Independent MEP has described the HSE decision to centralise A & E services in Limerick General Hospital as classic sleight of hand which revealed the hollowness at the heart of the present Government.

“This Government is very much in the mode of outsourcing and of passing over decision making to the HSE is a classic example of absence of leadership and courage in the present Government”, she said.  The promises of Fianna Fail in the run up to the last General Election to preserve vital A & E services in Ennis had been cynically abandoned once they had achieved the purpose of returning them to power, she said.

The HSE had received the Fianna Fail nod to implement the Hanley Report by sleight of hand and since the election the process of closing down Ennis and Nenagh had been progressed, she said.  “This decision is an affront to the people of County Clare who had clearly demonstrated on the streets their absolute rejection of cynical Government policy implemented through the HSE”, Marian Harkin said.

The most serious aspects of the decision to close A & E in Ennis was the threat to life in the ‘golden hour’ due to distance and roads conditions in County Clare and the very clear question mark over the ability of Limerick General Hospital to handle the additional serious A & E challenge presented by closing the Ennis and Nenagh facilities, Marian Harkin MEP said.