Sinn Féin TDs for County Meath, Johnny Guirke and Darren O’Rourke, have called on the government and the HSE to abandon plans to close the A&E in Navan Hospital.

Their comments came as people from across County Meath protested outside Leinster House today to save Navan Hospital services.

Meath West TD Johnny Guirke said;

“There is huge concern across County Meath that Navan Hospital is set to lose it’s crucial Accident and Emergency unit.

“Earlier this week Teachta Darren O’Rourke and I raised our concerns on the floor of the Dáil and called for the government to give assurances services won’t be downgraded.

“We were initially told by Junior Minister Anne Rabbitte there was no change of policy planned. However, this was immediately contradicted when she read the prepared statement from the Department of Health which said the current Emergency Department will be replaced with a 24/7 Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) and 12/7 Local Injuries Unit (LIU).

“This is a hugely regressive move and we will not support it. The A&E provides a vital service for County Meath and it needs to be retained.

“People power has saved services at Navan Hospital in the past and we need people to rally around this issue again in order to retain our A&E services.

Meath East TD Darren O’Rourke continued;

“The HSE has been hell bent on closing services in Navan Hospital for years, despite the county having a huge population of 210,000 people and growing.

“The A&E in Navan provides a vital service and it needs to be retained.

“Teachta Johnny Guirke and I have written to the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly to seek an urgent meeting about this situation.

“The pandemic has particularly highlighted the huge value of Navan Hospital and the incredible staff who work there and it’s vital we retain the crucial A&E Department.”