I thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for giving me the opportunity to raise this important issue and the Minister of State, Deputy Moffatt, for coming in to reply.
The further erosion of vital services at Monaghan General Hospital, with the closure of gynaecological services and the diversion of accident victims from the general hospital area to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, must be stopped by the Minister of State. Otherwise Fine Gael in Government will do so after the next election.
Accident and emergency services must be upgraded as a first step and that will be delivered by us. Our party leader visited the hospital and met the personnel there last autumn, but in the past few days he has again guaranteed that under his leadership Monaghan General Hospital will be funded so that the necessary work to retain and upgrade the services will be provided, not only for structures but also for additional staff.
While I welcomed the recent visit of the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, it seems the executives continue regardless. They have closed gynaecological services and, from 1 February, have diverted accident victims from the Monaghan General Hospital catchment area to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. Health board officials have often spoken of the "golden hour". How can any accident victim in Knockatallon, Carrickroe or Moybridge – which are on the borders of Tyrone and Armagh – get anywhere within an hour? It would take a minimum of half an hour for an ambulance to get there and another one and a half hours to get from there to Drogheda if the roads are clear. Can the Minister imagine an ambulance finding its way through Monaghan town, Carrickmacross or Castleblaney in wintry weather with snow and ice, or at rush hour on any ordinary day? As I mentioned earlier this evening, there are no bypasses for those towns.
If the removal of accident services from Monaghan General Hospital is allowed to continue lives will be lost. Many patients that were dealt with at Monaghan General Hospital can verify that without its availability and expert services they would not be alive. Will the Minister advise me what his understanding was when he left Monaghan town after his visit? Did he realise or understand that the health board would close gynaecology services? Did he understand that accident victims would have their services rendered in Drogheda rather than Monaghan and that this decision would be made by ambulance personnel wherever the accident happened? Does the Minister accept that with the further erosion of services it becomes more and more difficult to sustain full surgical services at Monaghan hospital which, in turn, will make it more difficult to retain industry and other services in the area?
In 1998 the executives of the North-Eastern Health Board asked its elected members and those interested in upgrading Monaghan General Hospital to meet them. They advised the meeting of their plans and that £5 million was needed to build a new theatre, improve accident and emergency services and make improvements in 17 other areas, including the upgrading of maternity services. None of those promises have yet been carried out. The maternity service has been closed. In-patient treatment in gynaecology services ceased at the time the Minister for Health and Children visited the hospital and now, just two weeks later, few are being serviced at the out-patient department. I will tell the House what happened in the children's ward last week. A paediatrician on out-patient duty refused to check on a child patient. It certainly seems like a winding down policy is in place.
By 2001 costings of the new proposal of the health board were put at £10 million and were supposed to be part of the national development plan. However, no plans have been submitted to Monaghan County Council, therefore none of the major works can be done in the next year. The national development plan ends in 2006. Executives now say €50 million is needed to do the job. Are they raising the jumps or just creating obstacles? A commitment from the Minister is needed.