ROSCOMMON TD Denis Naughten is to be replaced as chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Health, Children and Youth Affairs by Fine Gael TD for Cork South Central, Jerry Buttimer.
The position carries an extra payment of €9,511 on top of a TD’s salary. Mr Naughten lost the Fine Gael whip on July 7th, after backing a Sinn Féin Dáil motion against the removal of accident emergency services from Roscommon Hospital.
In a statement, Mr Naughten said he had resigned from the chair “with great regret” and that it was “on the basis that I will be allowed to remain on as a full member of the committee”.
“This will allow me to continue to pursue my agenda to turn our health system on its head, looking at the pathway of care from a patient’s point of view rather than that of the manager or consultant,” he said.
Such reforms would make the health system “more accessible, less complicated and less subject to delays”, Mr Naughten added.
