Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

The other point that appears to be clear from the document is that there will be no extra funding provided for the health service. This brings me to another situation which arises every day throughout the hospital services, namely, the very difficult and chaotic situation in regard to patients on trolleys in hospital emergency departments. I refer specifically to the atrocious and unacceptable position at South Tipperary General Hospital which I have described previously as having Third World conditions. On Tuesday of this week, there were 29 patients on trolleys and on chairs in the emergency department and in the corridor of the emergency department, in the corridors of the hospital and in the main public thoroughfare of the hospital. The patients have no privacy and inadequate or non-existent bathroom and toilet facilities. That situation, which is totally unacceptable, has pertained for quite some time. In fact, in 2011, when this Government came to power, there were 750 patients on trolleys in the hospital and in 2013, there were 3,100 on trolleys, so the figure quadrupled in that period.

This simply cannot continue. We have a situation where the hospital has lost €11 million of its budget since 2008 as well as losing more than 100 staff. The staff are working above and beyond the call of duty every hour of every day, and they simply cannot cope and are struggling to provide a safe service. I call on the Minister to approve immediately the application which he and the HSE have received from the hospital management and the HSE south east management for the opening of an additional 12 bed step-down unit at Our Lady's Hospital, Cashel, to alleviate the difficulties that are seen daily at South Tipperary General Hospital. It is simply unacceptable in this day and age. I urge the Minister, as I urged the Taoiseach during the week, to intervene immediately in this situation and to solve that problem.

See this speech in context