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New A&E delayed by a year
17.06.11
INISHOWEN TD, Pádraig
MacLochlainn has expressed anger that the new A&E at
Letterkenny has been delayed by a year due to the
"debacle" over the building contract.
He also blamed the delay on NAMA putting McNamara
Construction into receivership. His comments come in
a week that saw the cancellation of outpatient
clinics due to overcrowding and delays at the
hospital. On Tuesday, there were 14 people treated
on trolleys, Wednesday, 13, and yesterday, eight.
Deputy MacLochlainn said: "I have appealed to the
Minister for Health, James Reilly, to urgently
intervene and resolve this mess. In the absence of
any action, I then repeatedly sought to raise the
matter on the floor of the Dáil with the Minister.
When the Ceann Comhairle finally relented, Minister
Reilly sent in his Junior Minister Roisin Shorthall
to read out a script telling us what we know
already.
"The people of Donegal deserve better. There has
been a deafening silence from the Government on this
scandal and not much better from the Government
deputy, senator, and minister in Donegal."
He said that NAMA, putting McNamara construction
into receivership, left a number of Donegal
sub-contractors out of pocket to the tune of
thousands while leaving Donegal patients and
hospital staff without much-needed new facilities. |
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Letterkenny General Hospital. |
Deputy MacLochlainn
added: "There are serious challenges ahead for
Letterkenny General Hospital, including more savage
cuts, a shortage of junior doctors, possible closure
of wards, and the ongoing delay in many surgical
procedures.
"Both I and my colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, are
determined to hold this government to account in the
Dáil and ensure that they honour their pre-election
promises to the people of Donegal and the people of
Ireland."
Meanwhile, Ms Shorthall, told the Dail the project
could only recommence when insurers approved a new
contract.
It is understood that once work resumes, it will
take at least five months to complete the new
facility. Ms Shorthall said a meeting held last week
could see matters progressing shortly. |
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