13. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Health if she will ensure that a CT scanner and MRI scanner are located within Monaghan Hospital. [34678/25]
Sentiment score: 0.13
I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for his latitude. The Minister may be aware there has been a long saga in respect of Monaghan hospital since emergency and other services were removed by a previous Fianna Fáil Government. Will the Minister help with the evolution and redevelopment of Monaghan hospital by ensuring there is a CT and MRI scanner located on the hospital campus?
Sentiment score: 0.36
Cavan and Monaghan hospitals might be put together for operational purposes but it cannot be claimed that a service in one is equal to a service in the other. There are 47 km between the two sites. Perhaps that does not seem like much to some people, but if people are living in an area with no public transport and a poor ambulance service, that matters. When the Minister says that Cavan Monaghan General Hospital has two CT scanners and one MRI scanner, that does not deflect from the fact that Monaghan hospital has neither and that needs to change. There is a medical need. Currently, more than 1,500 people are waiting for an MRI appointment and more than 1,800 people are waiting for a CT appointment. By providing the services in Monaghan hospital, not only would the Minister be providing a service the people of Monaghan deserve, she would also be relieving the pressures that are on Cavan hospital.
Sentiment score: -0.11
The difficulty is that the application for scanners at Cavan hospital is made, as the Minister said, by Cavan Monaghan General Hospital, but Monaghan hospital needs these scanners and as I understand it, the staff there want them. The difficulty is that they have to go through this convoluted process Micheál Martin established that put Monaghan and Cavan hospitals together. What happens? Priorities are chosen and the priorities have never been the people, patients or even the staff at Monaghan hospital and that needs to change. I am appealing to the Minister to engage directly on the ground with elected representatives, the staff of both hospitals and management of the Cavan Monaghan General Hospital and ask them how it is that there is capacity, willingness and eagerness in Monaghan hospital to deliver a service with MRI and CT scanners that is desperately needed by patients, yet there is a reluctance in the management group to ask for them.
Sentiment score: -0.02
Deputy Carroll MacNeill is the Minister. I am asking her to ask.
Sentiment score: 0.00
Yes, I am not happy with the response so I am asking the Minister to ask.
Sentiment score: -0.08
136. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the steps Monaghan County Council should take to secure funding for a swimming pool in Carrickmacross. [34630/25]
Sentiment score: 0.11
My question is more of an appeal to the Minister and the Minister of State to work with Monaghan County Council, the local community and all elected representatives to help ensure that we can deliver a swimming pool complex in the town of Carrickmacross.
Sentiment score: 0.65
I thank the Minister of State for his response. I urge him to ensure that the new round of funding is opened as quickly as possible. There has long been a demand for a swimming pool among the people of Carrickmacross. When the previous local authority swimming pool programme was in place, there was a substantial fundraising drive in the town but it did not result in a swimming pool. That was largely, to be quite frank about it, due to a bias within the county council executive at that time. Thankfully, we now have a situation where all partners are on board, including the council executive, the members of the local authorities and particularly the local community and sporting organisations. Thanks to the efforts of Councillor Colm Carthy and the wider areas, we recently had a pop-up pool in the town for a number of months. The period of time it is going to be there has been extended because the demand for it has been so great. There is clearly a huge surge in support for swimming activities. Carrickmacross needs this facility. Will the Minister of State be proactive in supporting towns like Carrickmacross to deliver these facilities?
Sentiment score: 0.35
I am pleased to report that Monaghan County Council is now being proactive. As I mentioned, the pop-up pool has been a huge success. A feasibility study has been conducted by the local authority, which shows and reinforces that the demand is there. The reason there is a national strategy for swimming is that it is much more than a sport. In fact, people involved in every sport benefit from utilising swimming facilities. There is also a recognition that this is an amenity. Carrickmacross is a growing town that has faced challenges in recent years, not least due its growth but also because many of the town’s amenities have been delivered from within the community. We have not seen the type of Government investment that other towns the size of Carrickmacross have received. It would send a very powerful message if we were to deliver the sod-turning on a swimming pool complex in Carrickmacross within the lifetime of this Government. I again urge the Minister of State to work with Monaghan County Council. While it has a role it needs to play, I ask him to be proactive in opening a round of funding that Monaghan County Council can apply for to make this project happen.
Sentiment score: 0.30