Covid 19 (Health): Statements Dail Éireann — 2021-01-13 ============================================================ Mattie McGrath (IND), Tipperary I wish to raise the issue of St. Brigid's hospital in Carrick-on-Suir. It was commandeered by the last Government at the start of the last outbreak and was deemed to be fit to serve Covid step-down patients. I note that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is present. Why was the hospital closed in the middle of a pandemic? Why did the Minister of State refuse to meet her own colleague, Councillor Kieran Bourke from Tipperary, in relation to the issue of the closure of the hospital? It is a wonderful institution, as the Minister of State knows well. Why has the rug been pulled from underneath it? Why are people being denied the services they need? I do not want to hear anything about diabetic clinics. How was the hospital deemed suitable for treating Covid patients when it is not now deemed suitable for patients convalescing? --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-01-13/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:58+00:00 Sitting date: 2021-01-13