Mattie McGrath Demands Meeting on St Bridges Hospital Closure
Mattie McGrath spoke on 3 Feb 2021 about the closure of St Bridges Hospital in Waterford, urging the minister to meet Councillor Keelanbrooke, Councillor Bourke and an Action Committee. He challenged the reasons given by HC officials for the closure and warned the move leaves South Tipperary without local respite or palliative care during the pandemic.
Meeting request
McGrath said the Teachta had promised to meet with Councillor Keelanbrooke and his Fianna Fáil colleagues on South Tipperary County Council and asked the minister to also meet Councillor Bourke and the Action Committee to discuss the closure of St Bridges Hospital.
Reasons given for closure
He said the minister met yesterday accompanied by HC officials who claimed the hospital was closed because it might flood. McGrath disputed that explanation, noting the existing hospital had stood for 240 years and he said it "never flooded."
Impact on local services
McGrath said Tlauheen, St Thuysa's has been taken up as a Covid hospital and, because of the closure of St Bridges, there is no place for people to go for respite or for palliative care in South Tipperary during the pandemic.
Accusations of conduct and tone
He accused HC officials of "diatribe and lies" and criticised what he described as the minister's "relentless hostility." In response in the chamber, the minister said meetings could be held virtually and stated he "refuse[d] to meet no one."
Consequences and next steps
McGrath pressed for an immediate virtual meeting facilitated by local deputies and reiterated that councillors and the Action Committee want answers and access to the facility to restore local chronic care, respite and palliative services.
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Teachta, you promised me some time ago that you would meet with Councillor Keelanbrooke and his Fianna Fáil colleagues on South Tipperary County Council in relation to the closure, the scandalous closure of St Bridges Hospital in Waterford. Now Minister Butler met yesterday armed with HC officials who said the hospital was closed because it might flood. The existing hospital was there for 240 years and it never flooded. Such diatribe and lies coming out from the HC and you hiding behind the cover of that then. You have political accountability and Minister Butler for all the people to deny the people of chronic insurer and indeed our own constituency has access to this wonderful facility. Now Tlauheen, St Thuysa's has been taken up as a Covid hospital and there is no place for people to go for respite or indeed for palliative care in South Tipperary because of this reckless closure of St Bridges in the middle of a pandemic. My goodness, if someone would want to pinch you and wake up, close it in the middle of a pandemic and deny a perfectly good hospital and refuse them to meet people. So will you meet with Councillor Bourke and his colleagues and the Action Committee as well? You need to change your tone and your continuing relentless hostility is something that I think is just regrettable to have to witness on a weekly basis. But that's the way you operate and that's your entitlement. I refuse to meet no one. You keep coming in here every week saying I'm refusing to meet somebody. I refuse to meet nobody. Obviously within COVID we can't meet people physically. We can meet people virtually and I know Deputy Jackie Cahill and others would facilitate that meeting tomorrow morning or whenever. But I think your manner needs to, you know, you can't keep on just in a very nasty way attacking people left, right and centre and then expect, you know, thank you.
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