O'Donovan going 'to get back on the pony' in election despite health scare

The minister spent around three weeks in Beaumont Hospital before taking last summer off away from his phone and office 'not by choice but by sheer necessity'

Higher Education Minister Patrick O'Donovan believes Fine Gael will return with more seats after the next general election. Picture: Sasko Lazrov/Photocall Ireland supplied by Department of Education

As he lay on the floor unable to speak or see around him, Patrick O'Donovan remembers thinking that he could become the first TD to die in the Dáil.

The minister for higher education spent several weeks in hospital and many months recovering at home after collapsing while answering questions in Leinster House.