Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. What is most interesting about the opening statements is what is not in them. The hospital consultants, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals are saying the public health system is on fire. They are talking about more than 1 million people waiting for healthcare. That was not mentioned anywhere in any opening statement. More than 500,000 men, women and children are waiting to see a consultant but that was not mentioned in any opening statement. Already this year 10,000 women and men over the age of 75 have waited on trolleys in emergency departments for more than 24 hours. That also was not mentioned in any of the opening statements.

When the Minister's predecessor, the now Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, held office in 2015, he said the Government would ensure no man, woman or child would wait more than a year and a half to see a consultant. It was pointed out at the time that even if the Government hit that target, the waiting list in Ireland would be the longest in Europe. That was the extent of the ambition of the target. In 2015, the then Minister and now Taoiseach said the number would be zero and when the current Minister took office in 2016, that number was 13,000. An extra €3.5 billion has been allocated to health spending since but that number has increased from 13,000 to 106,000 men, women and children now waiting more than a year and a half to see a consultant. For every one person who was waiting three years ago, there are now seven. That is a crisis in anybody's book. None of this has been mentioned in any of the opening statements.

What does the Minister say to all these people and why has he not mentioned this crisis in his opening statement? Why has the HSE not mentioned the crisis in its opening statement? What does the Minister say to the 10,000 men and women over 75? What does he say to the 106,000 men, women and children waiting more than a year and a half for an appointment? What does he say to the children with special needs in our county waiting three and half years for help? Why has he not spoken about any of this and what does he have to say to them as they wait and suffer, with many of them deteriorating while they seek access to the public health system in Ireland?