merrion street

"During the course of a recorded radio interview yesterday, I stated that I had not made personal commitments regarding local services in advance of the general election.

In fact, when speaking in Roscommon during the election campaign, I

repeated the publicly known commitment, made in good faith by Fine Gael, on the retention of services at Roscommon County Hospital.

Since then, the independent health regulator HIQA has advised that the

provision of accident and emergency services at Roscommon and other smaller hospitals is not safe. The Government cannot ignore this expert advice and, consequently this element of Fine Gael's commitment is no longer tenable.

I regret any confusion that may have arisen from my comments yesterday. It was never my intention to mislead anyone on this matter.

The Government will proceed with its plans for the reform of the health

service and, in so doing, will prove its commitment to the future of smaller hospitals, including Roscommon."