Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

For balance, I should point out that overall we have seen a significant reduction in the number of people on trolleys last year compared to the previous year overall across the country. What were we are witnessing in UHL is not acceptable to the Government. I spoke with the Minister for Health this morning. He has been in contact as recently as yesterday with the CEO of the HSE and they will be putting in place additional measures to address the issue. When I look at the numbers I see that this hospital alone got an extra 1,000 staff over the last five years and a significant increase in bed capacity with more being built. That kind of number, however, and that experience for each individual who was on a trolley there is not acceptable to the Minister or to the Government.

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