Labour condemns Martin over failure to staff A&E unit

THE Labour Party severely criticised Health Minister Micheál Martin yesterday for his failure to staff a newly-built €16 million accident and emergency unit which has been lying idle for almost eight months.

Labour members on Cork City Council, Labour TD Kathleen Lynch and supporters staged a protest outside Cork University Hospital (CUH) as part of a nationwide strategy to highlight unopened facilities.

The protest came exactly a year to the day since Mr Martin attended the ceremonial laying of the final stone of CUH’s new A&E. While building work on the unit was officially completed last November, the unit remains idle.