The chairman of the Save Navan Hospital campaign, Meath West TD Peadar Toibín has told Meath Live that there are two very pragmatic decisions to be made by both the campaign and the HSE which may well see the A&E at Our Lady’s Hospital remain open in the immediate future.
He revealed, ‘The first big call is one we have made after taking legal advice and that is if push comes to shove we will go to court and have the move declared unconstitutional.
Peadar Toibín
‘Our fear is the HSE will try and push the closure through if when Leo Varadkar becomes Taoiseach next month he opts to replace Stephen Donnelly as Minister for Health.
‘The advice we have received is clear if we can show to the court that the decision did not have the authority of the minister we would be successful if we choose to seek an interlocutory injunction or a stay to prevent it going ahead.
‘At the moment it clearly does not have that authority as Stephen Donnelly is hoping someone else will have to make the decision.
‘The second decision that has to be made is by the government, from early next year they will be facing a twelve month run in to the next local elections and they know full well if they opt to close the A&E they will be decimated when the results come in.
‘The momentum is with us now and we have to keep driving on.’
