Limerick TD confirms he will contest next election despite recent health scare

The Minister of State at the Office of Public Works said: 'I got a fright. I got a very big fright.'

Patrick O'Donovan was taken from Leinster House having fallen ill during a question and answer session in June. File picture: Denis Minihane

Limerick County TD Patrick O'Donovan says he will contest the next election following a health scare at the end of the last Dáil term.

Mr O'Donovan, the Minister of State at the Office of Public Works, was taken from Leinster House by ambulance having fallen ill during a question and answer session in June. The minister was treated in St James and Beaumont hospitals.

The OPW minister was responding to a question on healthcare in the Connemara Gaeltacht which was raised by Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív when he became ill and found it difficult to answer before sitting down again.

He spent a number of weeks over the Dáil recess at home, but insisted on Thursday he is back to full health and ready to contest the next election.

"I'm delighted to be back to work and I want to thank everybody who wished me well. I had a bit of a health scare and I want to thank the people in the Oireachtas who looked after me and in St James's and Beaumont Hospital. As you can see I'm back to work and representing my constituency in Limerick as well as driving on with an agenda in The Office of Public Works."

When asked, he confirmed he would contest the next election. He told The Limerick Leader that he "got a fright" from the incident, but had recuperated at home.

“I got a fright. I got a very big fright. I am very grateful to the Dublin Fire Brigade’s ambulance service and the staff and medical team in Beaumont Hospital where I spent a bit of time. I was laid up at home with my family who also got a huge fright. It wasn’t something that people didn't see because it was so public but I'm out the other side of it now."