Everyone in Donegal knows at this stage, that the management of the hospital have applied for over €1.8 million from the HSE and the Government to reopen and staff the Short Stay Ward. What I asked the Minister and what the people of Donegal want, is for him to make a statement on the matter and to outline when this funding will be provided and if not, why not?
In a document published earlier this year by Deputy Pearse Doherty and myself, we again revealed the undeniable funding discrimination that our major county hospital endures.
“That document “The Need To Invest In Letterkenny University Hospital”, also outlined the serious implications for the people of Donegal as a result of this discrimination with record numbers of our people on hospital trollies and one in eight of the people of Donegal on hospital waiting lists.
“Sadly, the recent budget passed by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil failed to even start to reverse the years of cut backs to our health services. Indeed, it is Sinn Fein’s view that this crisis will only worsen next year. This is a damning indictment of this Government and their facilitators in Fianna Fáil.
“Despite the Minister’s prevarication and passing the buck approach to the hard questions, I and my Sinn Féin colleagues in Donegal will continue to challenge him vigorously on this issue of the reopening of the Short Stay Ward and the wider issue of the neglect and funding discrimination”.
